St Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist - The Mystical Side of God

St ElizabethMother of John the BaptistFeast: November 5St Elizabeth, cousin of MaryThe name Elizabeth, which has been borne by several saints, means in Hebrew "worshiper of God." Allthat we know of Elizabeth, wife of Zachary and mother of John the Baptist, is to be found in the book ofLuke. A descendant of the priestly line of Aaron, she was a kinswoman—how close we are not told—ofthe Virgin Mary. According to the Gospel, Elizabeth had lived a blameless life with her husband in one ofthe hill-towns of Judea. Having reached an advanced age with her prayers for a son unanswered, shethought that her barrenness was a reproach.One day, while Zachary was serving in the temple, the Angel Gabriel appeared at the right of the altar,and announced that a son would be born to Elizabeth. It was in the sixth month of her pregnancy that theVirgin Mary came to visit her—a touching and beautiful scene pictured by many great artists. The AngelGabriel, having lately announced to Mary the destiny that awaited her, also told her that her kinswoman

Elizabeth was with child. The Virgin Mary, eager to share in Elizabeth's happiness and to confide that shetoo would bear a child, traveled down the dusty road from Nazareth.On Mary's arrival, she was amazed when Elizabeth, having foreseen knowledge, greeted her as "motherof my Lord." Elizabeth's salutation was in these words: "Blessed art thou among women and blessed isthe fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Forbehold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy.And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall beaccomplished." The Gospel story tells us further that at Elizabeth's delivery her friends and neighborsrejoiced with her, and when the child was brought to be circumcised, they were going to call him after hisfather Zachary, but his mother said, "His name shall be John." Reference: Taken from "Lives of Saints",Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.Elizabeth("God is an oath" — Exodus 6:23).Zachary's wife and John the Baptist's mother; was "of the daughters of Aaron" (Luke 1:5), and, at thesame time, Mary's kinswoman (Luke 1:36), although what their actual relationship was, is unknown. St.Hippolytus (in Niceph. Call., Hist. Eccles., II, iii) explains that Sobe and Anna, their mothers, were sisters,and that Sobe had married a "son of Levi". Whether this indication, probably gathered from someapocryphal writings, and later on adopted by the compilers of the Greek Menologium, is correct, cannotbe ascertained. Elizabeth, like Zachary, was "just before God, walking in all the commandments andjustifications of the Lord without blame" (Luke 1:6). She had been deprived, however, of the blessings ofmotherhood until, at an advanced age, a son was promised her by the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:8-20).When, five months later, Elizabeth was visited in her home by the Virgin Mary, not only was her sonsanctified in her womb, but she herself was enlightened from on high to salute her cousin as "the motherof my Lord" (Luke 1:43). According to some modern critics, we should even attribute to her the canticle"Magnificat". After the birth and circumcision of John the Baptist, the Gospels do not mention Elizabethany more. Her feast is celebrated on 8 September by the Greeks, and 5 November in the Latin Church.Reference: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05387b.htm