The Visitation of Holy Mary: An Expansion of the Heart
“From the very first time that you consulted me about your interior life, God granted me a great love for your spirit. When you confessed to me in greater detail, a remarkable bond was forged in my soul that caused me to cherish your soul more and more.”
- Letter from Francis de Sales to Jane de Chantal
Sisters of the Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis
We are about to bring closure to the month of May with its rituals, traditions, celebrations, reunions, goodbyes, and hellos! On May 31st we mark the culmination of these special moments in life by celebrating the Feast of the Visitation, when Mary, the Mother of Jesus, traveled to visit her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. This Gospel story was close to the hearts of our Visitation founders, not only because of its simplicity and depth of the Mystery, but because the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth was one of encounter, friendship, and mutual care, values that Jane and Francis treasured in their friendship with one another.
Eunan McDonnell, SDB in his book, St. Francis de Sales on Living the Gospel, God Desires You, captures the essence of Francis’ lifelong pilgrimage to live love in its many expressions:
“Francis believed that we do not have two hearts, one to love God and one to love our neighbor.
It was his genius to perceive that we do not come to God by bypassing the things and persons God has created, but rather through them. True love of another is not a hindrance to our love of God. The two loves, divine and human, are intimately intertwined. We learn to love both God and others at the same time. It is as if our hearts undergo an expansion in the very process of loving...”
While Jane and Francis encountered a few obstacles in founding their new religious Order in 1610, they remained steadfast in their decision to name it “Visitation” and considered it the child of their spiritual friendship.
On a more personal note, by the grace of God, I have been a Visitation Sister for 60+ years and spent the first 30 years as a member of the Visitation Monastery of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, where I lived in community and taught in our excellent school, forming young women in our Salesian charism to be leaders in a world so in need of these unique values.
I am a founding member of the Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis, MN (October 2, 1989) which was established in response to the American Bishops’ Pastoral Letter “Catholic Social Teaching and the US Economy” (November 1986). My community and I have spent 34 years “companioning and affirming those who are impoverished and lonely - those living on the fringes of society.”
My greatest joy, living in north Minneapolis, has been that whether in an affluent community or an impoverished one (North Minneapolis has the highest concentration of poverty and violence in Minnesota) the Visitation charism of encounter and friendship is the greatest gift we carry to others - so simple and yet so profound! For example, Eddie, who had been left for dead in an alley because of a drug overdose; Joanna, who sold her body so her kids could go on a school field trip; or Tony, a Greyhound bus driver who needed a uniform for his ‘after treatment’ job, all found their way to our door. In the Spirit of Visitation Friendship, Encounter, and Hospitality, we welcomed each one.
In his or her own unique way, each expressed gratitude in these or similar words: “The day you welcomed and trusted me changed my life.” Eddie has been sober for 30 years; Joanna has found wholesome ways to raise her children; Tony is married and has twin boys 20 years of age!
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, friendship is the highest form of love. How blessed we are to have mentors like Jane and Francis, and Mary and Elizabeth to teach us! As we gather in circles of Friendship, Encounter, and Community this spring, let us bring Salesian hearts and the spirit of the Visitation to our celebrations and rituals! Happy Feast Day!
Sr. Mary Frances Reis, VHM
Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis
Carrying Christ
by Ruth Mary Fox
Into the hillside country
Mary went, carrying Christ,
And all along the road
The Christ she carried
Generously Bestowed His grace
On those she met.
I pray that I may carry Christ,
For it may be
That some would never know of Him
Except through me.