91. That benefit of grace also made her praiseworthy to men, and therefore she adds: For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, both men and women: Proverbs, last chapter: "Her children rose up and proclaimed her most blessed; her husband also praised her." Now the Virgin Mary was blessed on account of the merit of chastity: Psalm: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way"; and Apocalypse 16: "Blessed is he who keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame"; and Wisdom 3: "Happy is the barren and undefiled woman, who has not known the bed in transgression." — She was also more blessed on account of the counsel of virginity: First Corinthians 7: "But she will be more blessed if she so remains, according to my counsel." — She was also most blessed on account of the privilege of fruitfulness, on account of which the other women proclaim her most blessed, Song of Songs 6: "The daughters of Sion saw her and proclaimed her most blessed."
92. (Verse 49). The second reason for praising is the miracle of power, which was great and devout. Because it was great, she says: Because he who is mighty has done great things for me. This refers to the mystery of the incarnation, as Bede says in the Gloss; and concerning this, Job 5: "Who does great and unsearchable and wonderful things without number." The mystery of the incarnation is great and inscrutable, and therefore wondrous: and this he who is mighty has done, because "in miraculous things, as Augustine says, the entire reason for the deed is the power of the one doing it"; Ecclesiastes 8: "Whatever he wills, he shall do, because his word is full of power, nor can anyone say to him: Why do you act thus"?
93. It was also devout, and therefore she says: Holy is his name. Whence he does holy and devout things, to show the holiness of his name; Daniel 3: "Blessed be the name of your glory, which is holy"; and the Psalm: "Holy and terrible is his name." And the reason for this is premised: "He sent redemption to his people." And because holiness befits his name, therefore we pray: "Hallowed be your name," Matthew 6; and again the Psalm: "Holiness befits your house, O Lord, for length of days." Concerning these two, namely greatness and devotion, 1 Timothy 3: "And manifestly great is the sacrament of devotion, which was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, appeared to angels, was preached to the nations, was believed in the world, was taken up in glory"; great indeed by reason of the Divinity, holy by reason of the assumed humanity: above in the same chapter: "That which shall be born of you, the Holy One, shall be called the Son of God." And therefore the Virgin in the conception was magnified and sanctified: the Psalm: "The Most High has sanctified his tabernacle." And these two correspond to the two things stated above, because she was magnified and sanctified, therefore she magnified and exulted: thus she renders the reason most fittingly.
94. And his mercy etc. After the affection of the one praising and the reason for praising have been described, here is added thirdly the amplification of divine praise. And this consists in the commendation of divine mercy with respect to the work of human redemption, already begun in the conception of the Virgin. Now the work of our redemption is declarative of mercy and power, and is manifestative of generosity and truth: mercy in the raising up of fallen man; power, in the overthrow of the devil; generosity, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; and truth, in the fulfillment of the promise.
95. (Vers. 50.). First, therefore, she praises her Lord in the work of redemption, insofar as it is manifestative of mercy, where she says: And his mercy is from generation to generation upon those who fear him: Ephesians 2: "God, who is rich in mercy, on account of his exceeding great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, quickened us together with Christ"; and in the Psalm: "But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon those who fear him." For this extends to all with respect to the benefit of conservation, according to that saying of Sirach 18: "The compassion of man is toward his neighbor, but the mercy of God is upon all flesh." Yet mercy that liberates and saves extends only to those who fear him, as it is written in the Psalm: "How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you!" Therefore Sirach 2: "You who fear the Lord, hope in him."
96. (Vers. 51.). Second, she praises him in this work, insofar as it is manifestative of power in the casting down of proud demons and wicked rich. On account of the first she says: He has shown might in his arm, he has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. In this is the special praise of God: Job 40: "Scatter the proud in your fury, and looking upon every arrogant one, bring him low." And thus was fulfilled that saying of Sirach 10: "God has destroyed the thrones of proud rulers and has made the meek to sit in their place." And he is said to have done this in his arm, that is, in the Son; Isaiah 40: "Behold, the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule." The proud however in the conceit of their heart he calls those who are proud in intellect through presumption and in affection through ambition, as Lucifer and his followers: Job 41: "He beholds every high thing, and he is king over all the children of pride." And thus the sense is: he has scattered those who are proud in the conceit of their heart. — Or otherwise: He has scattered the proud in the conceit of his heart, according to what is said, that the proud by the just judgment of God have a scattered heart: Wisdom 17: "While they thought to lie hidden in their obscure sins, they were scattered under a dark veil of oblivion." — Or: He has scattered the proud in the conceit of his heart, that is, by the determination of his counsel: Job 40: "If you have an arm like God, and if you thunder with a similar voice? Scatter the proud in your fury, and looking upon every arrogant one, bring him low."
97. (Vers. 52.). The proud demons He cast down definitively, but not so with men; whence Lamentations 3: "For He did not humble from His heart nor cast away the sons of men." Therefore His power is praised in the casting down of proud demons and also of powerful tyrants, when she continues: He has put down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble. In Daniel 5 it is said of Nebuchadnezzar: "Whom he wished he slew, and whom he wished he struck down, and whom he wished he exalted, and whom he wished he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened unto pride, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory was taken away"; and Sirach 10: "God has made the roots of proud nations to wither and planted the humble from among those nations." And the reason for this is given below in chapter 18: "Because everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." And in this is the praise of divine power; 1 Kings 2: "The Lord makes poor and enriches, He humbles and He lifts up. He raises the needy from the dust and lifts the poor from the dunghill, that he may sit with princes and hold the throne of glory." An example is found in Saul and David, Vashti and Esther.
98. (Vers. 53.). Third, she praises the Lord in the aforesaid work, insofar as it is a manifestation of generosity, when she says: He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty; because true generosity is to give to the poor, not to the rich. Proverbs 13: "The just man eats and fills his soul, but the belly of the wicked is insatiable"; and again in the Psalm: "The rich have wanted and have been hungry, but those who seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good"; and Isaiah 65: "Behold, my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded"; because, as it is said in 1 Corinthians 1, "not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but the foolish things of the world God has chosen, that He may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world God has chosen, that He may confound the strong; and the ignoble things of the world and the contemptible God has chosen, and the things that are not, that He might destroy the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His sight"; and the Psalm: "The king is not saved by great power, and the giant shall not be saved by the abundance of his strength."
99. (Vers. 54.). Fourth, she praises God in the aforesaid work, insofar as it is manifestative of the truth of the promise, when she says: He has received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: where first is set forth the fulfillment of the promise, which promise divine benignity made and divine truth fulfilled: whence the Psalm: "Mercy and truth have met each other, justice and peace have kissed." And this was done when he assumed our flesh: Hebrews 2: "For nowhere does he take hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham"; Isaiah 42: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul is well pleased in him"; and Hosea 11: "Israel was a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." — And this: Being mindful of his mercy, which he cannot forget: the Psalm: "Or will God forget to show mercy? Or will he in his anger shut up his mercies?"; and Isaiah 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet I will not forget you."
100. (Vers. 55.). Then is added the true promise, when it is said: As he spoke to our Fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. And this text should be construed thus: As he spoke to the Fathers, and as he spoke to Abraham in particular, and to his seed, where it touches upon the state of nature and of the written law. — Or otherwise, so that it is construed with the preceding: He has received Israel, being mindful of his mercy, and this, I say, to Abraham and to his seed, as he spoke to the Fathers. A similar passage is found in the Psalm: "He has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel." Among the Fathers she specially names Abraham, because to him the promise was first made; Genesis 12 and 22: "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, and in you shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed"; "I will bless you and multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore: your seed shall possess the gates of their enemies, and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice"; and Galatians 3: "To Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed." But the seed of Abraham are believers: Romans 9: "Not those who are children of the flesh are children of God, but those who are children of the promise are reckoned as seed"; whence below, chapter 3: "God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." Forever, that is, for eternity: the Psalm: "From age to age you are God." — Whence the Blessed Virgin begins the canticle from the greatness of the supreme principle and ends the canticle in the eternity of the end; for she praises him who "is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end," Apocalypse 1: and indeed rightly so, because in this canticle she shows that the consummation of all the promised benefits has been accomplished, and therefore it is the consummation of all praises and canticles and even of the Scriptures.
Third, the service of benevolence is added.
101. (Vers. 56.). But Mary remained, etc. After the testimony of prophecy and the canticle of joy, the service of benevolence is added, which the Virgin Mary showed to Elizabeth, her kinswoman: in which she is commended for three things, namely for the diligence of her service, the perseverance of her purpose, and the propriety of her companionship. - On account of the diligence of her service, he says: But Mary remained with her, namely with her pregnant kinswoman. She did not depart immediately, but acted according to what the Lord commands his disciples in Matthew 10: "But remain in the same house until you depart." Mary remained; she did not go out like Dinah, of whom Genesis 34 says: "She went out to see the women of that region"; and it follows afterward that she was violated. She remained like a diligent attendant; she did not go about like a curious busybody; 1 Timothy 5, concerning younger widows: "Being idle, they learn to go about from house to house, and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, speaking things they ought not." Against which Seneca says: "It is a sign of a well-ordered mind to be able to tarry with oneself and to remain with oneself."
102. On account of the perseverance of her purpose, he adds: About three months, that is, until the time of the birth, according to what Bede says in the Gloss: "Mary remained so long until, when the time of Elizabeth's delivery was completed, she might see the birth of the forerunner of her Lord, for whose sake she had especially come"; and this was signified in 2 Kings 6, where it is said that "the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom for three months." - Mystically, however, by the three months is designated the progress of the three virtues, according to what is said in the Gloss. For "it is necessary that the chaste soul, which conceives the desire of the spiritual word, ascend the lofty heights of the heavenly host and, having remained there as it were for the days of three months, not cease to persevere until it is irradiated with the light of faith, hope, and charity."
103. On account of the propriety of her companionship, it is added: And she returned to her own home, to dwell with her spouse, the guardian of her virginity; whence she could say that passage from Genesis 30: "The Lord has blessed you at my coming. It is just, therefore, that I should at some time also provide for my own household." She returned to her own home, because her spouse and her household desired her return, according to that passage from Song of Songs 6: "Return, return, O Shulamite, return." Thus therefore the Virgin Mary gives an example to be imitated by all, according to what Ambrose says: "Learn," he says, "from Mary devotion, perseverance, and propriety."
Concerning the thanksgiving for the birth of the forerunner, three things are said.
104. For Elizabeth the time was fulfilled etc. After the thanksgiving for the conception of the Savior, there follows here the thanksgiving for the birth of the precursor. Now praise is given to God for the precursor's birth rather than for his conception, because he was conceived in sin, but was born full of the Holy Spirit; Christ, however, was most holy both in conception and in birth, and therefore praises were sung both before and after his birth. — This section has three parts, in the first of which is described the precursor's origin; in the second there is added for it praise and thanksgiving, at the place: And Zechariah, his father, was filled with the Holy Spirit, where the canticle of Zechariah is set forth; in the third, as matter for greater praise, there is added the precursor's upbringing, at the place: And the child grew, etc.
Three things are said concerning the precursor's origin.
Now three things concur in describing the birth of the precursor, which were foretold by the Angel. The first is the birth from a barren woman; the second is the circumcision of the infant, which is described at the place: And it came to pass on the eighth day; the third is the opening of the priestly mouth, at the place: And immediately his mouth was opened.
— The birth is shown to have been timely in the mother, perfect in the offspring, joyful in the neighborhood.
105. (Verse 57). The birth, I say, was timely in the mother by reason of the time; on account of which he says: For Elizabeth the time of her delivery was fulfilled, and thus it was timely that she should give birth, because, Ecclesiastes three, "all things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven." It was fulfilled, I say, according to the fulfillment of the angelic word, as was said above in the same chapter: "Behold, you shall be silent until the day in which these things shall come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time." Truly fulfilled, because the fullness of time had already come, in which Christ was to come; Galatians four: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son," etc.
106. The birth was also perfect in the offspring by reason of the male sex; on account of which he says: And she brought forth a son, not a daughter. Such offspring Anna sought in First Kings one: "Lord, if you will remember me and give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life." — She also brought forth with perfect strength, with no impediment hindering her; against which is said in Isaiah thirty-seven: "The children have come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth." — She also brought forth a son perfected by heavenly grace, so that what is said in Wisdom four would apply to him: "Being made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled a long time."
107. (Vers. 58.). Joyful also was it in the neighborhood by reason of the celebrated and common report; on account of which it says: And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they congratulated her. And thus was fulfilled what the Angel had foretold: "And many shall rejoice at his birth," namely the neighbors and kinsfolk, because it belongs especially to such people to rejoice together; below in the fifteenth chapter: "The woman who found the lost drachma calls together her friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost." And they congratulated her: for she herself likewise rejoiced, according to that passage of John 16: "But when a woman has brought forth a child, she no longer remembers the anguish, on account of the joy that a man has been born into the world"; and therefore they congratulated her. - Because the Lord magnified his mercy with her, that is, he wrought a great mercy; whence she could say that word of the Psalm: "I will praise you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever, for your mercy is great upon me." For the Lord magnifies those whom he loves; Wisdom, last chapter: "In all things you magnified your people, O Lord, and did not despise them."
108. (Vers. 59.). And it came to pass on the eighth day. After the birth from the aged one follows the circumcision of the infant, in which according to custom was made the imposition of the name, first according to the human designation from blood-relationship; second, according to the prophetic revelation from the mother; third, according to the authoritative affirmation from the father himself. - The circumcision is therefore introduced with the human designation, when it is said: On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, namely so that they might fulfill the precept of the Law; Genesis 17: "An infant of eight days shall be circumcised among you," because "the male whose flesh of the foreskin shall not have been circumcised shall perish from his people." - And they called him by the name of his father, Zechariah, according to the customary manner, because sons were accustomed to be called by the name of their fathers; Tobit 1: "Tobias begot a son, bestowing his own name upon him," so that by this he might signify that the father lives on in so noble a son, according to that passage of Sirach 30: "His father died and it is as though he did not die, for he left behind one like himself. In his life he saw and rejoiced in him."
109. (Verse 60.) But since in John there was no place for a name according to human designation, therefore there follows the naming according to prophetic revelation in Elizabeth, when it is said: And his mother answering said: Not so, but he shall be called John. And this indeed she said, having been taught by the Holy Spirit: whence Ambrose says: "By the spirit of prophecy she learned what she had not learned from her husband." For since he had not been conceived by the power of nature but by the power of grace, he ought not to be called Zacharias after his father, but "John" from the gift of grace, so that one born in a new manner might be called by a new name: Isaiah sixty-two: "You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord has named."
110. (Verse 61.) And because the relatives were thinking carnally, they did not accept the name of grace: therefore it is added: And they said to her: There is none among your kindred who is called by this name. But their objection was of no account, because, as Ambrose says, "this name is not of family but of a prophet. For the merits of the Saints have this, that they receive their name from God, just as Jacob was called Israel, Genesis thirty-two, because he saw God"; so also of Solomon, 2 Kings twelve: "He called his name beloved of the Lord ." And since there was here a contention between grace and nature, between human designation and prophetic revelation, therefore they sought the paternal opinion, so that he himself might pronounce the authoritative declaration.