Today, May 31st, we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation!

St. Francis’s treatment of the mystery of the Visitation shows his realism

and practicality that take the form of his conviction that

the Visitation is not an event consigned to the past, but ever

present in the here and now in daily experience: God “breaks

into” human life at every turn, and Mary, in the first place, and

the “saints of the Visitation” model the appropriate human response

to these daily divine visitations. This is consonant with

Salesian spirituality’s stress not on dramatic exploits, acts of

great heroism, and visible mortification, but on a deep appreciation

for the significance of little things, the ordinary, and the

everyday: doing the ordinary with extraordinary care, attention,

and, most importantly, love.”

Chorpenning: The Visitation in St. Francis de Sales

Published by eCommons, 2002