St Francis de Sales Commentary
The Visitation. Mary’s Visits to Our Souls
What a lovely and beneficial thing it is to be visited by this Holy Lady, since her visit always brings us many benefits! My God! we might say, I wish she would do me the grace of visiting me! And for what? To have consolation, sweetness, and pleasure in prayer.
I wish she would visit me as she did Saint Elizabeth! But would you receive her as Saint Elizabeth did? Certainly, Mary frequently visits us through interior lights that she gives us for our advancement in perfection, and we do not want to receive her. Let us observe that Mary visits her cousin because it is customary among relatives to visit one another. What then shall we do to have the joy of being her relatives! — What shall we do? — Oh God! There are a thousand ways to do so. —
Do we want to be relatives of the Blessed Virgin? Let us receive Communion, and by receiving the Most Holy Sacrament, we will receive the flesh of her flesh and the blood of her blood; for the precious body of the Savior, which is in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, was made and formed in the womb of this Virgin, of her purest blood, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Since we cannot be related to her like Saint Elizabeth, let us be so by imitating her virtues and her most holy life, for by this means we will be so in a more excellent way than is the relationship of flesh and blood. If, then, we wish to participate in the visits of the Most Holy Virgin, we must not ask her for consolation, but rather resolve to suffer dryness, aridity, and sorrows so great that at times we may seem abandoned by God.
We must not deceive ourselves: if we want her to visit us, we must embrace suffering. She did not visit Saint Elizabeth until after she had suffered much contempt and abjection due to her sterility. Let us not think that devotion can be practiced without difficulty; where there is more suffering, there is often more virtue.
In short, to receive this holy visit, one must undergo an interior transformation and die to oneself, so as to live only for God and for God; in a word, to humble oneself greatly, following the example of Saint Elizabeth. Let us do so faithfully, during this short and miserable life, so that with the glorious Virgin we may eternally sing in heaven: My soul magnifies the Lord! A beautiful and admirable song, surpassing all those sung in the Old Law by other women! A song more excellent than that of Judith , more beautiful beyond compare than that sung by Moses’ sister when the children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea and Pharaoh and the Egyptians were buried in the water (Ex 15), more beautiful than that sung by Deborah and Barak after God had given them victory over their enemies (Judges 5).
In short, more beautiful than all the songs sung by Zechariah, Simeon, and all the others mentioned in Scripture! (Luke 1 and 2). (First and Second Sermon on the Visitation)
Source: La-Sma-Virgen-Maria-segun-San-Francisco-de-Sales.pdf