Advent: 8 December
Good morning,
Ding-dong merrily on haiku moves to a further part of the Nativity story, known as the Visitation. Luke records that Mary went to see her relative Elizabeth at her home, and the two expectant mothers stayed together for about three months until Elizabeth was due to give birth (to John). Elizabeth’s unborn child leapt in her womb, and she cried out, declaring that Mary and her child were blessed. Elizabeth then asks, Why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
Today’s image is called The Visitation, painted by Master M S (probably Marten Schwartz) in 1506. It once hung in St Catherine’s Church, Selmecbánya (today Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia). I saw it in Budapest at the Hungarian National Gallery, one very snowy March.
Woman to woman,
heavy, hot, exhausted, sick,
the first believers
And a practical thought. If you have graduated from St Andrews, and are enjoying the Advent Calendar, you may want to let us know a non-University email address. We can add that to the mailing list so that when you lose your University email, you will still get your fix of Chaplaincy news and more. You can just let me or the Chaplaincy know if you’d like us to do that.
Yours,
Donald.