Church Fathers Commentary Luke 1:39-45

"And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed [is] she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord." — Luke 1:39-45 (ASV)

St. Ambrose of Milan: To build up the Virgin’s faith by an example, the Angel, when he announced the hidden mysteries to her, related the conception of a barren woman. When Mary heard it, she did not disbelieve the divine message, feel uncertain about the messenger, or doubt the example. Instead, rejoicing in the fulfillment of her wish and conscientious in her duty, she gladly went into the hill country. For what could Mary, now filled with God, do but ascend to the higher regions with haste?

Origen of Alexandria: For Jesus, who was in her womb, hastened to sanctify John, who was still in his mother’s womb. This is why the text says she went “with haste.”

St. Ambrose of Milan: The grace of the Holy Spirit knows nothing of slow workings. Learn, you virgins, not to loiter in the streets or engage in public chatter.

Theophylact of Ohrid: She went into the mountains because Zechariah lived there, as it says, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah. Learn, O holy women, the attention you ought to show your pregnant relatives. For Mary, who previously lived alone in the privacy of her room, was not held back by a virgin’s modesty from the public gaze, nor by the rugged mountains from pursuing her purpose, nor by the tediousness of the journey from performing her duty.

Learn also, O virgins, the humility of Mary. She came as a relative to her next of kin, the younger to the elder. Nor did she merely come to her, but she was the first to offer a greeting, as it follows: And she greeted Elizabeth. For the more chaste a virgin is, the more humble she should be and ready to yield to her elders. Let her, who professes chastity, therefore be a model of humility. Mary is also an example of piety, in that the higher went to the lower so that the lower might be assisted: Mary to Elizabeth, Christ to John.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, the Virgin kept all these things to herself, not revealing them to anyone, for she did not believe that any credit would be given to her wonderful story. Indeed, she thought she would suffer reproach if she told it, as if wishing to hide her own guilt.

Greek Expositors: But she turns to Elizabeth alone, as she was accustomed to do because of their relationship and other close bonds of union.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Soon the blessed fruits of Mary’s coming and our Lord’s presence became evident. For it follows, And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. Mark the distinction and appropriateness of each word. Elizabeth first heard the word, but John first experienced the grace. She heard according to the order of nature; he leaped because of the mystery. She perceived the coming of Mary; he, the coming of the Lord.

Greek Expositors: For the Prophet sees and hears more keenly than his mother and greets the chief of the Prophets. But as he could not do this in words, he leaps in the womb, which was the greatest sign of his joy. Who ever heard of leaping before birth? Grace introduced things that were foreign to nature. Enclosed in the womb, the soldier acknowledged his Lord and King who was soon to be born; the covering of the womb was no obstacle to this mystical sight.

Origen of Alexandria: He was not filled with the Spirit until she who bore Christ in her womb stood near him. Then indeed he was both filled with the Spirit and, by leaping, imparted grace to his mother, as it follows: And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. We cannot doubt that she who was then filled with the Holy Spirit was filled because of her son.

St. Ambrose of Milan: She who had hidden herself because she had conceived a son began to rejoice that she carried a prophet in her womb. She who had before blushed now gives her blessing, as it follows: And she spoke out with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women.” She exclaimed with a loud voice when she perceived the Lord’s coming, for she believed it to be a holy birth. But she says, “Blessed are you among women,” for no one was ever, or could ever be, a partaker of such grace, since for the one Divine seed, there is only one parent.

The Venerable Bede: Mary is blessed by Elizabeth with the same words used before by Gabriel to show that she was to be revered by both men and angels.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But because there have been other holy women who have borne sons stained with sin, she adds, “And blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Another interpretation is that after saying, “Blessed are you among women,” as if someone were asking the reason, she answers, “And blessed is the fruit of your womb.” This is like the verse, “Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has shown us light” (Psalm 118:26-27), for the Holy Scriptures often use “and” to mean “because.”

Titus of Bostra: Now she rightly calls the Lord the fruit of the virgin’s womb, because He did not proceed from a man, but from Mary alone. For those who are conceived by their fathers are the fruits of their fathers.

Greek Expositors: This fruit alone, then, is blessed, because it is produced without a man and without sin.

The Venerable Bede: This is the fruit promised to David: “Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne” (Psalm 132:11). From this passage we derive the refutation of Eutyches, because Christ is stated to be the fruit of the womb. For all fruit is of the same nature as the tree that bears it. It follows, then, that the virgin was also of the same nature as the second Adam, who takes away the sins of the world.

But let those who invent elaborate fictions concerning the flesh of Christ also blush when they hear of the real childbearing of the mother of God, for the fruit itself proceeds from the very substance of the tree. And where are those who say that Christ passed through the virgin as water through an aqueduct? Let them consider the words of Elizabeth, who was filled with the Spirit, that Christ was the fruit of the womb. It follows: “And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43).

St. Ambrose of Milan: She says this not out of ignorance, for she knew it was by the grace and working of the Holy Spirit that the mother of the prophet should be greeted by the mother of his Lord for the advancement and growth of her own child. But being aware that this was not from any human merit but a gift of Divine grace, she therefore says, “Why is this granted to me?”—that is, “By what right of mine, for what have I done, for what good deeds?”

Origen of Alexandria: In saying this, she is in agreement with her son, for John also felt that he was unworthy of our Lord’s coming to him. But she gives the name “the mother of our Lord” to one still a virgin, thus anticipating the event with words of prophecy. Divine foreknowledge brought Mary to Elizabeth so that the testimony of John might reach the Lord, for from that time Christ ordained John to be a prophet. This is why it follows, “For behold, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded...” etc. (Luke 1:44).

St. Augustine of Hippo: But to say this, as the Evangelist stated beforehand, she was filled with the Holy Spirit. By His revelation she undoubtedly knew what the child’s leaping meant: namely, that the mother of Him whose forerunner and herald that child was to be had come to her.

Such, then, might be the meaning of so great an event, to be known indeed by adults but not understood by a little child. For she did not say, “The babe leaped in faith in my womb,” but “leaped for joy.” We see not only children leaping for joy, but even cattle, and surely not from any faith, religious feeling, or rational knowledge. But this joy was strange and unusual, for it was in the womb, and it occurred at the coming of her who was to bring forth the Savior of the world.

This joy, therefore, and this reciprocal greeting, as it were, to the mother of the Lord, was caused (as miracles are) by divine influence in the child, not by him in any human way. For even supposing that reason and will had been so far advanced in that child that he could know, believe, and assent in his mother's womb, this must surely be classified among the miracles of divine power, not attributed to human precedent.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The mother of our Lord had come to see Elizabeth and also the miraculous conception. The angel had told her that seeing this would confirm her belief in the far greater conception that was to happen to her. The words of Elizabeth refer to this belief: “And blessed are you who have believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told you from the Lord” (Luke 1:45).

St. Ambrose of Milan: You see that Mary did not doubt, but believed, and therefore the fruit of faith followed.

The Venerable Bede: Nor is it surprising that our Lord, about to redeem the world, began His mighty works with His mother, so that she, through whom the salvation of all was prepared, should herself be the first to reap the fruit of salvation from her child.

St. Ambrose of Milan: But happy are you also who have heard and believed, for whatever soul has believed both conceives and brings forth the word of God and knows His works.

The Venerable Bede: Every soul that has conceived the word of God in the heart immediately climbs the lofty summits of the virtues by the stairs of love, so as to be able to enter the city of Judah (that is, the citadel of prayer and praise) and abide, as it were, for three months in it, until it reaches the perfection of faith, hope, and charity.

St. Gregory the Great: She was touched by the spirit of prophecy at once, concerning the past, present, and future. She knew that Mary had believed the promises of the Angel; she perceived, when she gave her the name of mother, that Mary was carrying the Redeemer of mankind in her womb; and when she foretold that all things would be accomplished, she also saw what was to follow in the future.