Such extraordinary joy was not surprising. Jesus Christ, speaking to the Jews, says: _Abraham frater vester, exultavit ut videret diem Meum_--'Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day.' All the prophets desired ardently the promised Messiah, and rejoiced that at His coming their predictions would be fulfilled. We may well believe, therefore, that St. John rejoiced at the presence of this long-desired Messiah, in the immaculate womb of the Holy Virgin, Who had come to visit him and begin the work of Redemption, delivering him from original sin. It would not have been fitting that he, who was chosen to prepare the way of the Lord, should, at his birth, bear the stain of original sin. On this account, therefore, Our Lady repaired to the house of St. Elizabeth, that the Child, Whom she bore and Who was the Sanctifier of souls, might, in this visit, purify the glorious St. John from original sin and sanctify him. This He did with such fulness of grace that many Doctors are of opinion that he never sinned even venially. The charity, of which the heart of our glorious Queen was full, caused her to co-operate in this work of sanctification. No wonder that she should have been so ardent in love and zeal for the salvation of men when she bore in her bosom Charity Itself, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world! All faithful souls should rejoice when they are visited by our Divine Saviour in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, or by the interior graces which are so often vouchsafed them, or by the many inspirations and loving words which He addresses to them when knocking at the door of their hearts. Under what an obligation are they not to correspond to so many favours, and with what care and fidelity should they not fulfil the Most Holy Will of their Divine Saviour! O my dear Sisters, Daughters of the Visitation of Our Lady and of St. Elizabeth, since you have Mary for your Mother, you should have nothing so much at heart as to imitate her particularly in her humility and charity. These are the two virtues which especially animated her when she visited the house of Zachary. Like her, you should visit, diligently and joyfully, your Sisters, when they are suffering, and endeavour to aid each other in your spiritual and temporal infirmities. Be most careful and diligent in those things in which humility and charity are most required. To be numbered amongst the Daughters of Our Lady, it is not sufficient to live in a house of the Visitation and wear the Religious habit. If you would not wrong such a Mother, you must imitate her in her virtues and the sanctity of her life. Be careful, then, to conform your life to hers. Be mild, sweet, humble, charitable, good; magnify Our Lord continually with her, and be assured, beloved souls, that, if you fulfil your duties with humility and fidelity during the whole course of your life, you will, after death, be admitted to the Holy Virgin in heaven, singing, '_Magnificat anima mea Dominum_.' [1]