My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins, and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

St. Luke tells us, And the angel said to her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

And the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.

And behold, your kinswoman, Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son.

And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Try to imagine the interior world of this young woman.

Mary was overwhelmed with joy that the Messiah had finally come.

The chosen people had been waiting for this moment for centuries.

She could hardly contain herself.

Who could she share this great news with?

Who else but the one whom Gabriel had included in his message

when he announced Elizabeth's miraculous conception.

Mary and Elizabeth were thus intimately connected in this unique divine enterprise.

No words can describe the intensity of Mary's emotions as she set out for the hill country of

Judea to the village of Ayn Kareem,

90 miles to the south of Nazareth. For starters, one does not quickly forget conversing with

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