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Ordinary Time
Visitation of Our Lord's Mother to Elizabeth (Lutheran/Catholic/Anglican)
May 31 (fixed)
LutheranCatholicAnglican
The feast commemorating Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39–56), during which John the Baptist leaped in the womb and Mary proclaimed the Magnificat. This feast, retained from pre-Reformation practice, concludes the month of May (traditionally devoted to Mary) and precedes the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24) by exactly four weeks.
It usually falls on or around May 31 (fixed). It is especially important in Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican traditions.
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At a glance
- Type
- feast
- Date type
- Fixed (same date every year)
- Regions
- Global
- Themes
- Mary, Life of Christ
- Liturgical colour
- White
Common questions
Visitation of Our Lord's Mother to Elizabeth (Lutheran is observed on May 31 (fixed). Moveable feasts shift each year; fixed feasts stay on the same calendar date.
The feast commemorating Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39–56), during which John the Baptist leaped in the womb and Mary proclaimed the Magnificat. This feast, retained from pre-Reformation practice, concludes the month of May (traditionally devoted to Mary) and precedes the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24) by exactly four weeks.
It is associated with Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican. It falls in the Ordinary Time season of the liturgical year.
Related holidays
- Transfiguration of the LordAugust 6 (fixed)Read guide
- Nativity of St. John the BaptistJune 24 (exactly six months before Christmas; Luke 1:26 sets Gabriel's visit to Mary six months after Elizabeth's conception)Read guide
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin MaryAugust 15 (fixed)Read guide
- Holy Cross Day (Anglican)September 14 (fixed)Read guide