(Exsurgens Maria abliit in montana)
cum festinatione in civitate(m)
Iuda. Ps(almus) Dixit Domin(us)…
Intravit maria
in domum zachari
et saluta-

(Rising, Mary went away into the hills)
with haste to the town of Juda.
Psalm. The Lord said…Mary entered
the house of Zacharias and greeted…

vit elisebeth (Psalmus)
Laudate p(ueri Dominum)… Ut au-
divit salutatione(m)
marie Elisabeth
exultavit infans in
utero eius et…

Elisabeth. Psalm. O servants, praise the Lord…
When Elisabeth heard the greeting
of Mary, the child leapt in her womb and…

These hymns are sung at vespers on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as related in the Gospel of Saint Luke. The Feast is celebrated variously but usually on May 31 or July 2. The story follows the narration of the Annunciation (Luke 1, 26-38) where the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive and bear a son. The passage demonstrates the love and concern of Mary for her aged cousin who is six months pregnant and foregrounds the importance of Elisabeth who will become the mother of John the Baptist. Some scholars note the details of the annunciation and visitation in a comparison between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, both containers of godhead.

~Transcription, translation and commentary contributed by James T. Svendsen, associate professor emeritus, Dept. of , The University of Utah

MS chant frag. 6 — Leaf from an Antiphonal, 16th c. Italy/S. France. Parchment leaf from the Prosper of Saints, Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (2 Jul), Second Vespers

~Identification contributed by Elizabeth Peterson, associate professor, Dept. of Art and Art History, The University of Utah, from Paging Through Medieval Lives, a catalog for an exhibition held November 2, 1997 through January 4, 1998 at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts