The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee closed out the Month of Mary by celebrating the Visitation on Tuesday.

The feast day commemorates Mary visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, while both women were with child.

“In the first chapter of Luke, we read of Mary's visit with Elizabeth. John the Baptist, in Elizabeth's womb, ‘leaped for joy’ at the greeting of Mary, carrying Jesus in her womb,” the diocese posted on social media. 

Britannica’s entry about the Visitation relies heavily on the Gospel reading the diocese cited, saying that Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist, who leapt inside of her when Mary spoke. 

Elizabeth, filled with the Spirit, offers one of the earliest examples of why the Church is so devoted to Mary, the diocese’s post said. "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled,” it said, referring to Luke 1:45. “Blessed Mother, please pray for us!”

The Visitation is celebrated to showcase Mary's humility and her willingness to be used in accordance with God's will, The Basilica of the National Shrine explains. It adds that Pope Benedict XVI once said of the feast day, "Let us bring the same sentiments of praise and thanksgiving of Mary to the Lord, her faith and her hope, her docile abandonment in the hands of Divine Providence. May we imitate her example of readiness and generosity in the service of our brethren. Indeed, only by accepting God’s love and making of our existence a selfless and generous service to our neighbor, can we joyfully lift a song of praise to the Lord.” 

Pope Francis tweeted about the day. ”Mary’s faith is prophetic,” the pope wrote. “By her very life, Mary is a prophetic sign pointing to God’s presence in human history, his merciful intervention that confounds the logic of the world, lifts up the lowly and casts down the mighty (Lk 1:52). #Visitation”