In the fourteenth century, the Church suffered internally from the Western Schism. In 1378, two men claimed to be the pope. Pope Urban VI resided in Rome, and the anti-pope Clement VII resided in Avignon, France. In 1389, Pope Urban VI instituted the Feast of the Visitation to ask the . Luke tells us that she traveled “in haste.” Though a tiny child within Mary’s womb, the Savior was also God. He had divine knowledge. In His divinity, God the Son desired that His mother assist Elizabeth in her pregnancy and desired to sanctify John the Baptist within his mother’s womb. In this journey “in haste” we see the Son of God’s desire to pour forth His sanctifying grace upon His precursor, John, within the womb. Jesus, within the womb, inspired His mother to make the journey to fulfill His divine will. The “haste” also affected our Blessed Mother. Filled with the Holy Spirit and carrying the Eternal God within her womb, her motherly heart would have sensed her Divine Son’s longing to bestow His first gift of sanctifying grace upon John. She was compelled to travel quickly to Elizabeth so that her Son could fulfill His will. When Mary reached Elizabeth, Elizabeth cried out, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” She called Mary “the mother of my Lord” and revealed that at the moment Mary greeted her, John leapt for joy. Spiritual joy is a reaction to grace, and John encountered grace in that moment. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote that John the Baptist was delivered from Original Sin at that moment and speculated that divine grace might have accelerated John’s use of human reason within the womb to “acknowledge, believe, and consent” (Summa Theologica 3.27.6). The Visitation reveals much about the Blessed Mother. Immediately after her exchange with Elizabeth, Mary sings her Magnificat, glorifying God for His greatness and perfect plan and revealing the beauty of her own soul. The Blessed Mother speaks of her “lowliness” (humility) and that “all ages” will call her blessed. She reveals that God has done “great things” for her because she had a holy fear of the Lord. She further reveals that in her lowly state, God will exalt her, as He will exalt all who humble themselves before Him. The Church greatly needs the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mediatrix of Grace. She is the instrument through which grace entered the world in the Person of her Son. Just as Pope Urban VI saw a need to heal the Church through Mary’s intercession in the fourteenth century, so the Church is also in need of healing today. The haste with which Mary traveled to Elizabeth to introduce her cousin and the child in her womb to the Savior tells us we must not take a lackadaisical approach to evangelization. We must imitate Mary’s holy drive.