Antiphona ad Benedictus

From Luke 1:43-44, Elizabeth's exclamation: 'Et unde hoc mihi, ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me?' (and whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?). Elizabeth's question expresses the humility proper before grace: she does not claim the visit but wonders at it. The Baptist's prenatal recognition ('exsultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo') confirms the Incarnation before Christ's birth: John knew his Lord in the womb. At Lauds on the Visitation (July 2), this antiphon establishes the feast's themes: Mary's charitable haste, Elizabeth's humble reception, John's prophetic recognition.