The Gospel of Luke gives the only Biblical account of the Visitation: And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

In 1389 Pope Urban VI, hoping thereby to obtain an end to the Great Western Schism, inserted it at the urging of John of Jenstein, Archbishop of Prague, in the Roman Calendar, for celebration on July 2.

[3] It continued to be assigned to July 2, the day after the end of the octave following the birthday of John the Baptist, who was still in his mother's womb at the time of the Visitation.

[4] The 1969 revision of the Roman calendar moved it to May 31, between the "Annunciation of the Lord (25 March) and that of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (24 June), so that it would harmonize better with the Gospel story.

[citation needed] The celebration of a feast day commemorating this event in the Eastern Orthodox Church is of relatively recent origin, dating only to the 19th century.

Pointing to the veneration of the Mother of God in the Catholic Church, German theologian Justus Knecht (1839–1921), writes that:[10] In the Magnificat Mary said prophetically: "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."

Mary’s loving heart sympathised with the happiness of her cousin; she desired to wish her joy, rejoice with her, and join her in praising God’s mercy.

Thirdly, Mary, as the holy Fathers teach, wished to minister to her cousin, and help her in her household affairs.Some Catholic commentators have maintained that the purpose of this visit was to bring divine grace to both Elizabeth and her unborn child.

Even though he was still in his mother's womb, John became aware of the presence of Christ, and leapt for joy as he was cleansed from original sin and filled with divine grace.

Elizabeth also responded and recognised the presence of Jesus, and thus Mary exercised her function as mediatrix between God and man for the first time.

Its masculine third person singular counterpart "evlogimenos" is used only for Jesus and only on this occasion and when he was welcomed into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".