As later, when Christ came to be baptized, John rebuked Him out of reverence, saying: "I am not worthy" (Matt. 3:14, 11), so now he proclaims through his mother: "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord came to me," calling the pregnant woman the Mother, before She gave birth to the Lord. It is not customary to call other wives mothers before they give birth, for fear of unfortunate childbirth, that is, an eruption; and there was no such suspicion about the Virgin. Maria! And before Thou didst give birth, Thou art a Mother, and blessed, because Thou didst believe that there would be a fulfillment of what the Lord had said to Thee.

     And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, because He has looked upon the humility of His servant, for henceforth all generations shall bless Me. that the Mighty One hath made me great, and his name is holy; and His mercy is for generations of generations to those who fear Him.

The Virgin, being absolutely sure of the truth of what was foretold to Her, glorifies God, attributing the miracle not to Himself, but to Him; for he, he says, hath looked upon me humble, and I did not look upon him; He showed Me mercy, and I did not seek Him. And "henceforth all generations shall bless Me," not only Elizabeth, but also the generations of believers. For what to please? Is it for My virtue? No! But because God has shown greatness over Me. - She called Him "Strong" so that everyone would believe Her words, considering that the Lord is able to do this. "His name" was called "holy" in order to show that the Purest One, conceived in the womb of a woman, is not in the least defiled, but remains Holy. "His mercy" is not to Me alone, but also to all who fear Him; for those who do not fear Him, but those who are utterly unworthy, receive no mercy. Having said that God's mercy "unto generations of generations," she pointed out that those who fear God receive mercy both in the present generation, that is, in the present age, and in the future generation, that is, in the endless age; for here also they receive a hundredfold, and there even more (Matt. 19:29). Listen: first the soul magnifies the Lord, then the spirit rejoices. Or what is the same thing: the one who walks worthy of God magnifies God. You are called a Christian, do not belittle the dignity and name of Christ through unworthy deeds, but magnify it through the performance of great and heavenly deeds, Then your spirit will rejoice, that is, the spiritual gift you have received through great deeds will rise and prosper, and will not be diminished and, so to speak, will die. Know also that the Scriptures seem to simply call the same thing the spirit and the soul, but that they actually distinguish. For it calls a natural man one who lives according to nature and is guided by human thoughts, for example, in case of hunger he eats, hates the enemy, and in general does not appear to rise above nature in any way; and he calls spiritual the one who overcomes the laws of nature and does not speculate about anything human. Such is the difference in Scripture between the soul and the spirit (1 Cor. 2:14-15; Gal. 6:8). Perhaps doctors distinguish them differently, but we need to listen to the Scriptures, and let doctors err.

     He showed the power of His arm; He scattered the haughty in the thoughts of their hearts; He hath cast down the mighty from their thrones, and hath exalted the humble; He filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty; He received Israel His servant, remembering mercy, as He had spoken to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed for ever. And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house. 

The Father's muscle is the Son; thus, God and the Father in His Son manifested power and power over nature, for at the incarnation of the Son, nature was defeated: the Virgin gave birth, God was made man, and man became God. The Lord "scattered the haughty" demons, expelling them from the souls of men and sending some into the abyss, and others into swine. We can also understand the Jews, whom He scattered throughout every country, and who are still in the diaspora. "He brought down the mighty from the thrones," that is, the demons who had dominion over people and had thrones in the souls of men, resting in them. But the Pharisees are also strong, as stealers of what belongs to the poor, and as teachers, they have thrones from which they were deposed. He "lifted up the humble" people or the Gentiles, whom sin humbled them; He exalted them, granting them sonship; like the hungry, the same, that is, the Gentiles (for they had no scriptures, law, or commandments), He filled with the good things of the Scriptures, and the Jews, who were rich in the law and commandments, He sent them out of Jerusalem, mountainous and efficient, devoid of all good things. For the Jews now have nothing, although they seem to have. "He took Israel His servant." It speaks either of the sensual Israelites, for many tens of thousands of them believed, and God's promise to Abraham was fulfilled, who said to him: "And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3); or it speaks of spiritual Israel, for whosoever seeth God is called Israel, for the name signifies, he that seeth God; and so, he received these who saw God, raising them up to a heavenly inheritance. - Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, then returned. Since Elizabeth had to give birth, the Virgin withdraws for the sake of the multitude of those who are gathered together for the birth, for it is unseemly for the Virgin to be in such circumstances. And from the fact that the Virgin returned at the time for Elizabeth to give birth, it is evident that the Angel came to Mary in the sixth month from the conception of the Forerunner; yes, Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months; It's almost nine months.

     And the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and wanted to name him, after the name of his father, Zacharias. To this his mother said, "No, but call him John." And they said to her, There is no one in thy kinsman who is called by this name. And they asked his father by signs what he would like to call him. He demanded a tablet and wrote: John is his name. And everyone was surprised. And immediately his mouth and his tongue were opened, and he began to speak, blessing God. 

The Virgin remained with Elizabeth for about three months, perhaps because she was struck by a miracle and needed some consolation, which she could find in her stay with Elizabeth; but when the birth drew near, she departed. "And the time has come for Elizabeth to give birth"; It should be noted that it is not said about sinners - the time to give birth is fulfilled, but only where it is said where the one who is born is righteous. For the generations of sinners are usually imperfect and incomplete, and it would be better for them if they were not born. - Why was the name given after circumcision? Because first you need to receive a seal from God, and then a human name. In other words, circumcision means the rejection of carnal attributes, for no one is worthy to be called a soldier of God and to be inscribed by name in the book of heaven before he rejects and cuts off carnal attributes. Elizabeth said of the name that his name was John, as a prophetess. Or perhaps John himself assigned a name; for he gave his mother the gift of prophecy. Zachariah, unable to make signs to them, asks for a tablet; And when he was in complete agreement with his wife about the name of the child, everyone was surprised, for this name was not in their kinship, and no one could say that both of them had agreed on it before the time. John means the grace of God; therefore the father immediately received grace and prophesies first about Christ, and then about the son.