Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. (Luke 24: 50-51)

Saint Joan was the child a fairly well-to-do peasant couple in Domremy-Greux southeast of Paris. She was 12 when she experienced a vision and heard voices that she later identified as Saints Michael the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. Popular devotion to her increased in 19th-century France and later among French soldiers during World War I. She is the Patron Saint of France and members of the Military. Saint Joan, pray for us.

This feast dates back to the 13th or 14th century, and it was established widely throughout the Church to pray for unity. Elizabeth’s praise of Mary as “the mother of my Lord” often is viewed as the earliest Church’s devotion to Mary. As with all authentic devotion to Mary, Elizabeth first praises God for what God has done to Mary and then secondly, she praises Mary for trusting God’s words.