Seeing myself in the story of the Feast of the Visitation

I come again to the story of the Feast of the Visitation after 36 years of pastoral ministry. When my younger self chose it as my ordination text, I identified with Mary’s youthful revolutionary fire. I still do. But as I age, I’ve begun to see myself in Elizabeth, and I’m noticing some new components in the story as well. 

According to Luke, as soon as the angel Gabriel departs, Mary hurries off to visit her cousin. We’re given a detail that only now has begun to intrigue me: the visit lasts three months. Why does Luke mention three months? If Luke was a beloved physician, as Paul claims, he would surely know that the first three months are a most vulnerable time of pregnancy. A large percentage of miscarriages happen in the first trimester, and many women choose not to share news of their pregnancy until the first three months have passed. 

Dr. Luke would also know about morning sickness. While every body is different, morning sickness is most common during the first three months. For the majority of women, the body adjusts to the rush of hormonal changes by the end of the first trimester, and morning sickness goes away. It seems that Mary hastens to reach Elizabeth before morning sickness can have a chance to seriously hinder her travels. I wonder if she ends up staying three months because it takes that long before she feels well enough to make the return trip. For many women, and this was certainly my experience, morning sickness is 24/7.