And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to
me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your
greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who [h]believed,
for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.
(Luke I, 41-45).
There are references to the fact that one of the saints (perhaps John the Chrysostome, I do not remember and, unfortunately, could not find it), that the words of Elizabeth are in fact also the words of St. John the Baptist, her child in the womb. According to this explanation, John was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb and began to prophesy in the womb with her mouth. Taking this explanation into account as well, let us then look at the relationship between the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, the Mother of God, John the Baptist, and Elizabeth. We will notice important details here.
Elizabeth's words (also according to explanation above, John the Baptist's, but this does not affect
further reasoning) are at the same time the words of the Holy Spirit, God. They are addressed to
both Mary and the Son of God, God. That is why it is very important to look at them. Mother of my
Lord
is the words of Elizabeth (for for the Holy Spirit the Son of God is not Lord, but is the One
and Equal, the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity for the Third One), but these words are also the
words of the Holy Spirit. He adopted Elizabeth's humanity to Himself, but not in the natural
sense, not in the way that the Son of God had accepted humanity, human nature, but graciously and, on
the other hand, relatively. It is gracious, for He acts upon Elizabeth blessedly, inspiredly with
love, and relatively, for He speaks on her behalf. The Holy Spirit speaks on behalf of the human,
Elizabeth, and therefore Elizabeth can speak those words naturally as a human, but at the same time
supernaturally, as a revelation of truth from the Holy Spirit. St. John of Damascus in the An Exact
Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
calls that relative adoption.
Pleased is she who believed
— here Elizabeth and the Holy Spirit continue and speak of Mary in the third
person, now assimilating to Themselves the state of all mankind, not just Elizabeth, before whom
Mary stands. Elizabeth and the Holy Spirit seem to see the situation from the sidelines, from a
certain distance. And it is done for the sake of us and our salvation. This is the second
adoption, which is a gift of God for Elizabeth and us. The Holy Spirit manifests how He desires
to save people, all mankind, not just Mary, John in the womb, and Elizabeth. You see, the Holy
Spirit, God, endowing human with grace, looks at everything in part also through his (her) eyes. And
human, accepting the gift of grace, also looks to God. The Holy Spirit takes His knowledge, God's
one, and adopts to Himself in relation to ours, endows people with His own knowledge.
More to come. Mary already has the Holy Spirit, who does not manifest Himself so explicitly to
Elizabeth's greeting. And then He begins to manifest Himself clearly. Mary begins to sing (prophesy)
a song for God. The deed of the Holy Spirit extends further, bringing more people, more creation, to the glory
of God. If we consider that these are also the words of John in the womb, then self-acceptance,
adoption and giving becomes actually twice as much.
After all, Elizabeth also speaks on behalf
of John, like the Holy Spirit. In the whole process described, we also see more clearly what
God-breathedness is.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever! Amen.