Main Page

"And it came to pass that, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb." It was at this moment that God fulfilled the promise made by the angel to Zachary (Luke, i, 15), "and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb"; in other words, the infant in Elizabeth's womb was cleansed from the stain of original sin. The fullness of the Holy Ghost in the infant overflowed, as it were, into the soul of his mother: "and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost" (Luke, i, 41). Thus both child and mother were sanctified by the presence of Mary and the Word Incarnate (cf. Aug., ep. CLXXXVII, ad Dardan., VII, 23 sq., P.L., XXXIII, 840; Ambr., Expos. Evang. sec. Luc., II, 23, P.L., XV, 1561); filled as she was with the Holy Ghost, Elizabeth "cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that halt believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord" (Luke, i, 42-45). Read More.

See also: Meditations for the Month of May, Rosary, Feast of the Holy Rosary, Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, Feast of the Assumption.

Works Recently Added:

• The Roman Catechism.
• St. Leo the Great, Sermons.
• St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on Advent and Christmas.
• Dionysius the Areopagite, The Heavenly Hierarchy.
• St. Bonaventure, The Life of Saint Francis.
• Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Meditations for the Month of May.

The Dominican Portal — Resources related to the Order of Preachers.

A famous painter of the Florentine school, born near Castello di Vicchio in the province of Mugello, Tuscany, 1387; died at Rome, 1455. He was christened Guido, and his father's name being Pietro he was known as Guido, or Guidolino, di Pietro, but his full appellation today is that of "Blessed Fra Angelico Giovanni da Fiesole". He and his supposed younger brother, Fra Benedetto da Fiesole, or da Mugello, joined the order of Preachers in 1407, entering the Dominican convent at Fiesole. Giovanni was twenty years old at the time the brothers began their art careers as illustrators of manuscripts, and Fra Benedetto, who had considerable talent as an illuminator and miniaturist, is supposed to have assisted his more celebrated brother in his famous frescoes in the convent of San Marco in Florence. Read more about the life of Fra Angelico or view selections of his artwork in our gallery.