The Feast of the Visitation celebrates the providential meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, when two of the Church's greatest prayers were first spoken. After being told by the Archangel Gabriel that she would give birth to the Son of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who was then pregnant with John the Baptist. In the presence of Jesus in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, Elizabeth exclaimed through the Holy Spirit, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" Mary, overflowing with joy, responded with her Magnificat.