Mary went in haste to her cousin Elizabeth, and we may see her physical haste as a symbol of a great desire to help and serve her kinswoman. Since Mary is already pregnant with Jesus, we may also read the story of the Visitation against the background of the passage from the Song of Songs suggested as an alternative first reading. There are different ways of presenting the spiritual and mystic meaning of the Song of Songs. For example, the speaker may be the human soul and the lover is God. We may understand the speaker as symbolic of humanity desiring God to come as Saviour. So Mary goes in haste to Elizabeth, and Jesus comes in haste to save humanity: "I have come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were blazing already! There is a baptism that I still must receive and how great is my anxiety until it is over." (Lk. 12:49-50).

The story of the Visitation contains a Beatitude: "Blessed is she who believed that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled". It is a Beatitude spoken by a woman to a woman, and as such is especially significant.