Soon after the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the astonishing news that she would bear the long-awaited Messiah, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also expecting a child. As Mary greeted Elizabeth, the child in Elizabeth's womb (John the Baptist) leaped inside her. Elizabeth exclaimed to Mary, "God has blessed you among all women. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" Mary responded by singing a song of praise to God, commonly known as the Ma...