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Why did John the Baptist leap in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary arrived?
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Mary
Madonna and Child, oil and tempera on panel by Antonello da Messina, 1475; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
According to the Gospel According to Luke, when Mary arrived to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth felt her unborn child, St. John the Baptist, leap in her womb at the sound of Mary’s greeting.12
Elizabeth interpreted this movement as the child leaping for joy in the presence of the mother of his Lord. Furthermore, later Roman Catholic doctrine affirms that this event signified that John the Baptist had been sanctified and cleansed of original sin, effectively experiencing a form of baptism while still in the womb.21