VISITATIONS
Noun
visitations
plural of visitation
Source: Wiktionary
VISITATION
Vis`it*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. visitatio: cf. F. visitation.]
1. The act of visiting, or the state of being visited; access for
inspection or examination.
Nothing but peace and gentle visitation. Shak.
2. Specifically: The act of a superior or superintending officer who,
in the discharge of his office, visits a corporation, college, etc.,
to examine into the manner in which it is conducted, and see that its
laws and regulations are duly observed and executed; as, the
visitation of a diocese by a bishop.
3. The object of a visit. [Obs.] "O flowers, . . . my early
visitation and my last." Milton.
4. (Internat. Law)
Definition: The act of a naval commander who visits, or enters on board, a
vessel belonging to another nation, for the purpose of ascertaining
her character and object, but without claiming or exercising a right
of searching the vessel. It is, however, usually coupled with the
right of search (see under Search), visitation being used for the
purpose of search.
5. Special dispensation; communication of divine favor and goodness,
or, more usually, of divine wrath and vengeance; retributive
calamity; retribution; judgment.
What will ye do in the day of visitation Isa. x. 3.
6. (Eccl.)
Definition: A festival in honor of the visit of the Virgin Mary to
Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist, celebrated on the second of
July. The Order of the Visitation of Our Lady (R. C. Ch.), a
religious community of nuns, founded at Annecy, in Savoy, in 1610,
and in 1808 established in the United States. In America these nuns
are devoted to the education of girls.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition