The Magnificat: Mary’s Hymn of Praise for Our Lord (2024)

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The Magnificat, taken from Luke’s Gospel (1:46-55), is the BlessedVirgin Mary’s hymn of praise to the Lord. It is also known as theCanticle of Mary in the Liturgy of the Hours, a special collection ofscripture readings, psalms, and hymns that constitute what is known asthe prayer of the church. (Priests and other religious are required topray sections from the Liturgy of the Hours each day.)

Although the Magnificat has had numerous musical settings fromsuch composers as Palestrina, Bach and Mozart, it can be recited as wellas sung. Its name comes from the first line of its text in Latin(“Magnificat anima mea Dominum”) translated in the first line below.Mary proclaims the Lord’s greatness with characteristic humility andgrace here.

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

The Magnificat provides great material for meditation on theVisitation, the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, pictured above.When the angel Gabriel informs Mary that she is to be the Mother of God,he also tells her of her relative Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John theBaptist.

After Mary gives her famous consent to becoming the Mother ofGod, -- “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according tothy word” (Luke 1:38) -- she goes “with haste” (1:39) to help Elizabeth,who is delighted to see her. Our Lady then expresses her joy in theMagnificat.

We can admire Mary’s devotion (as well as her stamina!) in setting out on what must have been an arduous journey to go from Nazareth, where she lived, to a town in Judah where her cousin lived, about 70 miles away.

(Remember, this was in an era when she couldn’t just hop in a car or a bus to get there!)

Clearly Mary, in hastening to help her cousin, is focused onservice to others. In this way she glorifies the Lord in reflecting (and“magnifying”) His goodness and love. And, of course by becoming theMother of God she will help Him redeem us for our salvation in HisPassion!

Speaking of magnifying, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once referredto our Blessed Mother as being like “a magnifying glass that intensifiesour love of her Son.”

Note that Mary’s joyful claim that “all generations shall call meblessed” in no way takes away from her humility. If she seems to boasthere, it is much as St. Paul does later on in scripture when he says“whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord” (2 Cor 10:17), that is tosay, in God’s work being done through us.

In this regard, the Magnificat is more than a prayer of praise.It also reminds us about the essential link between humility andholiness. Just as God has “regarded the lowliness of his handmaid” and“has done great things” for Mary in making her the Mother of his Son, sotoo “he has put down the mighty from their thrones (with his ownmight!) and has exalted the lowly.”

(Note also our Blessed Mother’s humility in referring to herselfin this prayer, as she does in giving her consent to Gabriel mentionedearlier, as the Lord’s handmaid, his servant!)

As her Divine Son later stressed “Whoever exalts himself shall behumbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt 23:12,also in slightly different words in Luke 18:14 and Luke 14:11).

Jesus wasn’t saying anything new here, either! We read similarthoughts in throughout the Old Testament such as in the Psalms and inthis example from the book of Sirach “Humble yourself the more, thegreater you are, and you will find favor with God.” (Sirach 3:19)

The line about God filling “the hungry with good things”resonates later in the Gospels as well, when our Lord says “Blessed arethey who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled”(Matt 5:7). This serves as a good reminder for us to “stay hungry” forGod’s graces in praying and in reading His word in scripture.

And as for the rich being sent away empty? This line refers tothose who live for wealth and power and feel they have everythingfigured out. These people in, effect wish to be Gods rather than God’s.How can our Lord fill those who are already full--of themselves?

How about you? Does your soul magnify the Lord? We may never beable to approach Him from Mary’s level of sanctity as the Mother of God.Still, we are all called to be saints nonetheless.

Your good example, like our Blessed Mother’s, can help others intheir spiritual growth. Do people see Christ’s love and goodness inyou? Are you letting God work within you to accomplish His will? LetMary help give you the graces you need to follow her Son and His Churchin praying the Magnificat.

As St. Ambrose once said in referring to this wonderful prayer,"Let Mary's soul be in us to glorify the Lord; let her spirit be in usthat we may rejoice in God our Saviour."