The Magnificat
My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord (English):
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His Name.
And His Mercy is from generation unto generations upon them that fear Him.
He hath showed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our Fathers, Abraham and His seed forever.
(Luke 1:46-55)
The Magnificat, As the Canticle of Mary
“Magnificat” is the Latin title given to the “Song of Mary”, the beautiful poem of Luke 1:46-56. But whoever thinks that Maria said all that improvised, acting “suddenly”, is wrong.
The poem is a collection of verses taken from the Old Testament, against the background of the so-called “Song of Hannah” (cf. I Sam 2, 1-10).
And, in this sense, it is a poem by poor women, not only because it marks the meeting of Maria and Isabel, but because it constitutes the memory of a group that we need to know more deeply.
By attributing the poem to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Luke’s community wants, among other things, to affirm that the young mother was part of God’s poor.
Scripture contains this prayer of Mary’s joy and wonders at her role in the mystery of the Incarnation.
The Church recites this beautiful prayer daily at Evening Prayer (Vespers) in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Magnificat anima mea Dominum, et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore meo, quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae.
Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes, quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est, et sanctum Nomen eius, et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo, dispersit superbos mente cordi sui; deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles; esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum, recordatus misericordiae, sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham et semini eius in saecula.
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