The Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Magnificat, also called
Canticle of Mary or
Ode of the Theotokos, in
Christianity, the
hymn of praise by
Mary, the mother of
Jesus, found in Luke 1:46–55. The Magnificat has been incorporated into the liturgical services of the Western churches (at
vespers) and of the Eastern Orthodox churches (at the morning services). In
Scripture, the hymn is found after the jubilant meeting of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, and her relative Elizabeth, pregnant with
St. John the Baptist. Though some scholars have contended that this
canticle was a song of Elizabeth, most early Greek and Latin manuscripts regard it as the “Song of Mary.”
It is named after the first word of its first line in Latin (“Magnificat anima mea Dominum,” or “My soul magnifies the Lord”). Elaborate musical settings have been created for the Magnificat. It has been chanted in all eight modes of the
plainsong and has been the subject of numerous other settings. The Magnificat is sung each day at evening prayer, or vespers, in religious houses and in those other churches where vespers is celebrated.