Monday Morning Music Ministry

12-9-24

One of the oldest, dearest, and powerful yet tender prayers of Christianity is called the “Magnificat.” Its title comes from the phrase in Mary’s prayer, recorded in the Gospel According to St Luke, in ancient words “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”

The Bible relates that Mary offered the prayer when she visited her cousin Elizabeth to announce that she was with child. Mary had been “visited” by the Holy Spirit and told she bore the Savior of Humankind; Elizabeth was pregnant with the future John the Baptist.

Various denominations observe the Feast of the Visitation on a gestation-period before Christmas by the calendar, but the celebration is common in the Advent Season as Christmas approaches; and that is what we do here today. Every day of the year, of course – every moment of our lives – it is appropriate to observe and celebrate the Incarnation: the coming of Emmanuel, God-With-Us.

Mary’s prayer, the Magnificant, is also a miraculous summation of the response she had, and we should have, to God’s favor bestowed on His people. It is a masterpiece of Christian humility, even while accepting God’s particularized blessing. In a literary view, it is the perfect balance of the human and the spiritual: in the form of ancient Hebrew poetry there is paralellism – the relation of “my soul” and “my spirit”; “greatness” and “rejoicing”; “the Lord God” and… “my Savior.” Universal truths suggested by phrases contrasting the “proud” and the “humble”; the “mighty” versus those of “low degree”; the “rich” confronted by the “hungry.”

In Western churches, where it still holds a place in the calendar or liturgy (mostly Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions; but in no way restricted to them) the Magnificat is celebrated in evening service. In Orthodox faiths it traditionally is part of morning worship. Scores of writers and poets through the years have contemplated the Magnificat, and scores of composers have set it to reverent music. It is a universal prayer!

In fact, and somewhat predictably, my favorite musical setting all my life has been the Magnificat of Johann Sebastian Bach. His short but amazing composition typically achieves the delivery of the prayer’s layers of meaning and spiritual significance. When the choir, for instance, sings “All generations…” many groups sing the phrase repeatedly, separately and in harmony, a musical cascade – and we behold a musical image of angels and saints of the ages calling Mary’s name “blessed.”

… and not only Mary’s name. Of course the Magnificat is her response to the Annunciation. The angel Gabriel announced that she is “blessed,” not Holy in the sense that Jesus was Holy. She recognized that she was a handmaiden, a humble servant – and that is where we must focus too.

For as Mary carried the Savior in her womb, we can have that same Jesus live in our hearts. Hallelujah!

So with regard to factors of time and space and circumstance, we can tailor this prayer to be our own prayer, too. Magnify the Lord… rejoice in His favor… cherish what He has done for us… and what He has promised!

My soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord God, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has looked with favor on His humble 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 those of low degree, the humble.

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 has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.

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Click: Bach’s Magnificat