Magnificat

"My soul magnifies the Lord,"

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,"

"Union with God, the great aim of all prayer and all worship finds its clearest expression in the Magnificat at the end of the day office. All the joy of liturgical prayer leads to oneness with God, and flows out of him again: ‘And my spirit rejoiced in God my Saviour'."

"Mary knows that within her a child is gestating. For she thereupon composed a song. It is the greatest song in history. This "Magnificat" is the battle-hymn of democracy. Sensing a child within her, Mary feels herself equal to the Roman Empire; and she announces that the days of despotism are numbered. Caesar on his seven-hilled throne may sacrilegiously style himself Augustus, "the divine one." But Mary as confidently disallows him that title. Heaven is not on the side of privilege and oppression, she affirms, but is rather on the side of the trodden. Rome is great, but Galilee with God is greater. In this song three classes of people are objects of Our Lady's invective — " the proud," "the mighty," and "the rich." And she passes upon them a threefold sentence: they are to be "scattered," "put down from their seats," and "sent empty away.""

"The Magnificat that Mary recites to Elizabeth contains the interpretation of her personal mission, a mission that almost disappears in the greatness of God who conferred it upon her. She begins by exalting God and puts all the joy of her soul into this praise. She has always prayed in silence and will continue to do so as long as she lives. However, it is part of her mission to pray once before witnesses, in public. At this moment, God needs her as a follower who must respond to what Elizabeth perceives in her; this response is suggested to her by the Father himself and contains her entire message to Elizabeth and, through her, to humanity."

"The Magnificat shows us how carefully the Mother keeps all God's words in her heart. She says only what her mission requires, remaining silent about everything else. However, her words reveal that she knows much more. Her silence is not forgetfulness, but memory. She includes everything in her prayer and now, since her Son is in her womb, her prayer has become more indivisible than ever from that of her Son."