| Part ofa series of articles on |
| Mariology |
|---|
.jpg) |
| General perspective |
| Specific views |
| Prayers and devotions |
| Ecumenical |
 Christianity portal |
TheMagnificat (Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]") is acanticle, also known as theSong of Mary orCanticle of Mary, and in theByzantine Rite as theOde of the Theotokos (Greek:Ἡ ᾨδὴ τῆς Θεοτόκου). Its Western name derives from theincipit of its Latin text. This most popular of all canticles is used within theliturgies of theCatholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, theLutheran Church and theAnglican Communion.[1]
The text of the canticle is taken from theGospel of Luke (1:46–55) where it is spoken byMary upon the occasion of herVisitation to her cousinElizabeth.[2] In the narrative, after Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant withJohn the Baptist, the latter moves within Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth praises Mary for herfaith (using words partially reflected in theHail Mary), and Mary responds with what is now known as the Magnificat. Some ancient authorities have Elizabeth, rather than Mary, speaking the Magnificat.[3][4]
The Magnificat is one of the eight most ancient Christianhymns and perhaps the earliestMarian hymn.[2][5] Within the whole of Christianity, the canticle is most frequently recited within theLiturgy of the Hours. InWestern Christianity, the Magnificat is most often sung or recited during the main evening prayer service:Vespers[1] in the Catholic andLutheran churches, andEvening Prayer (or Evensong) inAnglicanism. The traditional form is found theBook of Common Prayer (1662) and inCommon Worship,[6][7] as well as theBook of Common Prayer (1928) andBook of Common Prayer (1979) of theEpiscopal Church (United States).[8][9] InEastern Christianity, the Magnificat is always sung atMatins. The Magnificat may also be sung during worship services, especially in theAdvent season during which these verses are traditionally read.
Mary's Magnificat, recorded only in Luke's Gospel, is one of four hymns, distilled from a collection of early Jewish-Christian canticles, which complement the promise-fulfillment theme of Luke'sinfancy narrative. These songs are Mary's Magnificat; Zechariah'sBenedictus (1:67–79); the angels'Gloria in Excelsis Deo (2:13–14); and Simeon'sNunc dimittis (2:28–32). In form and content, these four canticles are patterned on the "hymns of praise" in Israel'sPsalter. In structure, these songs reflect the compositions of pre-Christian contemporary Jewish hymnology. The first stanza displays graphically a characteristic feature of Hebrew poetry—synonymous parallelism—in ascribing praise to God: "my soul" mirrors "my spirit"; "proclaims the greatness" with "has found gladness"; "of the Lord" with "in God my Savior". The balance of the opening two lines bursts out into a dualMagnificat of declaring the greatness of and finding delight in God. The third stanza again demonstrates parallelism, but in this instance, three contrasting parallels: the proud are reversed by the low estate, the mighty by those of low degree, and the rich by the hungry.[10]
Although there is some scholarly discussion of whether the historical Mary herself actually proclaimed this canticle, Luke portrays her as the singer of this song of reversals and the interpreter of the contemporary events taking place. Mary symbolizes bothancient Israel and the Lucan faith-community as the author/singer of theMagnificat.[10]Adolf von Harnack argued in 1900 that Luke 1:46 should be read as "And Elizabeth said ..." in accordance with several ancient readings. Jeffrey Kloha notes that "few commentaries and no editions of the Greek New Testament produced in the last half-century concur with his judgment", although he maintains there is a case for accepting the attribution to Elizabeth.[4]
The canticle echoes several biblical passages, but the most pronounced allusions are to theSong of Hannah, from theBooks of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1–10). Scriptural echoes from theTorah, theProphets, and theWritings complement the main allusions to Hannah's "magnificat of rejoicing".[10] Along with theBenedictus, as well as several Old Testament canticles, theMagnificat is included in theBook of Odes, an ancient liturgical collection found in some manuscripts of theSeptuagint.[citation needed]
As with other canticles and psalms, Western liturgical tradition usually adds the doxology known asGloria Patri to the end of the Magnificat. This is not found in the original text.[citation needed]
In a style reminiscent ofOld Testamentpoetry andsong, Mary praises the Lord in alignment with this structure:
| Vulgate[12] | Book of Common Prayer (1662) |
|---|---|
TheGloria Patri is appended to the canticle but is not part of Luke's Gospel.
|
TheGloria Patri is appended to the canticle, but is not part of Luke's Gospel.
|
Traditional
Modern
The oldest (likely original) version of theMagnificat was written inKoine Greek.[16]
InEastern Orthodox worship, theOde of the Theotokos is accompanied by the following refrain sung between the verses (asticheron) and amegalynarion, which is the second part of theAxion Estin hymn:
Amharic
In the Oriental Orthodox Church Scripture of Ethiopia according to theYe' Luqas Wongel, Gospel of Luqas (Luke):
46፤ ማርያምም እንዲህ አለች።
47፤ ነፍሴ ጌታን ታከብረዋለች፥ መንፈሴም በአምላኬ በመድኃኒቴ ሐሴት ታደርጋለች፤
48፤ የባሪያይቱን ውርደት ተመልክቶአልና። እነሆም፥ ከዛሬ ጀምሮ ትውልድ ሁሉ ብፅዕት ይሉኛል፤
49፤ ብርቱ የሆነ እርሱ በእኔ ታላቅ ሥራ አድርጎአልና፤ ስሙም ቅዱስ ነው።
50፤ ምሕረቱም ለሚፈሩት እስከ ትውልድና ትውልድ ይኖራል።
51፤ በክንዱ ኃይል አድርጎአል፤ ትዕቢተኞችን በልባቸው አሳብ በትኖአል፤
52፤ ገዥዎችን ከዙፋናቸው አዋርዶአል፤ ትሑታንንም ከፍ አድርጎአል፤
53፤ የተራቡትን በበጎ ነገር አጥግቦአል፤ ባለ ጠጎችንም ባዶአቸውን ሰዶአቸዋል።
54-55፤ ለአባቶቻችን እንደ ተናገረ፥ ለአብርሃምና ለዘሩ ለዘላለም ምሕረቱ ትዝ እያለው እስራኤልን ብላቴናውን ረድቶአል።
The translation of the hymn intoChurch Slavonic is as follows:[17]
In modern Cyrillic (Russian) :
The text forms a part of thedaily office in the CatholicVespers service, theLutheranVespers service, and theAnglican services ofEvening Prayer, according to both theBook of Common Prayer andCommon Worship. In theBook of Common Prayer Evening Prayer service, it is usually paired with theNunc dimittis. TheBook of Common Prayer allows for an alternative to theMagnificat—theCantate Domino, Psalm 98—and some Anglican rubrics allow for a wider selection of canticles, but theMagnificat andNunc dimittis remain the most popular. In Anglican, Lutheran, and Catholic services, theMagnificat is generally followed by theGloria Patri. It is also commonly used among Lutherans at theFeast of the Visitation (July 2).
InEastern Orthodox liturgical practice, theMagnificat is always sung during theMatins service before theIrmos of the ninth ode of thecanon (except on greater feasts of the Lord or the Theotokos, where the magnificat is excluded completely). After each biblical verse, i.e. as asticheron, the followingmegalynarion ortroparion is sung:
More honourable than theCherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than theSeraphim, without corruption thou gavest birth to God theWord: trueTheotokos, we magnify thee.[18]
As a canticle, theMagnificat has frequently been set to music. Most compositions were originally intended for liturgical use, especially for Vesper services and celebrations of the Visitation, but some are also performed inconcert.
In the Catholic Church, theEnchiridion Indulgentiarum of 2004 provides for partialindulgence.[19]
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Magnificat" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
As the Magnificat is part of the sung Vespers, many composers, beginning in theRenaissance, set the words to music, for exampleClaudio Monteverdi in hisVespro della Beata Vergine (1610).Henry Dumont,André Campra (1713),Antoine-Esprit Blanchard (1741),Marc-Antoine Charpentier, 10 settings (H.72, H.73, H.74, H.75, H.76, H.77, H.78, H.79, H.80, H.81),François Giroust (12 settings),Vivaldi composeda setting of the Latin text for soloists, choir, and orchestra, as didJohann Sebastian Bach in his Magnificat (1723, rev. 1733). Other notable examples include C.P.E. Bach'sMagnificat and two extant settings byJan Dismas Zelenka (ZWV 106 is missing).
Anton Bruckner composed aMagnificat for soloists, choir, orchestra, and organ.Rachmaninoff and, more recently, John Rutter also composeda setting, inserting additions into the text.
Dieter Schnebel wrote a Magnificat in 1996/97 for small choir (schola), percussion and additional instruments ad libitum.Arvo Pärt composeda setting for choira cappella.Kim André Arnesen's Magnificat for choir, strings, piano, and organ premiered in 2010.[citation needed] TheTaizé Community have also composed an ostinato setting of the text.
Together with theNunc dimittis, the Magnificat is a regular part of the AnglicanEvensong. The "Mag and Nunc" has been set by many composers – such asThomas Tallis,Ralph Vaughan Williams,Herbert Sumsion,Charles Wood andJohn Tavener – ofAnglican church music, often for choir a cappella or choir and organ. Since the canticles are sung every day at somecathedrals,Charles Villiers Stanford wrote a Magnificat in every major key, andHerbert Howells published 18 settings over his career, including theCollegium Regale setting and theMagnificat and Nunc dimittis forSt Paul's Cathedral.
AnEastern Orthodox setting of the Magnificat (text in Latin and English) is to be found in the 2011All-night Vigil (Section 11) by the English composer Clive Strutt.
Maria Luise Thurmair wrote in 1954 the lyrics for a popular Germanecumenical hymn based on the Magnificat, "Den Herren will ich loben", set to a 1613 melody byMelchior Teschner (that ofValet will ich dir geben).Timothy Dudley-Smith wrote "Tell Out, My Soul", a popular paraphrase of the Magnificat, in 1962.Krzysztof Penderecki composed an extendedMagnificat for the 1200th anniversary of theSalzburg Cathedral in 1974, for bass soloist, men's and boys' voices, two mixed choirs and orchestra.
The oratorioLaudato si' composed in 2016 byPeter Reulein on alibretto byHelmut Schlegel includes the full Latin text of the Magnificat, expanded by writings ofClare of Assisi,Francis of Assisi andPope Francis.[20]
InNicaragua, theMagnificat is a favorite prayer among many peasants and is often carried as asacramental. During theSomoza years,campesinos were required to carry proof of having voted for Somoza; this document was mockingly referred to as aMagnificat.[21]
During theBritish Raj, Anglican ArchbishopWilliam Temple joked to evangelistJack Winslow, who was sympathetic to Indian independence, that singing the Magnificat would make him look even more like a revolutionary than wearinghome-spun Indian clothing already did.[22]
One outward sign which made clear our sympathy with Indian nationalism was our wearing ofkhaddar, the home-spun and home-woven cloth of the country. We did not wear it for political purposes but because we preferred Indian to foreign goods. Khaddar, however, was in fact the badge ofMahatma Gandhi and his followers, and we could not wear it without conclusions being drawn as to where our political sympathies lay. Such conclusions were drawn, not only by our Indian friends, but by officials of the British Government as well. They regarded us, I fear, with not a little suspicion, specially during the days of the Civil Disobedience Movement. On occasion members of theC.I.D. would be sent to mingle among our guests. Sometimes they would attend our evening worship, perhaps expecting some address with political bearings such as Gandhi often gave at his Prayer Meetings. I mentioned this once toWilliam Temple. 'Be careful,' he said, with his characteristic laugh, 'not to sing the Magnificat. It's a most revolutionary canticle!'
| Family | | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life |
| ||||||||||||||
| Mariology |
| ||||||||||||||
| Veneration |
| ||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
