The Magnificat
Mary's song of praise — "My soul doth magnify the Lord."
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded
the low estate of his handmaiden:
for, behold, from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him
from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with his arm;
he hath scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
Amen.
About this prayer
The Magnificat is the song Mary sang when she met her cousin Elizabeth — the first words spoken in praise of the unborn Christ. It has been sung at vespers in monasteries every evening for fifteen centuries. Its politics are striking: God scatters the proud, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry. It is a revolutionary's song in the mouth of a teenage girl.
When to pray it
In the evening. When you have received good news. When you need to remember that God lifts up the small.