Discovering the Breviary
The Magnificat: The Canticle of Mary
“The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name”
We know of the story of the Visitation. After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her of the birth of Jesus, he also informed her of the pregnancy of Elizabeth. Then, Mary set out and travelled to find Elizabeth. After their greetings, we hear of the Magnificat, the Canticle of Mary:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.He has helped Israel is servant, remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
(Luke 1:46–55 NABRE)
In the Catholic Church, many of us have find ourselves identifying with these words of Mary. We have a famous hymn of the Filipino translation of the Magnificat. The Roman Breviary also uses this as the Gospel Canticle for the Evening Prayer.
Indeed, what would be a more meaningful end-of-day prayer than to praise and thank God for everything that has happened throughout the day? And this is what the Breviary has taught us. After a good and fulfilling day, it is time to praise the Lord. It is time to thank the Lord by proclaiming the greatness of the Lord, and by rejoicing in God our Savior.
There are many reasons to be thankful for. There are many reasons to rejoice in the Lord and to proclaim his greatness, and Mary has enumerated these:
(1) God has done great things for us; (2) He has shown mercy on us; (3) He has shown his might protecting us from the strong and satisfying our daily needs; and (4) He has been faithful to his promise to Abraham, our ancestor in faith.
Now, what if your day did not go well? I would say that we should still be thankful. We should still rejoice in the Lord, because, even if the day did not go well, God has preserved us until the end of the day. He has shown mercy on us, keeping us alive and safe. Furthermore, we continue to hope in his immense kindness and mercy, and look forward with hope to the time when he fulfills his promise to our forefathers in faith.
And such is the wisdom of Mary’s Magnificat.
Ave Maria!
This is the fourth installment of my series “Discovering the Breviary,” which is a set of essays related to the Roman Breviary. The first article written is “A ‘New’ Way of Prayer”; the second is “Starting the Day Right with Invitatory Psalms”; the third is “The Canticle of Zechariah”. You can view these by clicking the titles in this paragraph.
