Theotokos
Posted on 05/11/2005 10:04:08 AM PDT by NYer
The Magnificat [Latin: magnifies], also called the Canticle of Mary, is recorded in the Gospel of Luke (1:46-55). It is the Virgin Mary's joyous prayer in response to the Angel Gabriel's annunciation to her that she will become the mother of the Son of God. This great hymn forms part of the Church's prayer in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours). When it is recited as part of the Divine Office, it is followed by the Gloria Patri ("Glory be"). The traditional sung Magnificat is Latin plainchant. One of the hymn's most glorious musical renditions is the version of the Magnificat by J.S. Bach.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the Magnificat as "the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church" [CCC 2619], and explains this prayer's significance:
Mary's prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the Incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Father's plan of loving kindness: at the Annunciation, for Christ's conception; at Pentecost, for the formation of the Church, His Body. In the faith of His humble handmaid, the Gift of God found the acceptance He had awaited from the beginning of time. She whom the Almighty made "full of grace" responds by offering her whole being: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to Thy word". "Fiat": this is Christian prayer: to be wholly Gods' because He is wholly ours. [CCC 2617]
The Magnificat appears below both in English and in Latin.
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Scripture text: Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition
Magnificat anima mea Dominum;
Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo,
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae; ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum nomen ejus,
Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam brachio suo;
Dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes.
Sucepit Israel, puerum suum, recordatus misericordiae suae,
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham et semeni ejus in saecula.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
I saw the title and read the first sentence.
For some reason, your name came to mind.
Ping.
It was a startling paradigm shift to realize we treated her so allergically — and one which, I have since noticed, isn't unusual for converts. Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, told me once that when he was still hanging back from the Church because of Mary, a blunt priest he knew asked him, "Do you believe her soul magnifies the Lord? It's right there in Scripture." Ahlquist reflexively answered back, "Of course I do! I know the Bible!" But even as he replied he was thinking to himself, "I never really thought of that before." It can be a disorienting experience.
Magnify in the Magnificat means to glorify, so basically Mary is saying her soul glorifies God. This is very significant, because she does not say her lifestyle or actions glorify the Lord (i.e. "lead a life pleasing to God"). If Mary had simply said, "My life magnifies/glorifies the Lord," it would not have been significant at all, many people can honestly make this claim, in fact this is what all Christians strive for. However, Mary spoke of her soul, a person cannot do anything to make their soul pleasing to God, our souls are tainted with Original Sin, until our souls are cleansed by God's forgiveness it is impossible for them to magnify/glorify the Lord because they are intrinsicly displeasing to God. Yet Mary's soul does magnify/glorify the Lord -- and there can only be one possible explanation for this, Mary's soul had to be free from the stain of sin for her to make this statement.
Prior to the Magnificat, Elizabeth gave the following greeting to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" If Mary is blessed among women, that has to mean that Mary is the most blessed of ALL women ever. Eve was not created in a state of sin, Eve was created free from sin; therefore, Mary's conception had to be as pure as Eve's creation. For this statement to be correct, we must logically conclude that the Mother of God is superior in all ways to the mother of Cain, and it would have to mean that Mary never committed sin as Eve did.
A minor remark.
her lack of faith (allegedly demonstrated in Mark 3:21)
Never heard of this one.
20 And they come to a house, and the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.Clearly, the "friends" in Verse 21 is not His Mother because she and His "brothers" arrive at the scene later in Verse 31 and are properly identified as family members:21 And when his friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him. For they said: He is become mad.
22 And the scribes who were come down from Jerusalem, said: He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils he casteth out devils.
(Mark 3:20-22)
31 And his mother and his brethren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
Yeah, I read the title and winced 'cause I, like you, know what is coming.
Sorry but none of this sounds like objections "evangelicals" have with Mary. Relying on what the Catholic Church says is not an objective analysis of scriptural text.
Mr. Shea may try to pass himself off as an "evangelical" but a little searching on his web page says otherwise.
I've often wondered why none of them can give a good explanation to the following statement made by Martin Luther: "It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin." (This was from a sermon Luther gave in 1527, years after he had completely broken with Rome, and more than three centuries BEFORE the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed by the Pope.) If Catholics "invented" the Immaculate Conception in the 19th century, how is it that Luther was preaching about it in the 16th century?
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ95.HTM
John Calvin also had the following to say about Mary's perpetual virginity: "[On Matt 1:25:] The inference he [Helvidius] drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband . . . No just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words . . . as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called 'first-born'; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin . . . What took place afterwards the historian does not inform us . . . No man will obstinately keep up the argument, except from an extreme fondness for disputation." But obviously Calvin, like Luther lacked the Biblical scholarship of Jack Chick's comic books, otherwise they never would have said any of this./biting sarcasm is intentional
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ460.HTM
This is nonsense. That any evangelical would ascribe to our soveriegn God an inability to reach the Gentiles, except through Paul, is Catholic nonsense.
Just one example of the strawmen in this piece that could fill a barn.
How about he was a human being and therefore not immune from error.
We most likely will not hear what Martin Luther or John Calvin had to say about the Pope or the Catholic Church. I'm sure you won't agree with them on these topics.
I have never understood why it is considered sin to have sex with my spouse and conceive a child. Can anyone enlighten me cause I just don't get it.
****So many Christians who love Jesus with all their hearts recoil in fear at the mention of His mother's name,****
Not at the real Mary of the Bible, but at the demi-savior mother figure created out of mostly theological speculation.
We have been repeatedly warned in the Scripture about not accepting substitutes.
St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori
Oh yeah, how quickly I forget.
If any respected or notable Protestant makes a statement with which evangelicals disagree, he is "human and not immune from error." However, if a Catholic makes a statement with which evangelicals disagree, he is "following false and unbiblical teachings." But what interests me most is that the only possible conclusion one can make is that evangelicals ALONE are always correct (presumably because evangelicals KNOW how to read and interpret scripture, they are somehow immune to error).
St. Hilary of Poitiers
Do you believe this? Or are you just posting this to show the Catholic belief on this subject?
No, I don't believe it. I'm just trying to help my Catholic friends show how deep their devotion to Mary is.
Who told you that?
Hunh?
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