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Magnificat Biography & Facts

The Magnificat (Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]") is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (Greek: Ἡ ᾨδὴ τῆς Θεοτόκου). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Communion. Its name comes from the incipit of the Latin version of the text. The text of the canticle is taken from the Gospel of Luke (1:46–55) where it is spoken by Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. In the narrative, after Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, the latter moves within Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith (using words partially reflected in the Hail Mary), and Mary responds with what is now known as the Magnificat. Some ancient authorities have Elizabeth, rather than Mary, speaking the Magnificat.The Magnificat is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn. Within the whole of Christianity, the canticle is most frequently recited within the Liturgy of the Hours. In Western Christianity, the Magnificat is most often sung or recited during the main evening prayer service: Vespers in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, and Evening Prayer (or Evensong) in Anglicanism. The traditional form is found the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and in Common Worship,as well as the Book of Common Prayer (1928) and Book of Common Prayer (1979) of the Episcopal Church (United States). In Eastern Christianity, the Magnificat is always sung at Matins. The Magnificat may also be sung during worship services, especially in the Advent season during which these verses are traditionally read. Context 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's infancy narrative. These songs are Mary's Magnificat; Zechariah's Benedictus (1:67–79); the angels' Gloria in Excelsis Deo (2:13–14); and Simeon's Nunc dimittis (2:28–32). In form and content, these four canticles are patterned on the "hymns of praise" in Israel's Psalter. 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 dual Magnificat 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.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 both ancient Israel and the Lucan faith-community as the author/singer of the Magnificat.The canticle echoes several biblical passages, but the most pronounced allusions are to the Song of Hannah, from the Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:1–10). Scriptural echoes from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings complement the main allusions to Hannah's "magnificat of rejoicing". Along with the Benedictus, as well as several Old Testament canticles, the Magnificat is included in the Book of Odes, an ancient liturgical collection found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint.As with other canticles and psalms, Western liturgical tradition usually adds the doxology known as Gloria Patri to the end of the Magnificat. This is not found in the original text. Structure In a style reminiscent of Old Testament poetry and song, Mary praises the Lord in alignment with this structure: Mary rejoices that she has the privilege of giving birth to the promised Messiah (Luke 1:46–48). She glorifies God for His power, holiness, and mercy (Luke 1:49–50). Mary looks forward to God transforming the world through the Messiah. The proud will be brought low, and the humble will be lifted up; the hungry will be fed, and the rich will go without (Luke 1:51–53). Mary exalts God because He has been faithful to His promise to Abraham (Luke 1:54–55; see God's promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1–3).Text Latin and Anglican translation Roman Catholic translation Traditional My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour Because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is from generation unto generations to them that fear Him. He hath shewed might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers; to Abraham and his seed forever.Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.Modern My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on His humble servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed, the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm, He has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the humble.He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.He has come to the help of His servant Israel for He has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen, Alleluia.Greek The oldest (likely original) version of the Magnificat was written in Koine Greek. Μεγαλύνει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον καὶ ἠγαλλίασεν τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρί μου, ὅτι ἐπέβλεψεν ἐπὶ τὴν ταπείνωσιν τῆς δούλης αὐτοῦ. ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν μακαριοῦσίν με πᾶσαι αἱ γενεαί, ὅτι ἐποίησέν μοι μεγάλα ὁ δυνατός, καὶ ἅγιον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ εἰς γενεὰς καὶ γενεὰς τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτόν. Ἐποίησεν κράτος ἐν βραχίονι αὐτοῦ, διεσκόρπισεν ὑπερηφάνους διανοίᾳ καρδίας αὐτῶν· καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς, πεινῶντας ἐνέπλησεν ἀγαθῶν καὶ πλουτοῦντας ἐξαπέστειλεν κενούς. ἀντελάβετο Ἰσραὴλ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ,.... Discover the Magnificat popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Magnificat books.

Best Seller Magnificat Books of 2024

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    The Magnificent Obsession

    Anne Graham Lotz

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    Iris Johansen

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    Lady of Devices

    Shelley Adina

    Book 1 of the Magnificent Devices series! London, 1889. Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin’s son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world.  At 17, Claire T...

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    Trigger Men

    Hans Halberstadt

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    Here Come the Girls

    Milly Johnson

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    John McWhorter

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    James Lovegrove

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    The Magnificent Bastards

    Keith Nolan

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    Magnificent Vibration

    Rick Springfield

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    Magnificent Mind at Any Age

    Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

    It all starts with your brain: how you think, how you feel, how you interact with others, and how well you succeed in realizing your goals and dreams. When your brain works right, ...

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    Nine Days with Saint Michael

    Andrew Hofer OP & Jonah Teller, O.P.

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    Geneen Roth

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    Charles F. Adams

    Get ready to meet twenty of the most interesting, bizarre, colorful, and unforgettable characters to be found in the annals the most interesting, bizarre, colorful, and unforgettab...

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    BakeWise

    Shirley O. Corriher

    The James Beard Award–winning, bestselling author of CookWise and KitchenWise delivers a lively and fascinating guide to better baking through food science.Follow kitchen sleuth Sh...

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    Wonder Girl

    Don Van Natta Jr.

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    Colin Pask

    Will help you appreciate and understand the significance of Isaac Newton's masterpiecewhat many regard as the greatest scientific contribution of all time.Despite its dazzling ...

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    Magnificat

    Julian May

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    MagnifiCat

    Danielle de Valera

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    Jamie Vrinios

    Are you ready to find your warrior within?  Are you willing to stand up in your magnificence and abandon the herd mentality?  Come learn the secrets to become a Warrior M...

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    Magnificat Holy Land Companion

    Magnificat

    A practical, spiritual guide designed to accompany you in personal and liturgical prayer on a pilgrimage through the land of the Bible.Whether you are experiencing the Holy Land in...

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    The Magnificent Seven

    Cheryl St.John

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    Robert J. Cressman

    Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese landbased bombers pounded Wake Island, the American advanced base that was key to the U.S. Navy’s strategy in the Pacific. Throughou...

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    A Magnificent Obsession

    Helen Rappaport

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    The Magnificent Lovers

    Molière

    The scene opens with the pleasant sound of a great many instruments, and represents a vast sea, bordered on each side by four large rocks. On the summit of each is a river god, lea...

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    MAGNIFICAT

    Jack Rein

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    Allison Pataki

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    The Magnificent Adventure

    Emerson Hough

    It was the privilege, and the habit, of the Widow Lewis to sit idly when she liked, but her attitude now was not that of idleness. Intentness, reposeful acceptance of life, rather,...

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    Magnificent Desolation

    Buzz Aldrin & Ken Abraham

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    The Most Magnificent Thing

    Ashley Spires

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    Magnificent Rebels

    Andrea Wulf

    A NEW YORKER ESSENTIAL READ From the bestselling author of The Invention of Nature comes an exhilarating story about a remarkable group of young rebelspoets, novelists, philo...

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    Iris Johansen

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    Magnificat Year of Faith Companion

    Magnificat

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    Nadia Jovie

    What if you died and slipped into another world?Mira Meadows never thought she'd end up dead at thirtythree, but…here she is. Trouble is, here isn't at all what she expected. She d...

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    A Lady of Resources

    Shelley Adina

    Book 5 in the Magnificent Devices series! You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family ... or can you? Now sixteen, the twins Lizzie and Maggie are educated young...

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    The Magnificent Medills

    Megan McKinney

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    Conan the Magnificent

    Robert Jordan

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    The Magnificent Marquis

    Barbara Cartland

    Young, handsome and very rich the Marquis of Harlington has just ended yet another unsatisfactory love affair that has left him feeling bored with women and resigned to the fact th...

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    1434

    Gavin Menzies

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    A Magnificent Catastrophe

    Edward J. Larson

    CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title"They could write like angels and scheme like demons." So begins Pulitzer Prizewinner Edward Larson's masterful account of the wild ride that was t...

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    The Magnificent Ambersons

    Booth Tarkington

    The novel and trilogy trace the growth of the United States through the declining fortunes of three generations of the aristocratic Amberson family in an upperscale Indianapolis ne...

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    The Research Magnificent

    H.G. Wells

    The search of the hero for a kingly life fails because, as he says, I have gone about the world dreaming about tremendous things and I have failed most people. As a character he gi...

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    A Magnificent Crime

    Kim Foster

    Cat Montgomery is a naturalborn thief with a special talent for stealthor at least she thought so. Years ago, she stole from the diamondhoarding businessman Albert Faulkner III, bu...