Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour because he has looked on the lowliness of his handmaid. From now on all generations will call me Blessed” (Lk 1, 46-48). In the Magnificat the Blessed Virgin Mary sings her immense gratitude to God who looked not at a queen of that day but on the humility of a simple girl in Nazareth. In the depth of her heart, in love with eternal Love, Mary magnifies the Lord and exults in her spirit for the immense treasure He has poured into her womb and, filled with joy, she exclaims prophetically: “from now on all generations will call me Blessed!”.
We too belong to these generations, called to join Mary in her Magnificat to rejoice with her for the infinite goodness of God who, thanks to Mary’s “Fiat”, reveals Himself resplendent in the human face of Jesus Christ.
The Heart of Mary educates and forms our own heart to sing like her: a canticle of praise and thanks to the Lord for the wonders He works in every human heart. Jesus says in the Gospel: “My Father is always at work and I too work” (Jn 5, 17); to know this Work of Love of the Most Holy Trinity more deeply we are invited to join in Mary’s Magnificat.
In fact the spirit of the ‘all pure’, immaculate Mary reawakens our spirit pulling it out of the torpor and greyness into which it not rarely falls, leading it to rejoice in God our Saviour. With her everything awakens and rejoices, people leap for joy, as during the meeting with her cousin Elizabeth: “the moment Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child in her womb leapt” (Lk 1, 41). Mary’s Magnificat permeates the whole Church and calls every soul to join her and open to receive divine mercy.
How important it is therefore to make our life a Magnificat: to welcome God’s goodness and to experience gratitude, to radiate it with our whole being, as Mary did with everyone she met. We cannot truly accept a gift without being grateful to the giver. The Magnificat is a sign of authentic acceptance and sincere gratitude for every gift of God.
Without gratitude actions are senseless: “If you knew the gift of God!” (Jn 4, 10). It is necessary to know in order to appreciate and be grateful. Gratitude is a fruit of interior and exterior awareness and it is fundamental for life. It must be practised from childhood so that our life is not a melancholic litany of complaints but instead a song of praise. Mary’s Magnificat teaches us about prayer and gratitude.
Mary proclaimed the Magnificat, this splendid canticle, not only for herself but for all generations who call her ‘blessed’ and join in communion of heart and mind with her endless praise learning from her, the Mother of the Church, to welcome the Saviour in our heart and in the Church, in order to carry Him to the world. Who better than Mary can give us Christ? Who better than Mary can teach us how to receive Him?
May the Magnificat be for all Christians the prayer which warms the heart and urges it to go towards the men and women of every generation. (Agenzia Fides 20/9/2006, righe 38, parole 567)
