Magnificat
The Canticle of Our Lady
The Canticle of Our Lady, her song of praise at the Visitation, sung each evening at Vespers.
Magnificat anima mea Dominum,
et exsultavit 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 eius.
Et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo:
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede,
et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis,
et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum,
recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros,
Abraham et semini eius in saecula.
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 to his seed for ever.
Translation source: fisheaters.com/prayers.html
About this prayer
The Magnificat is the song of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which she sang in the house of her cousin Saint Elizabeth when, bearing the Lord in her womb, she was greeted as the Mother of her Lord (Saint Luke 1:46-55). It takes its name from its first Latin word, Magnificat, "doth magnify." In it Our Lady, the lowly handmaid on whom God has looked, foretells that all generations shall call her blessed, and turns every praise back to Him who is mighty and whose name is holy.
Her canticle echoes the song of Anna in the Old Testament and gathers up the hope of Israel, proclaiming a God who scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and lifts up the lowly and the hungry, faithful to the promise made to Abraham and to his seed for ever. The Church sings the Magnificat every evening at Vespers, the summit of that hour, honouring it with incense and with standing, that each day may close with Mary's thanksgiving upon the lips of her children.