The word Magnificat means “magnifies.” It comes from the first line of Mary’s song after she heard Elizabeth’s greeting to her: “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  . . . . Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (NABRE, Luke 2: 43, 45). The complete first line that Mary sings in response is, “My soul proclaims the greatness of [magnifies] the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (NABRE, Luke 2:46).  

The Magnificat, sometimes called the Song of Mary, is one of four songs, or canticles, in Luke’s Gospel. These songs of praise all take place in the “infancy narrative,” that is, during the life of Jesus before his public preaching. The other canticles are: 

• The Song of Zechariah (the Benedictus, “Blessed be,”) Luke 1:67–79. The father of John the Baptist announces the mission of his son to the world. It begins, “Blessed be the God of Israel” (NABRE, Luke 1:68) 

• The Song of the Angels (the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Glory to God in the Highest), Luke 2:13–14. The angels announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.  

• The Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis, “Now you may dismiss”), Luke 2:28–32. Simeon, a priest in the Temple, begins by telling God that God “may let your servant [referring to himself] go in peace” (NABRE, Luke 2:29) for his eyes have seen his salvation, the infant Messiah (NABRE, Luke 2:30).   

All of these songs of praise, including the Magnificat, are influenced by the Jewish tradition of prayer and psalmody. The Church has long included them in its liturgical prayer.  

The Catholic Church (as well as the Lutheran and Anglican churches) sings the Magnificat at Vespers each day, in the Liturgy of the Hours. The Eastern churches sing the Magnificat at Matins (Morning Prayer) each day in daily prayer as well. Each day, all over the world, this canticle, which can be seen as a mini-Gospel, is proclaimed: God has kept his promise and will keep his promise to save the world.  

The Magnificat praises who God is and who Jesus is. It is a statement of faith, a faith that the early Christian community lived and believed. And this faith is expressed through Mary, the mother of Jesus and the mother of God.  

The Magnificat is often called “a song of reversals.” In that sense, it prefigures the Gospel message of Jesus, “The last will be first, and the first will be last” (NABRE, Matthew 9:35).  This was not a comfortable message then, and it is not a comfortable message now. The reversals applauded in Mary’s song are specific: God has scattered the proud, brought down mighty kings from their thrones, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich away empty. 

This radical message is not simply a prophecy of the future but of a future already accomplished: God has done this. How? By keeping his promise, coming to the help of his servant Israel, showing mercy to Abraham and all his descendants—including Mary—through the coming of the Messiah to the world.  

Mary is God’s instrument of his goodness and mercy. Mary, by her yes to God, praises God because “The Mighty One has done great things for me” (NABRE, Luke 2:49). And, by that same yes, she has earned the right to be the herald of the coming of the Messiah—the Messiah who, having turned Mary’s world upside down, has done and continues to do the same in ours.