- http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RajAq0Yd-s4
- My soul doth magnify the Lord.
- And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
- For he hath regarded: the lowliness of his handmaiden: For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed.
- For he that is mighty hath magnified me: and holy is his Name.
- And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations.
- He hath shewed strength with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
- He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek.
- He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.
- He remembering his mercy hath helpen his servant Israel:
- As he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.
Almost certainly the oldest Marian Hymn, the Magnifcat is Mary’s response to Elizabeth telling her that the babe within her womb, John the Baptist, lept for joy when hearing her voice. Mary’s response is not what we expect from the gentle Blessed Virgin. Along with rejoicing that she is bearing the Messiah, she also, in language redolent of some of the sterner passages in the Old Testament, rejoices that God is in the process of turning the world upside down. Mary clearly remembers that she has been told that the Babe within her will be a sign of contradiction and that He will be opposed by many, something that we, His followers, tend to forget. He said that He was bringing a sword and not peace, and in this, as in everything He said, He was speaking nothing but the Truth.
