Magnificat

This song of praise, attributed by St. Luke to Mary when her cousin Elizabeth had greeted her as the Lord’s mother, has been associated in the West with Vespers and Evening Prayer at least since the time of St. Benedict (sixth century). In the East it is sung in the morning Office before, or more commonly in place of, the Benedictus . The Magnificat has often been provided with antiphons to be sung before and after it, and many special musical settings have been composed for it. Its resemblance to the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2) has often been noted.

The reasons for providing an alternative version in the second-person are the same as those given in the notes to the Benedictus . As with that canticle, masculine pronouns have been used in the first version only if they have a counterpart in the Greek. This has sometimes meant expressing the subject of a verb, which is understood but not expressed in the original Greek, by “God” or “the Lord.”

Line 1. The Greek has the idea of greatness in the verb, not in the object. The familiar translation “doth magnify” expresses this, but “magnify” is archaic in this sense. The translation “proclaims the greatness” expresses the idea of “greatness” but in a different manner.

Lines 3-6. The punctuation, which is largely an editorial matter, conforms to what is found in most editions of the Greek text.

Line 4. This line, which in the original begins “For behold, from now,” begins a fresh sentence. ICET’s lightening of it by omitting the introductory particles has proved acceptable. The colon at the end of the line shows that the verses which follow give the reasons why Mary is called blessed. This has also been marked by indentation.

Line 6. “and.” This word is in the Greek and has been kept; it helps the rhythm, especially for singing.

Line 8. “from generation to generation.” This replaces ICET’s “in every generation.” It is closer to the original Greek and also lengthens the line for musical purposes.

Lines 9-15. The striking but unnecessary repetition of “he” at the beginning of nearly all these lines in the ICET text has been avoided by revealing “the Lord” and “God” as the agent of these surprising reversals, and by twice introducing a participial construction where it was effective and seemed natural. In line 15, however, such a change seemed artificial and self-conscious and the “he” was retained.

Line 12. The word translated “lowly” comes from the same Greek root as the word translated “lowly” in line 3. It seems preferable to “humble and meek,” both of which words have degenerated somewhat in popular usage.

Line 14. A slight rearrangement of the ICET line “and the rich he has sent away empty” not only removes an unnecessary pronoun but makes the statement more direct. The last part of the line, “away empty,” follows ICET and the Greek word order and emphasis.

Line 15. “to the aid of.” This seemed to the Consultation to give a smoother and more natural line than ICET’s “to the help of.”

Line 16. “to remember the promise of mercy.” This replaces ICET’s “for he has remembered his promise of mercy.” It is not only simpler but more faithful to the Greek.

Line 17. There were many requests to change ICET’s “our fathers” to “our forebears” or “our ancestors.” The Consultation preferred “forebears” as indicating not so much lineal descent as previous generations in the faith.

Line 18. It is not clear from the Greek whether the phrase “to Abraham and his children for ever” is in apposition to the phrase “to our forebears” in line 17, or whether it follows the phrase “to remember the promise of mercy” in line 16, with line 17 being parenthetical. Both alternatives remain open in this translation—the sense is much the same in either case.