He has shown
mercy 

My soul magnifies the Lord / ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. ⁴⁸ For he has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid. / Behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. ⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done great things for me / and his name is holy. ⁵⁰ He shows mercy from generation to generation / to all who fear him. ⁵¹ He has done mighty deeds with his arm: / he has scattered those whose hearts are proud; ⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones / and exalted the lowly. ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things / and sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has come to the aid of his servant Israel / and remembered his mercy, ⁵⁵ which he promised to our fathers, / to Abraham and his descendants for ever.
  

What a powerful song! These hymnal verses of the ‘Magnificat’, which the evangelist Luke places in Mary’s mouth, allude thematically to Jewish tradition: at the centre is the liberation of Israel through God’s mighty action upon his people.

In parallel, Luke places the emphasis of this liberation on the woman who has experienced salvation in her own body: Mary sings her testimony of faith. She is freed from the socio-cultural ‘shame’ of expecting a child as a young, unmarried woman. With her and after her, many more people will give voice to precisely these words. In the Church, the Magnificat remains firmly anchored in the https://www.stundengebet.de/jetzt-beten/ (external link, opens in new tab) and other liturgical forms to this day. It is a song that declares war on foreign domination and the abuse of power. But it is also a portrait of the Mother of God that Luke has inscribed into the history of humanity – in his own colours: social inequalities are clearly named, just as political structures of power are. Mary’s words point, through powerful imagery and in tones both lofty and solemn, to God’s justice, which has found its face in Jesus Christ.

In her praise, Mary, as it were, includes the experiences of many people’s history with God. She does not, therefore, stop at gratitude and joy over her own fate, but invites all those who wish to share their experiences to join in the praise.

The text also repeatedly invites us to personal meditation. The following questions might provide inspiration:

• “My soul magnifies the Lord”: When have I felt such joy that I too could join in this song?
   
• “He has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid”:
  This is not about humility, but about being chosen. As the “handmaid of the Lord”, Mary stands in an intimate relationship with God. Have I also experienced being a “handmaid” or, correspondingly, a “servant of the Lord”?
   
• “Behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed”:
  Through Mary’s critique of abusive rule, oppression and false claims to power, Luke weaves something of her Son’s message into the hymn. Does this worldview give justice for all generations a new quality on the most diverse levels? How do I experience the equality of all people?
   
• “The Mighty One has done great things for me”:
  In truth, there is only one Mighty One, and His power is love. This line makes it clear: Mary lives with God’s challenge because she trusts in God’s encouragement. Am I brave enough to commit to “great things” with God?
   
• “... and his name is holy”:

Mary speaks God’s name by responding to his deeds – using terms of mercy and justice. Is God’s name holy to me? How can I speak of his name in a way that others understand?

Miriam Pawlak