The Magnificat is the celebrated canticle that Our Lady composed and sang during her visit to St. Elizabeth, recounted in the Gospel of St. Luke (1:39-56).
"The soul of most holy Mary magnified the Lord for the excellence of His infinite Essence; to Him she referred and yielded all glory and praise (I Tim. 1:17), both for the beginning and the accomplishment of her works.
"She knew and confessed that in God alone every creature should glory and rejoice, since He alone is their entire happiness and salvation (11 Cor. 10:17). She confessed also the equity and magnificence of the Most High in attending to the humble and in conferring upon them His abundant Spirit of Divine Love (Ps. 137: 6). She saw how worthy of mortals it is to perceive, understand and ponder the gifts that were conferred on her humility, on she whom all nations were to call Blessed, and how all the humble ones, each according to his degree, could share the same good fortune.
"By one word also she expressed all the mercies, benefits and blessings which the Almighty showered upon her in His holy and wonderful Name; for she calls them in their fullness 'great things” since there was nothing small about anything that referred to this great Queen and Lady.
"And as the mercies of the Most High overflowed from Mary’s plenitude to the whole human race, and as she was the portal of Heaven, through which they issued and continue to issue, and through which we are to enter into the participation of the Divinity; therefore she confessed that the mercy of the Lord in regard to her is spread out over all the generations, communicating itself to them who fear Him.
And just as the infinite mercies raise up the humble and seek out those who fear God; so also the powerful arm of divine justice scatters and destroys those who are proud in the mind of their heart, and hurls them from their thrones in order to set in their place the poor and lowly." (1)
Mary of Agreda then explains how this "casting of the mighty from their thrones" was also a reference to God's justice exercised against the Devil and the fallen angels: "They, in trying to ascend in their vain pride to positions which they neither could attain nor should aspire to, on the contrary cast themselves away from those which they occupied."
There are many chant versions of the Magnificat in Gregorian Chant (not to mention polyphonic versions): The Liber Usualis gives 8 simple tones (Tone 1 alone has 8 sub-variations), and 8 solemn tones for Principal Feasts (1st and 2nd class). The following interpretation is a variation of Simple Tone 1 with a drone-like counter melody added, performed by the Anonymous 4.
Listen to Magnificat performed by the Anonymous 4
Lyrics:
Latin text:
1. Magnificat, anima mea, Dominum:
2. Et exultavit spiritus meus
In Deo, salutari meo.
3. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillæ suæ:
Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
4. Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est,
Et sanctum nomen eius,
5. Et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies
Timentibus eum.
6. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo,
Dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
7. Deposuit potentes de sede
Et exaltavit humiles;
8. Esurientes implevit bonis
Et divites dimisit inanes.
9. Suscepit Israel puerum suum
Recordatus misericordiæ suæ,
10. Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros,
Abraham et semini eius in sæcula.
11. Gloria Patri, et Filio,
Et Spiritui Sancto:
12. Sicut erat in principio,
Et nunc, et semper,
Et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
English translation (2):
1. My soul doth magnify the Lord:
2. And my spirit hath rejoiced
In God my Saviour.
3. For He hath regarded the humility of His slave. (3) And behold, henceforth all generations shall call me Blessed.
4. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me,
And holy is His Name,
5. His mercy is from generation unto generations
To them that fear Him.
6. He hath shewed might in His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
7. He hath put down the mighty from their seat
And hath exalted the humble;
8. He hath filled the hungry with good things
And the rich He hath sent empty away.
9. He hath received Israel His servant
Being mindful of His mercy,
10. As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed for ever.
11. Glory be to the Father and Son
And to the Holy Ghost:
12. As it was in the beginning,
Is now and ever shall be,
For the ages of ages. Amen.
The usual translation of "ancilla" or "ancillae" to English has been softened to "handmaid". It is unclear why or how this softening came to be, but perhaps it is because of a repugnance to the idea of slavery as such, motivated by fear of association with the temporal slavery of pagan cultures.
Religious slavery or also
slavery to Our Lady, as taught by St. Louis de Montfort, has nothing to do with the temporal slavery of
pagan cultures, and is not only recommended by Scripture, but also the Tradition of the Church. A notable example: the
cult of "dulia", or veneration of the Saints, is one of "reverence of slaves for their master", according to St. Thomas.
Thus we include here the more faithful translation of "ancillae", which is "slave".
