Magnificat
The title commonly given to the Latin text and vernacular translation of the Canticle (or Song) of Mary. It is the opening word of the
Vulgate text (
Luke 1:46-55): "Magnificat anima mea, Dominum", etc. (My
soul doth magnify the Lord, etc.). In ancient
antiphonaries it was often styled
Evangelium Mariæ, the "Gospel of Mary". In the
Roman Breviary it is entitled (
Vespers for Sunday)
Canticum B.M.V. (Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary). The "Magnificat", "Benedictus" (Canticle of Zachary —
Luke 1:68-79), and "Nunc Dimittis" (Canticle of Simeon —
Luke 2:29-32) are also styled "evangelical canticles", as they are found in the Gospel (
Evangelium) of St. Luke.
Form and content
Commentators divide it into three or four stanzas, of which easily accessible illustrations may be found in McEvilly,
"Exposition of the Gospel of St. Luke" (triple-division: verses 46-49,
50-53, 54-55); in Maas, "Life of Jesus Christ" (also triple, but
slightly different: vv. 46-50, 51-43, 54-55); and in Schaff and Riddle, "Popular Commentary on the New Testament" (division into four stanzas: vv. 46-48, 49-50, 51-52, 53-55). The Magnificat is in many places very similar in thought and phrase to the Canticle of Anna (
1 Samuel 2:1-10), and to various psalms
(xxxiii, 3-5; xxxiv, 9; cxxxvii, 6; lxx, 19; cxxv, 2-3; cx, 9; xcvii,
1; cxvii, 16; xxxii, 10; cxii, 7; xxxii, 11; xcvii, 3; cxxxi, 11). Similarities are found with Hab., iii, 18; Mal., iii, 12;
Job 5:11;
Isaiah 12:8 and
49:3;
Genesis 17:19. Steeped thus in Scriptural thought and phraseology, summing up in its inspired
ecstasy the economy of
God with His Chosen People, indicating the fulfillment of the olden prophecy and
prophesying anew until the end of time, the Magnificat is the crown of the
Old Testament singing, the last canticle of the Old and the first of the
New Testament. It was uttered (or, not improbably, chanted) by the Blessed Virgin, when she visited her cousin Elizabeth under the circumstances narrated by St. Luke in the first chapter of his Gospel. It is an
ecstasy of praise for the inestimable favour bestowed by
God on the Virgin, for the mercies shown to
Israel, and for the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and to the
patriarchs. Only four points of
exegesis will be noted here. Some commentators distinguish the meaning of "soul" (or "intellect") and "spirit" (or "will") in the first two verses; but, in view of Hebrew usage, probably both words mean the same thing, "the
soul with all its faculties". In v. 48, "humility" probably means the "low estate", or "lowliness", rather than the virtue of
humility. The second half of v. 48 utters a prophecy
which has been fulfilled ever since, and which adds to the overwhelming
reasons for rejecting the Elizabethan authorship of the canticle. Finally the first half of v. 55 (As he spoke to our fathers) is probably parenthetical.
Marian authorship
The past decade has witnessed a discussion of the authorship of the Magnificat, based on the fact that three ancient
codices (Vercellensis, Veronensis, Rhedigerianus) have: "Et ait Elisabeth: Magnificat anima mea", etc. (And Elizabeth said: My
soul doth magnify, etc.); and also on some very slight patristic
use of the variant reading. Harnack in "Berliner Sitzungsberichte" (17
May, 1900), 538-56, announced his view of the Elizabethan authorship,
contending that the original reading is neither "Mary" nor "Elizabeth",
but merely "she" (said). About two years previously, Durand had criticized, in the "Revue Biblique", the argument of Jacobé for a probable ascription to Elizabeth. Dom Morin had called attention ("Revue Biblique", 1897) to the words of Nicetas (Niceta) of
Remesiana, in a Vatican
manuscript of his "De psalmodiæ bono": "Cum Helisabeth Dominum anima nostra magnificat" (With Elizabeth our
soul doth magnify the Lord). The works of Nicetas have been edited recently by Burn, and give (De psalmodiæ bono, ix, xi) evidence of Nicetas's view (see note 4, p. 79, ibid.). In the introduction to Burn's volume, Burkit rejects the reading "Et ait Elisabeth" as wholly untenable in view of the contradictory testimony of
Tertullian and of all the Greek and Syriac texts, but contends for the original reading "she" (said) and for the Elizabethan authorship. He is answered by the
Anglican Bishop of
Salisbury, who supports the probability of an original reading "she", but rejects the ascription to Elizabeth (pp. clv-clviii). The witness of the
codices and of the Fathers is practically unanimous for the
Vulgate reading: "Et ait Maria"; but, apart from this, the attribution of the Magnificat to Elizabeth would, in St. Luke's context, be highly abnormal. Long before the recent discussion, Westcott
and Hort, in the appendix (52) to their "Introduction to the New
Testament in the Original Greek" (New York, 1882), had briefly discussed
and rejected the reading "Elisabeth"; and this rejection is summarily confirmed in their revised text of the "N. T. in the Original Greek" (London, 1895), 523.
Liturgical use
While the canticles taken by the
Roman Breviary from the
Old Testament are located with the psalms, and are so distributed as to be sung only once a week, the Magnificat shares with the other two "evangelical canticles" the
honour of a daily recitation and of a singularly prominent location immediately before the
Oratio, or
Prayer of the daily Office (or, if there be
preces, immediately before these). The "Magnificat" is assigned to
Vespers, the "Benedictus" to
Lauds, and the "Nunc Dimittis" to
Compline. Six reasons are given by Durandus for the assignment of the Magnificat to
Vespers, the first being that the world was saved in its eventide by the assent of Mary to the Divine plan of Redemption. Another reason is found by Colvenarius in the probability that it was towards evening when
Our Lady arrived at the house of St. Elizabeth. However this may be, in the Rule (written before 502) of St. Cæsarius of Arles, the earliest extant account of its
liturgical use, it is assigned to
Lauds, as it is in the Greek Churches of to-day. The ceremonies attending its singing in the choir at solemn
Vespers are notably impressive. At the intonation "Magnificat", all who are in the sanctuary arise, and the celebrant (having first removed his biretta "in
honour of the canticles") goes with his assistants to the altar, where, with the customary reverences, etc., he
blesses the
incense and
incenses the altar as at the beginning of solemn Mass. In order to permit the elaborate
ceremony of
incensing, the Magnificat is sung much more slowly than the psalms. A similar
ceremony attends the singing of the Benedictus at solemn
Lauds, but not of the Nunc Dimittis at
Compline.
At the first word of the Magnificat and of the Benedictus (but not of the Nunc Dimittis, save where custom has made it lawful) the
Sign of the Cross is made. In some churches the Magnificat is sung at devotions outside of
Vespers. Answering a question from
Canada, the "Ecclesiastical Review" (XXIII, 74) declares that the
rubrics allow such a separation, but forbids the
incensing of the altar in such a case. The same review (XXIII, 173) remarks that "the practice of making the Sign of the Cross at the opening of the Magnificat, the
Benedictus, and the
Nunc Dimittis in the Office is of very ancient usage, and is sanctioned by the very best authority", and refers to the Congregation of Sacred Rites, 20 December, 1861.
Musical settings
Like the canticles and psalms, the Magnificat is preceeded and followed by an antiphon varying for the feast or
ferial Office, and is sung to the eight modes of plain song. The first verse has, however, no mediation, because of the brevity (the one word
Magnificat) of the first half. The Canticles of Mary and of Zachary share (even in the
Office of the Dead) the peculiar
honour of commencing every verse with an
initium or intonation. This intonation varies for the varying modes; and the Magnificat has a special solemn intonation for the second, seventh, and eighth modes, although in this case the usual festive
intonation applies, in the second and eighth modes, to all the verses
except the first. The "musical", as distinguished from the "plainsong",
treating of the canticle has been very varied. Sometimes the chanted verses alternated with harmonized
plainsong, sometimes with
falso bordone
having original melodies in the same mode as the plain song. But there
are innumerable settings which are entirely original, and which run
through the whole range of musical expression, from the simplest harmony up to the most elaborate dramatic treatment, with orchestral accompaniment of the text. Almost every great church composer has worked often and
zealously on this theme.
Palestrina published two settings in each of the eight modes, and left in
manuscript almost as many more. Fifty settings by Orlando di Lasso are in the Royal Library at
Munich, and tradition credits him with twice as many more. In our own days, César Franck (1822-90) is said to have completed sixty-three out of the hundred he had planned. In addition to such names as
Palestrina, di Lasso, Josquin des Prés,
Morales, Goudimal,
Animuccia, Vittoria, Anerio, Gabrieli, Suriano, who with their contemporaries contributed innumerable settings, the modern Cecilian School has done much work on the Magnificat both as a separate canticle, and as one of the numbers in a "Complete
Vespers" of many feasts. In
Anglican services the Magnificat receives a musical treatment not different from that accorded to the other canticles, and therefore quite dissimilar to that for
Catholic Vespers, in which the length of time consumed in
incensing the altar
allows much greater musical elaboration. A glance through the pages of
Novello's catalogue of "Services" leads to the estimate of upwards of
one thousand settings of the Magnificat for
Anglican services by a single publishing house. Altogether, the estimate of Krebbiel that this canticle "has probably been set to music oftener than any
hymn in the liturgy" seems well within the
truth.
