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The Magnificat
The Magnificat prayer — "My soul magnifies the Lord": the full traditional text of Mary's song from Luke 1, with its meaning explained.
Part of the Prayers To Mary prayer collection.
In brief
The Magnificat prayer — "My soul magnifies the Lord": the full traditional text of Mary's song from Luke 1, with its meaning explained.
Prayer: The Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the lowliness of His handmaid: for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is from generation to generation, to them that fear Him. He hath shown might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy: As He spoke to our fathers — to Abraham and to his seed, for ever.
Source note: Luke 1:46–55
Why the Church can't stop singing it
The Magnificat is three songs in one: a personal testimony ("He hath done great things to me"), a social earthquake (the mighty put down, the hungry filled), and a covenant memory (the God who keeps promises to Abraham). Mary moves from her own smallness to the end of history in ten lines — the pattern of every mature prayer.
How to pray it
At evening, as the Church does — it is the perfect "end of the day" prayer. Or pray it when gratitude and injustice sit side by side in your heart: it holds both without blinking. Each of its lines can also carry one of your own reasons to say "great things".
Keep praying
- The Angelus — the daily companion devotion
- Hail, Holy Queen
- Today's daily prayer
Magnificat: Mary's song of praise
Pray the Magnificat as Mary's response to God's mercy in the Visitation: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Read the canticle slowly as praise, humility and hope for the lowly, or use it in the Liturgy of the Hours and evening prayer where it traditionally belongs.
The text is a Gospel canticle from Luke 1, not an invented devotional formula. This page adds original guidance about praying it and keeps the biblical text, Marian context and Church use distinct.