The Magnificat

46. And Mary said This chapter is remarkable for preserving a record of two inspired hymns the Magnificatand the Benedictuswhich have been used for more than a thousand years in the public services of Christendom. The Magnificat first appears in the office of Lauds in the rule of St Caesarius of Arles, a. d. 507. (Blunt, Annotated Prayer Book, p. 33.) It is so full of Hebraisms as almost to form a mosaic of quotations from the Old Testament, and it is closely analogous to the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10). It may also be compared with the Hymn of Judith (Judges 16:1-17). But it is animated by a new and more exalted spirit, and is specially precious as forming a link of continuity between the eucharistic poetry of the Old and New Dispensation. (See Bp Wordsworth, ad loc.)

My soul doth magnify the Lord 1 Samuel 2:1; Psalms 34:2-3. The soul (ψυχὴ) is the natural life with all its affections and emotions; the spirit (πνεῦμα) is the diviner and loftier region of our being, 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Corinthians 2:10.

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