Mary, the Mother of Jesus (died 1st Century).
“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” (spoken ca. 4 B.C.)
The Annunciation, by Domenico Beccafumi. Unlike most representations, his Mary appears apprehensive.
For several days, a Jewish peasant girl named Mary has pondered a disturbing announcement made to her by a frightening apparition. She had been going about her duties when suddenly all routine was obliterated. Before her stood a manlike being of terrifying holiness. An angel! No wonder people trembled in the presence of these powerful beings or fell dead at their wrath.
“Greetings,” he said. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!”
Trembling at this intrusion, Mary’s first thought had been, “What kind of greeting is this?” But before she had time to consider the question, the angel spoke again. He seemed not only to know exactly what she was thinking, but her name, too. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” he said.
He announced that she was going to bear a child—a son called Jesus, who would sit on David’s throne and reign forever.
How could that be? A virgin, she had never lain with a man; and she was quick to remind the angel of this fact. The angel’s reply was that this child would be different—the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Lest this seem too difficult to her, he added that her elderly and barren cousin Elizabeth had conceived in her old age and was now six months pregnant.
“I am the Lord’s slave,” Mary answered, accepting the role assigned her. The angel left.
Immediately after his departure, Mary packed a few things to visit Elizabeth. She was still astonished. Barren Elizabeth pregnant? And her husband Zechariah so old, too…Why, this was like something out of the Bible! It reminded her of the ancient stories of Sarah and Hannah, both pregnant supernaturally after years of inability to conceive.
Mary was familiar with such stories, the coin of her people. Circumstances had favored her acquisition of biblical learning and she was well-educated for a peasant girl, knowing large tracts of Scripture by heart. Now, as she headed for Elizabeth’s place, she sensed the Holy Spirit stirring within her. She knew herself to be with child. What is more, her thoughts were taking a new turn. The appearance of the angel had been a powerful catalyst to her mind and emotions and, with the Holy Spirit directing her thoughts, Bible verses, prophecies of the Messiah, and historical events which had placed her in the kingly family of Judah, jostled in her memory. She saw herself embedded in the amazing tradition of her people. During the long hours walking and riding to her cousin’s home in the hill country of Judea, she meditated on the angel’s declaration. Her thoughts began to congeal into phrases—phrases which she commited to memory as people do in societies where there are few books.
Finally Elizabeth’s home appeared in the distance. The two women of destiny were about to meet. There is a timeless quality to the encounter:
Her mind bursting with biblical allusions, Mary steps into Zechariah’s house. “Shalom!” she cries to Elizabeth. Peace.
Elizabeth’s voice is almost a shout in response. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
Mary can no longer contain the joy and wonder that have been building in her for days. She breaks into song.
“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.”
Future generations will know her poem as “The Magnificat.” Johann Sebastian Bach, William Byrd, Marc Charpentier, Michael Haydn, Herbert Howells, Orlando de Lassus, Claudio Monteverdi, Johann Pachelbel, Michael Praetorius, John Rutter, Antonio Salieri, Charles Villiers Stanford, Antonio Vivaldi, William Walton, and Jan Dismas Zalenka are but a few of the eminent composers who will set its sublime words to sublime music.
—Dan Graves
