Dialogo e Solstizio

Dec 15, 2025 Written by don Giuseppe Nespeca

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Magnificat: response to the Annunciation, albeit without influence in history

1. Inspired by the Old Testament tradition, with the canticle of the Magnificat Mary celebrates the wonders wrought in her by God. The canticle is the Virgin's response to the mystery of the Annunciation: the angel had invited her to rejoice, now Mary expresses the exultation of her spirit in God the Saviour. Her joy stems from her personal experience of God's benevolent gaze upon her, a poor and uninfluenced creature in history.

With the expression Magnificat, a Latin version of a Greek word of the same meaning, the greatness of God is celebrated, who with the angel's announcement reveals his omnipotence, exceeding the expectations and hopes of the people of the Covenant and even the noblest desires of the human soul.

Before the Lord, powerful and merciful, Mary expresses the feeling of her own littleness: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit exults in God, my Saviour, because he has looked upon the humility of his handmaid" (Lk 1:47-48). The Greek term 'tapéinosis' is probably borrowed from the canticle of Anna, mother of Samuel. It indicates the "humiliation" and "misery" of a barren woman (cf. 1 Sam 1:11), who entrusts her sorrow to the Lord. With such an expression, Mary makes known her situation of poverty and her awareness of being small before God who, with a gratuitous decision, laid his gaze on her, a humble girl from Nazareth, calling her to become the Mother of the Messiah.

2. The words "henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk 1:48) start from the fact that Elizabeth first proclaimed Mary "blessed" (Lk 1:45). Not without audacity, the canticle predicts that the same proclamation will extend and expand with unstoppable dynamism. At the same time, it testifies to the special veneration for the Mother of Jesus, present in the Christian community since the first century. The Magnificat constitutes the first fruits of the various expressions of worship, transmitted from one generation to the next, with which the Church manifests its love for the Virgin of Nazareth.

3. "Great things have the Almighty done in me, and holy is his name: from generation to generation his mercy is poured out on those who fear him" (Lk 1:49-50).

What are the "great things" wrought in Mary by the Almighty? The expression recurs in the Old Testament to indicate the deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt or Babylon. In the Magnificat, it refers to the mysterious event of Jesus' virginal conception, which took place in Nazareth after the angel's announcement.

In the Magnificat, a truly theological canticle because it reveals Mary's experience of God's face, God is not only the Almighty to whom nothing is impossible, as Gabriel had declared (cf. Lk 1:37), but also the Merciful One, capable of tenderness and faithfulness towards every human being.

4. "He has unfolded the power of his arm, he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has overthrown the mighty from their thrones, he has lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, he has sent the rich empty-handed" (Lk 1:51-53).

With her sapiential reading of history, Mary introduces us to discover the criteria of God's mysterious action. He, reversing the world's judgements, comes to the rescue of the poor and the little ones, to the detriment of the rich and the powerful and, in a surprising way, fills the humble with goods, who entrust their existence to him (cf. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 37).

These words of the canticle, while showing us in Mary a concrete and sublime model, make us realise that it is above all humility of heart that attracts God's benevolence.

5. Finally, the canticle extols the fulfilment of the promises and God's faithfulness to the chosen people: 'He has come to the rescue of Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy, as he promised our fathers, for Abraham and his descendants, for ever' (Lk 1:54-55).

Filled with divine gifts, Mary does not stop her gaze at her personal case, but understands how these gifts are a manifestation of God's mercy for all his people. In her, God fulfils his promises with superabundant faithfulness and generosity.

Inspired by the Old Testament and the spirituality of the daughter of Zion, the Magnificat surpasses the prophetic texts at its origin, revealing in the 'full of grace' the beginning of a divine intervention that goes far beyond Israel's messianic hopes: the holy mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 6 November 1996]

124 Last modified on Monday, 15 December 2025 04:55

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don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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Thus, in the figure of Matthew, the Gospels present to us a true and proper paradox: those who seem to be the farthest from holiness can even become a model of the acceptance of God's mercy and offer a glimpse of its marvellous effects in their own lives (Pope Benedict))

Nella figura di Matteo, dunque, i Vangeli ci propongono un vero e proprio paradosso: chi è apparentemente più lontano dalla santità può diventare persino un modello di accoglienza della misericordia di Dio e lasciarne intravedere i meravigliosi effetti nella propria esistenza (Papa Benedetto)

Man is involved in penance in his totality of body and spirit: the man who has a body in need of food and rest and the man who thinks, plans and prays; the man who appropriates and feeds on things and the man who makes a gift of them; the man who tends to the possession and enjoyment of goods and the man who feels the need for solidarity that binds him to all other men [CEI pastoral note]

Nella penitenza è coinvolto l'uomo nella sua totalità di corpo e di spirito: l'uomo che ha un corpo bisognoso di cibo e di riposo e l'uomo che pensa, progetta e prega; l'uomo che si appropria e si nutre delle cose e l'uomo che fa dono di esse; l'uomo che tende al possesso e al godimento dei beni e l'uomo che avverte l'esigenza di solidarietà che lo lega a tutti gli altri uomini [nota pastorale CEI]

St John Chrysostom urged: “Embellish your house with modesty and humility with the practice of prayer. Make your dwelling place shine with the light of justice; adorn its walls with good works, like a lustre of pure gold, and replace walls and precious stones with faith and supernatural magnanimity, putting prayer above all other things, high up in the gables, to give the whole complex decorum. You will thus prepare a worthy dwelling place for the Lord, you will welcome him in a splendid palace. He will grant you to transform your soul into a temple of his presence” (Pope Benedict)

San Giovanni Crisostomo esorta: “Abbellisci la tua casa di modestia e umiltà con la pratica della preghiera. Rendi splendida la tua abitazione con la luce della giustizia; orna le sue pareti con le opere buone come di una patina di oro puro e al posto dei muri e delle pietre preziose colloca la fede e la soprannaturale magnanimità, ponendo sopra ogni cosa, in alto sul fastigio, la preghiera a decoro di tutto il complesso. Così prepari per il Signore una degna dimora, così lo accogli in splendida reggia. Egli ti concederà di trasformare la tua anima in tempio della sua presenza” (Papa Benedetto)

And He continues: «Think of salvation, of what God has done for us, and choose well!». But the disciples "did not understand why the heart was hardened by this passion, by this wickedness of arguing among themselves and seeing who was guilty of that forgetfulness of the bread" (Pope Francis)

E continua: «Pensate alla salvezza, a quello che anche Dio ha fatto per noi, e scegliete bene!». Ma i discepoli «non capivano perché il cuore era indurito per questa passione, per questa malvagità di discutere fra loro e vedere chi era il colpevole di quella dimenticanza del pane» (Papa Francesco)

[Faith] is the lifelong companion that makes it possible to perceive, ever anew, the marvels that God works for us. Intent on gathering the signs of the times in the present of history […] (Pope Benedict, Porta Fidei n.15)

[La Fede] è compagna di vita che permette di percepire con sguardo sempre nuovo le meraviglie che Dio compie per noi. Intenta a cogliere i segni dei tempi nell’oggi della storia […] (Papa Benedetto, Porta Fidei n.15)

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