My soul magnifies the Lord › Lk 1.46.
The visit to Elizabeth was sealed with the singing of the Magnificat, a hymn that spans all Christian centuries, a hymn that unites the minds of Christ’s disciples, and that apart from all the historical frictions that we strive to overcome in the interest of full communion. In the current ecumenical climate, it is nice to remember that Martin Luther devoted, as he himself put it, a very famous commentary to this holy song of the blessed Mother of God. In it, he emphasized that everyone should learn this song of praise, because in “the Magnificat, Mary teaches us how to love and praise God”.
In the moment when God, full of love, looked at Mary, she became a sign of hope for the multitudes of the poor and the least on earth, who will be the first in the kingdom of heaven. It faithfully follows the decision of Christ, who repeats to all the oppressed throughout history: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will strengthen you” (Mt 11:28). Taking the winding paths of history, the Church follows Mary so that the huge processions of poor and hungry, oppressed and afflicted women and men (cf. Lk 1, 52-53) rise again and find their dignity. It is the star of the third millennium, just as at the beginning of the Christian era it was the morning dawn with which Jesus shone on the horizon of history. She—thinking chronologically—was born before Christ, gave him to the world, and incorporated him into human destinies. We ask Mary to lead us to Christ and the Father in the future—even in the dark night of evil and in times of confusion and crises, silence, and suffering.
Let us sing to Mary the hymn that the Eastern Church loves above all else. The Baathist lyrically glorifies Mary. In the section devoted to Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, he celebrates Mary as a branch of the never-drying trunk, as the life force of the immortal fruit, as the one who nourished the one who nourishes us.
