Magnificent Magnificats

Dec 1

This past summer, while Courtney was on sabbatical, Lauryn and I met at our favorite coffee shop to dream about Advent. Empowered by Courtney to start making plans, we both zoned in on Mary’s song, aka the Magnificat, in Luke 1:46-55 as something we wanted to pay special attention to. It is an “alternate reading” every year on the Second Sunday of Advent, and we have sometimes highlighted it on one Sunday in the past. But what if we let it color the entire season? While initially we wondered about reading a few verses each week, we decided instead to let Advent 1 set it up, with Mary traveling to visit Elizabeth, and Elizabeth singing her song (Luke 1:39-45). Advent 2 we will read the first section of the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-51), Advent 3 the rest (Luke 1:52-55). Advent 4 will be a celebration of the rest of the Advent texts, as we hear the Angel stories in Luke and Matthew.

I have this theory that when Mary sang this song to Elizabeth (while John and Jesus danced in utero), it wasn’t the first or last time Mary sang it. What if this was the song Mary sang to Jesus in the cradle, or when he spun around as a toddler? What if they sang this together in the temple? Or she reminded him of it at that Canaan wedding? When Jesus preached that the “first will be last, and the last will be first” perhaps he was echoing the song he learned from his Mama. If that’s the case, what if it we read scripture through that lens as well? Here is the translation in the Common English Bible:

“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!

In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.

He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.

Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored

because the mighty one has done great things for me.

Holy is his name.

He shows mercy to everyone,

from one generation to the next,

who honors him as God.

He has shown strength with his arm.

He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.

He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones

and lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away empty-handed.

He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,

remembering his mercy,

just as he promised to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”

I’m guessing it sings much better in Hebrew or Aramaic than in English. Thankfully we have gifted musicians and poets who can help us to sing paraphrases that may enlighten and enliven our magnificent Magnificat experience this season. Each week we will sing a different setting, some familiar, some new to us, and one practically brand new.

Advent 1 we sang the paraphrase found in Chalice Hymnal, 130 My Soul Gives Glory to My God/MORNING SONG, last sung at Grace on Advent 1 in 2021. Miriam Therese Winter has taught at Hartford Seminary for as long as I have been alive, and you can read more about “MT,” and this hymn, in Dr. Hawn’s essay at the UMC History of Hymns site. I want to congratulate the editors of our hymnal, who back in 1995 included the line “yes, holy is her name,” while contemporaries edited it to “yes, holy is this name,” expanding our imagination of God for 30 years.

Advent 2 we will sing a perennial Grace Baptist favorite, My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout, otherwise known as “Canticle of the Turning.” You might remember Courtney quoting it in a sermon just a few weeks ago. I will again point you toward an excellent essay at the UMC History of Hymns site for a deep dive into the hymn. Just a week ago we were singing another hymn about turning at Reverend Joe Furio’s ordination:

'Tis the gift to be simple,

'tis the gift to be free,

'tis the gift to come down

where we ought to be,

and when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained

to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

to turn, turn, will be our delight

till by turning, turning we come round right.

The juxtaposition of God turning the world, and our turning being a delight was a glad reminder to me. Sometimes it can feel like the world isn’t “turning,” so much as it is stuck upside down. But the actual turning that the world, and we do, will be our delight, turning til we “come round right.”

Here’s a delightful recording from a service a few years ago of Rory Cooney’s Canticle of the Turning:

Advent 3 we will sing a newer paraphrase by Chris Shelton. Chris has a gift for finding new uses for the fun tunes we might not sing like we used to for one reason or another. In this case he has repurposed God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen as a Magnificat! “Glad tidings of comfort and joy” have been washed in Mary’s song, and come out “Oh tidings of justice and joy!” I don’t know of any recordings of this Advent carol, but we’ll have one by December 15th.

And just because, here’s a video of Pentatonix singing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:”

Advent 4 I think we will sing this setting by the marvelous Ruth Duck. It has one of the two best payoff lines of any paraphrase in hymnody: “Remembering those who wait to see salvation’s dawning day, our Savior comes to all who weep to wipe their tears away.” (second perhaps to Issac Watts paraphrase of Psalm 23 which ends with “no more a stranger, nor a guest, but like a child at home”). What I don’t know yet is what tune we will sing it with. It is published with ELLACOMBE (CH64 We Sing Your Mighty Power, O God) which to me feels a bit jaunty for a song of this weight. A seasonal tune that might work is CAROL (Ch153 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear) edited to add: which Kim reminds me allows for an echo of this beautiful text:

"Peace on the earth, good will to all

from heaven's all-gracious King!". . .

and the whole world send back the song

which now the angels sing.

Another possibility is RESIGNATION (CH80 My Shepherd Will Supply My Need), which recalls Watts’ “but like a child at home.” Or maybe I’ll be brave enough to unveil a new tune I wrote for it last year, that has undergone some recent revisions, and maybe is ready for public use?

My heart sings out with joyful praise

to God who raises me,

who came to me when I was low

and changed my destiny.

The Holy One, the Living God,

is always full of grace

to those who seek their Maker’s will

in every time and place.

The arm of God is strong and just

to scatter all the proud.

The tyrants from their thrones

and vanish like a cloud.

The hungry all are satisfied;

the rich are sent away.

The poor of earth who suffer long

will welcome God’s new day.

The promise made in ages past

As last has come to be,

for God has come in power to save,

to set all people free.

Remembering those who wait to see

salvation’s dawning day,

our Savior comes to all who weep

to wipe their tears away.

May these different “Magnificati” keep Mary’s words on your front burner as you go through Advent, and into the year. The world will keep turning back towards God-even if it is difficult for us to see how sometimes. God’s faithfulness is always there, wiping tears away.

Grace Baptist Church

Magnificent Magnificats

A New Hymn!