Part ten, Chapter I: Excellence of This Sublime Canticle

Excellence of This Sublime Canticle

SACRED Scripture includes a number of inspired canticles that were composed by saintly women, for example, the canticles of Mary, sister of Moses and Aaron, of Deborah, of Judith, of Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel, all of which give thanks to God for outstanding favors received from His divine bounty. But the holiest and worthiest of all canticles is the Magnificat of the Mother of God, which stands unsurpassed because of the dignity and holiness of its author, as well as because of the great and admirable mysteries it contains. This is to say nothing of the miracles that God has performed by means of this canticle. While there is no record Of any miracles having been performed through other canticles, St. Thomas of Villanova,(1) the Archbishop of Valencia, points out that upon the recitation of this canticle the Holy Spirit wrought a number of wonders on behalf of St. John the Baptist, the holy precursor of the Son of God, as well as in the person of his parents. Experience also has shown on more than one Occasion that the Magnificat is an excellent means of expelling evil spirits from the bodies of those who are possessed by the devil. Several other esteemed writers (1). Concio. de Visit. B. Virg.

report various miracles which have taken place through the recitation of this canticle.(2)

There is no evidence that the Blessed Virgin Mary ever sang or spoke it publicly more than once during her lifetime, but we cannot doubt that she recited it numberless times in private. Some writers report that Our Lady has often appeared in churches, during Vespers, surrounded by throngs of angels, and that she has been heard to sing her marvellous canticle with the angels and the priests so melodiously and enchantingly that no words can express the perfection of her participation.

Remember, too, whenever you sing or recite this virginal canticle, to surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit so that you become united to the devotion and all the holy dispositions with which i t was sung or spoken by the Blessed Virgin Mary and by countless numbers of zealous saints. (2). Cf. St. Anselm, in lib. Miracul. 277-