HOLY
The Almighty works marvels for me.
HOLY is his name.
The Magnificat begins with an invitation to praise, thanksgiving, joy and gladness. Mary sings of the marvels already done in her life, with perhaps only an inkling of what is to come. She has lived a life of quiet holiness, she has been faithful. Mary worshipped the one God; she made pilgrimages to the Temple; she prayed the shema morning and evening and she obeyed Torah in the spirit of the covenant. When Mary sings that God’s ‘name is holy’ she is acknowledging that everything she is and does finds its origins in God.
The Magnificat has been prayed for centuries. It shapes those who pray it.
St Bede the Venerable comments on this passage:
For the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Mary attributes nothing to her own merits. She refers all her greatness to the gift of the one whose essence is power and whose nature is greatness, for he fills with greatness and strength the small and the weak who believe in him.
She did well to add: and holy is his name, to warn those who heard, and indeed all who would receive his words, that they must believe and call upon his name. For they too could share in everlasting holiness and true salvation according to the words of the prophet: and it will come to pass, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
In Advent we are invited to call upon God’s name. We are invited to seek that quiet holiness that Mary lived.
Pray the Magnificat each day. Ask God to show you the holiness of your own life. Give thanks to God.
(Luke 1:46–55, Dec 22nd)