22 December 2026 · Latin Rite
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“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” Luke 1:52–53
Today's O Antiphon: “O King of the nations and their desire, the cornerstone who makes both one: come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.” Hannah, once barren and mocked, brings the child Samuel to the house of the Lord at Shiloh and gives him back to God: “For this child I prayed… Therefore I have lent him to the LORD.” Her song (today's responsorial psalm) sings of a God who “raises up the poor from the dust”.
Mary's Magnificat echoes Hannah's song almost line by line. The humble servant of Nazareth magnifies the Lord who “has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant”. Then she sings of a great reversal: the proud scattered, the powerful brought down, the lowly lifted up, the hungry filled, the rich sent away empty. This is not a political programme but the logic of the Kingdom: God's power is shown in mercy to the humble. The Church sings the Magnificat every evening at Vespers.
Theme: “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
Hannah's gift, Mary's song, and the great reversal of God's Kingdom.
“For this child I prayed; and the LORD has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.” 1 Samuel 1:27–28
“For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” Luke 1:49–50
Apply: Offer back to God one gift he has given you.
“The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.” 1 Samuel 2:7–8
“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” Luke 1:51–53
Apply: Help a poor family prepare for Christmas.
“I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
“He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Luke 1:54–55
Apply: Thank God for a promise kept in your family.
God's power is shown in mercy to the humble.
Let our souls magnify the Lord.
Take-home resolution: Pray the Magnificat every evening until Christmas.
Dear friends, today's O Antiphon prays: O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone who makes both one: come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.
In the first reading Hannah brings the young Samuel to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. She had prayed for a child; now she gives him back: for this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:27–28). Then Hannah sings: my heart exults in the Lord (1 Samuel 2:1).
In the Gospel Mary sings her Magnificat: my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant (Luke 1:46–48). Hannah's song and Mary's song are sisters: both praise the God who lifts up the lowly.
Mary sings that God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:52–53). This is God's way: he chooses the small.
Hannah gave back the gift she had received. Mary gave her whole self. Both teach us that what God gives us is not ours to keep, but to offer back to him: our children, our talents, our lives.
Let us pray the Magnificat slowly today, perhaps as a family. Let us give back to God one gift he has given us, by using it for others. And let us ask Mary to give us humble, grateful hearts as we approach Christmas. Amen.
Children, Mary sang a song of joy because God loves the poor and the humble. Sing a song to God today!
O King of the nations, cornerstone who makes all one, come and save us whom you formed from clay. With Mary and Hannah, let my soul magnify you, and make me generous to the lowly and the hungry. Amen.
Two mothers sing today, a thousand years apart. Hannah brings the child she begged from God and gives him back. Mary, carrying the child she did not ask for, sings a song full of Hannah's words. The psalm response today is Hannah's own canticle, so the three texts form one hymn: God looks on the lowly, and those who receive everything from him give everything back.
Setting.
Israel is still in the time of the judges, with no king, and the ark is kept at the sanctuary of Shiloh under the priest Eli. Hannah had no child and was mocked for it. She prayed in tears and vowed that a son would be given back to the Lord (1:11). When Samuel was born she stayed at home until he was weaned (1:22). In the ancient world a child might be nursed for about three years (compare 2 Maccabees 7:27).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him.” (1:27)
Eli had once taken her for a drunken woman (1:13–14). Now she stands in the same place with the living answer in her arms.
“Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” (1:28)
She gives away the only thing she ever asked for. A note on the text: at two points the ancient witnesses differ. NRSV and POC have “a three-year-old bull” in v. 24, while the standard Hebrew text has “three bulls”. At the end of v. 28 NRSV says “She left him there”, while POC says that they worshipped the Lord.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism names Hannah, the mother of Samuel, among the holy women through whom God prepared the mission of Mary, choosing those who were considered powerless and weak to show his faithfulness (CCC 489). The Church hears in her gift the pattern of every parent who brings a child to God, and of Mary, who will carry her own son to the Temple and offer him there (Luke 2:22).
Setting.
Mary has gone in haste to the hill country and Elizabeth has called her blessed (1:42–45). Her answer is the Magnificat, named after its first word in Latin. It is woven from the Old Testament, above all the song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1–10). Luke ends with Mary's return home, closing her part of the scene before he tells of John's birth.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,” (1:46)
A note on the text: nearly all manuscripts name Mary as the singer. A very few Old Latin witnesses have “Elizabeth”. The Church reads the song as Mary's.
“for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;” (1:48)
This is the biblical root of devotion to Mary. She is called blessed because of what God has done for her, and she says so herself.
“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;” (1:52)
The verbs are in the past tense, though the world looks unchanged. Mary sings of God's coming victory as already won, because it has begun in her womb.
How the Church reads it.
St Ambrose, commenting on Luke, says that the soul of Mary should be in each of us to magnify the Lord, and her spirit in each of us to rejoice in God (in substance). The Church sings the Magnificat every evening at Evening Prayer; the Catechism calls it the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church (CCC 2619). On the honour paid to Mary, see CCC 971. St John Paul II taught that the Church's love of preference for the poor is written into the Magnificat (Redemptoris Mater 37, in substance).
Do these words of Mary speak against the rich?
They warn against pride and against wealth that shuts out God and neighbour, as the words “in the thoughts of their hearts” (1:51) suggest. They do not condemn a person for owning something. Their promise is that God sees those whom the world overlooks.
From 17 to 23 December the Latin Church sings a special antiphon with the Magnificat at Evening Prayer, each beginning with “O”. Today's is O Rex gentium, O King of the nations. The Gospel's song is thus framed each evening by the longing for the coming King.