Exposition of the Principal Scriptures Used in our English Liturgy, Part 21
The Magnificat.
LVKE 1. 46. My soule doth magnifie the Lord.
THis Hymne is nothing else, but a grace, for grace: great thankes, for great things receiued of the Lord. Wherein obserue the*Modus & causa, Gorran. in locum. manner and matter of the Virgins exultation: or a thanksgiuing in the two former verses: and a reason in the rest, For he hath regarded &c.
I purpose to …ift eueryevery word of the former part seuerally: and because there is (as*Com. in 1. Galat. vers. 4. My. Luther saith) great Diuinitie in pronounes, I will first examine the pronoune My: my soule, my spirit, my Sauiour. It is not enough yt other pray for vsus, except our selues praise God for our selues. He that goeth to Church by an attorney, shal go to heauē also by a proxie.
There is an oldfMensa philosophica sab. de mercator. Legend of a Merchant, who neuer would go to Masse: but euer when he heard the Saints bell, he said to his wife, Pray thou for thee and me. VponUpon a time hee dreamed that hee and his wife were dead, and that they knocked at heauen gate for entrance: S. Peter the porter (for so goeth the tale) suffered his wife to enter in, but thrust him out, saying, Illa intrauit pro se & te: as thy wife went to Church for thee, so likewise she must goe to heauen for thee. The morall is good, howsoeuer the storie be bad: insinuating that eueryevery one must hauehave both a personalitie of faith, my Sauiour: and a personalitie of deuotion, my soule, my spirit.gAmbros. lib. 1. de officijs, cap. 8. Officium is efficium, it is not enough that the master enioyne his familie to pray, or the father heare his child pray, or the Teacher exhort his people to pray: but as eueryevery one hath tasted of Gods bountie, so eueryevery one must performe this dutie, hauing oyle of hishMatth. 25. 4. owne in his owne lampe, saying and praying with the blessed Virgin, My soule, my spirit.
Soule. Soule.] As if she should thus speake, Thy benefits O Lord are so good, so great, so manifest, so manifold,iB…da in loc. that I can not accord them with my tongue, but only record them in my heart. It is truly said, he loues but little, who tels how much he loues: and so surely hee praiseth God but little, who makes it a tongue-toile and a lip-labor only. Mark. 7. 6. This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is farre from me. God who gaue all, will hauehave all, and yet aboue all requireth the soule.kProu. 23. 26. Sonne giuegive me thy heart: for that alone commands all other members, as thelMatth. 8. 9. Centurion did his souldiers. It saith to the foote, goe, and it goeth; vntounto the hand, come, and it commeth; vntounto the rest, doe this, and they doe it. It doth bend the knees, and ioyne the hands, and lift vp the eye, composeth the countenance, disposeth of the whole man: and therefore as that othermLuke 10. 42. Mary chose the better part, so this Mary bestowed vponupon God her best part, her soule did magnifie, her spirit reioyced.
Some Diuines expound these words ioyntly, some seuerally. The word spirit is vsed in the holie Scripture sometime for the whole soule. 1. Cor. 7. 34. The woman vnmaried careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, that is,nAmbros. com. in loc. in soule.
So S. Augustine thinks that these two words here signifie the same, because the latter phrase, my spirit reioiceth in God my Sauiour, is nothing else but an exegesis of the former, my soule doth magnifie the Lord: insinuating by this repetition, my soule, my spirit, that her deuotion was not hypocriticall, but cordiall and vnfained. It is obserued in nature, that the Fox doth nip the necke, the Mastiue the throat, the Ferret the liuer, but God especially careth for the heart: being (as Ambrose speakes excellently) Non corticis, sed cordis deus.
And therefore Mary was not content to praise the Lord from the rine of her lips only, but also from the roote of her heart. SooPsal. 103. 1. Dauid did pray, Praise the Lord O my soule, and all that is within mee praise his holy name. SopColess. 3. 16. Paul would hauehave vsus pray: Sing to the Lord with a grace in your hearts. And so the Church doth desire that the Priest (who is the mouth of the people) should pray, The Lord be with you, saith the Minister, and the whole congregation answereth, And with thy spirit. qCaroliu magnus fragment. de ritibus eccl. veteris, Cassander Liturgica, cap. 21.Heereby signifying, that this holy businesse ought to be performed with all attention and intention of spirit.
Diuines interpreting these two seuerally, distinguish betweene soule and spirit: and so doth the Scripture, 1. Cor. 15. 45. The first man Adam was made a liuing soule; the last Adam a quickening spirit. Soule is that by which we liue naturally: spirit is that, by which we liue through grace supernaturally. Or (rCalu. in loc. as other) soule signifieth the will, and spirit the vnderstanding: as Heb. 4. 12. The word of God is liuely and mighty in operation, and sharper then any two edged sword, and entreth thorow, euen vntounto the diuiding asunder of the soule and spirit: that is,sBeza in loc. of the will and vnderstanding.
So that Mary saying here, my soule and my spirit, doth intimate that she did praise the Lord with attention in her vnderstanding, and deuotion in her affection. They praise God with halfe an heart, who either hauing deuotion, want vnderstanding: or else indued with vnderstanding, want deuotion: and so while men pray with the soule without a spirit, or with the spirit, without a soule, their heart is diuided (as the ProphettOse 10. cap. 2. Ose: Diuisum est cor eorum:) and God hath but one part, happily the least peece.
The line then to be drawne from this example is, first that we pray with our heart: secondly, with our whole heart, with all our soule, with all our spirit.
Doth]Doth. In the present. For as a gift to man, so glory to God, is most acceptable when as it is seasonable: not deferred, but conferred in time.Aus…nius epigram. 84. Gratia quae tarda est, ingrata est gratia. xSeneca lib. 2. de beneficijs cap. 5.Proprium est libenter facientis, citò facere.
Magnifie]Magnifie. The word signifieth highly to commend, and extoll: Magnum facere, to make great. Now God is optimus maximus, already most great, and therefore cannot be made more great in regard of himselfe: but all our vilifying and magnifying the Lord, is in respect of others onelyonly.
When wee blasheme the most holy name of God, as much as in vsus lieth, we less…n his greatnes: when we blesse his name, so much as in vsus is, we magnifie his glory, making that which is great in it selfe, to be reputed great of other. AsyLexie. Theol. verb. magnificati…. one fitly, Magnificare nihil aliud est nisi magnum significare.
This magnifying consists in our conuersation especially. Noli (saithzIn Psal. 133. Augustine) gloriari quia lingua benedi…is, si vita maledicis. a1. Pet, 2. 12.HaueHave your conuersation honest among the Gentiles, that they which speake euill of you, may by your good works, which they shall see, glorifie God in the day of the visitation.
God is magnified of vsus (asbCom. in Luc. lib. 2. cap. 1. Ambrose and Origen note) when as his image is repaired in vsus.cGen. 1. 26. He created man according to his likenes: that is, aseEphes. 4. 24. Paul doth interpret it, in righteousnes & holinesse. So that the more grace we, the more glo…y God: he doth appeare greater in vsus, albeit he cannot be made greater by vsus. He doth not increase, but we grow from grace to grace, from vertue to vertue: the which ought principally to stirre vsus vp vntounto this dutie, for that our selues are magnified, in magnifying him: as Mary sheweth here, My soule doth magnifie the Lord, vers. 46. And, The Lord hath magnified me, vers. 49.fAugust. in Psal. 66. Qui maledicit domino, ipse minuitur, qui benedicit, angetur: prior est in nobis benedictio domini, & consequens est, vt & nos benedicamus domino: illa pluuia, iste fructus.
The Lord.The Lord.] Lord is a nameg1. Cor. 8. 6. of might, Sauiour of merciemercy. Mary then (as Augustine andhMaldonat. in loc. other obserue) praiseth him alone, who is able to helpe, because the Lord; and willing, because a Sauiour.
And my spiritSpirit. ]iCaluin. & Marlorat. i… loc. Such as distinguish betweene soule and spirit, make this a reason of the former verse: My spirit hath reioiced in God my Sauiour, and therefore my soule doth magnifie the Lord: according to that of S.kIames 5. 13. Iames; Is any merry? let him sing. So that this exultation of Mary, caused her exaltation of God.
Inward re…oicing in spirit, is a great signe of a good conscience, lProu. 15. 15.which is a continuall feast. The wicked are oft…n merry, sometime mad merrie: but all is but from the t…eth outward. For (asmProu. 14. 13. Salomon speakes) euen in laughing the heart is sorrowfull, and the end of mirth is heauinesse. But the good man (as the Virgin here) reioiceth in spirit: all worldly meriments are more talked of then felt, but inward spirituall reioicing is more felt then vttered.
It is (as thenZach. 9. 9. Scripture calles it) a Iubilation, an exceeding great ioy, which a man can neither suppresse, nor expresse sufficiently.oAnonymus in Psal. 46. Nec reticere, nec recitare: for howsoeuer in the Court of Conscience there be some pleading eueryevery day; yet the godly make it Hilary Terme all the yeere. See Gospell Dom. 1. Aduent. & Dom. 9. post. Trinit.
In God]In God. Happily the spirit of the most wicked at sometime doth reioice, yet not in God, nor in good: but in villanie, and vanitie. Prou. 2. 14. They reioice in doing euill, and delight in frowardnesse: whereas in the good man the ioies obiect is alway good, goodnesse it selfe, God himselfe. Dauid delights in the Lord, Mary reioiceth in God. And this is so good a ioy, thatpPhil. 4. 4. Paul saith, Reioice in the Lord alwaies, and againe I say reioice. We may reioice in our friends, in our health, in our preferment, in our honest recreation, in many other things, praeter Deum, beside God: yet in all, propter Deum, for God, so farre foorth as they shall increase our spirituall reioicing in the Lord. God forbid (saithqGalat. 6. 14. Paul) that I should reioice in any thing but in the crosse of Christ. In any thing in comparison of this, in any thing which might hinder this, and yet in all things for this. See the Epistle Dom. 4. Aduent.
Sauiour]Sauiour. To consider God as a seuere Iudge, would make our heart to tremble: but to consider him in Christ, in whom he is well pleased, is of all ghostly comfort the greatest. And therefore if we desire to reioice in spirit, let vsus not behold God in the glasse of the Law, which makes him a dreadfull Iudge: but in the glasse of the Gospell, which shewes him a mercifull Sauiour.
In eueryevery Christian there are two contrary natures; the flesh, and the spirit: and that hee may bee a perfit man in Christ, he must subdue the one, and strengthen the other: the Law is the ministry of death, and serueth fitly for the taming of our rebellious flesh: the Gospell is the power of God vntounto life, containing the bountifull promises of God in Christ, and serueth fitly for the strengthening of the spirit. It ispLuke 10 34. The Law as wine to search, the Gospell as oyle to supple. oyle to powre into our wounds, and water of life to quench our thirsty soules. As in name, so in nature, the Goodspell, or the Ghosts spell, that is, the word and ioy for the spirit. Mary then had good cause toqCaluin. in loc. adde this epithete Sauiour, vntounto God: My spirit reioiceth in God my Sauiour.
My Sauiour] We note two conclusions out of this pronoune: the first against some Papists; the second against all Papists.rSwarez tom. 2. in tertiā Thom. disput. 3. & 4. Some Popish writers affirme, that Mary was conceiued and borne without originall sinne, and that she liued and died without actuall sinne: contrary to the scripture, Rom. 3. 9. Gal. 3. 22. SosD. Fulk annot. in Mat. 1. that in honouring the feast of her conception and natiuitie, with the singular priuiledge of Christ, they worship an Idoll, and not her. For an Idoll (ast1. Cor. 8. 4. Paul disputes) is nothing in the world: and so is that man or woman conceiued without sinne, except Christ, who was conceiued by the holy Ghost: as none other euer was, or shall be.
uLombard. 3. sent. dist. 3. Bellar. de amissione gratiae, lib. 4. cap. 15.They ground this assertion vponupon a place of Augustine: xDe nat. & gratia, contra Pelagianos, cap. 36. tom. 7. fol. 506.Excepta sanctae virgine Maria, de qua propter honorem domini, nullam prorsus cum de peccatis agitur, habere volo quaestionem. Answere is made, that Augustine elsewhere concludes all vnderunder sinne (though he did in that place forbeare to rip vp the faults of the mother in honour of her sonne) for in lib. 5.yTom. 7. fol. 742. cap. 9. against Iulian the Pelagian, he doth intimate that Maries bodie was sinfull flesh, concluding peremptorily; zfol. 743.Nullus est hominum praeter Christum, qui peccatum non habuerit grādioris aetatis accessu: quia nullus est hominum praeter Christum, qui peccatum non habuerit infantilis aetatis exortu. So likewise, aTom. 6. fol. 561lib. de sancta Virginitate, cap. 3. Beatior Maria percipiendo …idem Christi, quàm concipiendo carnem Christi: nihil enim ei materna propinquitas profuisset, nisi foeliciùs Christum corde, quàm carne gestasset. And in hisbTom. 3. fol. 164 Treatise, De fide ad Petrum (for the Papists admit that booke) Firmissime crede, & nullatenus dubites, omnem hominem qui per concubitum viri & mul…eris concipitur, cum peccato originali nasci, & ob hoc natura filium irae. Thus Augustine expounds, and answers Augustine.
Now for holy Scriptures, if there were no more texts in the Bible, this one is omnisufficient, to accuse Marie of some faults, and the Papists of much follie: My spirit reioyceth in God my Sauiour. He that hath no sinne, wants not a Sauiour: but Marie reioyced in a Sauiour, therefore she was sorrie for her sinne. The whole neede not a Physitio…, saith cMatth. 9. 12.Christ: but Marie calles for a salue, therefore surely she had some sore: and if any sin, then she cannot be our Mediatrix, or Aduoca…e. Si peccatrix, non deprecatrix. d1. Epist. Iohn 2. cap.Our Aduocate is our propitiation for sinne: e2. Cor. 5. 21.but the propitiation for sinne, knew no sinne. Ergo, quae egebat, non agebat aduocatum. And therefore M…ry, who needed a Sauiour her selfe, could not be a sauiour of other.
Againe, we gather out of this pronoune my, Maries particular apprehension and application of Christs merits against all Papists; whofBellarm. lib. 1. de Iustific. cap. 7 tea…h that a generall confused implicite faith, is enough without any further examination of Scriptures, or distinct beleefe. Contrarie to the practise of Christ, who prayed in our nature and name.
gMatth. 27. 46.Deus meus, Deus meus. Of hPsal. 118. 28.Dauid, Thou art my God: of Thomas.iIoh. 20. 28. My Lord: of Mary, My Sauiour.
The second part of this Hymne containeth a reason why she did magnifie the Lord, namely for his goodnes.
Toward
Her selfe. He hath regarded the lowlines of his handmaid; he hath magnified me. From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Other.
Regarded.]Regarded. God is said in Scripture to regard three waies, (as Augustine notes vponupon this place) secundum
Cognitionem,
Gratiam,
Iudiciu….
1. His eye of knowledge regardeth all things. Heb. 4. 13 There is not any creature, which is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open vntounto him.
2. His fauourable countenance and gratious eye is vponupon them kPsal. 33. 18.who feare him, and vponupon them who trust in his merciemercy.
3. God in iudgement will only regard his elect. For he will say to the reprobate,lMatth. 25. 12. Verily I know ye not. God regarded here Mary with his gratious eie, vouchsafeing to make her both his childe, and his mother. The one is a benefit obtained of verymMatth. 7. 14. few: the other denied vntounto all. It was only granted to Mary to be the mother of Christ,nHugo Lincolniensi… vti Surius in eius vita. whereas it was denied vntounto all men, to be the father of Christ.
This was so great a grace to Mary, that as in this Hymne her selfe doth prophecie: From hencefoorth all generations shall account her blessed.
An Angell of heauen said that she wasoLuke 1. 28. full of grace: Gratia plena in se, non àse; in her selfe, but not of her selfe. And therefore her soule did magnifie the Lord, and her spirit reioyced in God her Sauiour; not in regard of her owne greatnes, but in respect of his goodnesse. For so she saith, He hath regarded.
The lo…linesse]Lowlinesse. pMarlor. in loc.God cannot looke aboue himselfe, because he hath no superiour: nor about himselfe, for that he hath no equall: he regards only such as are below him; and therefore the lower a man is, the neerer vntounto God, the more exposed to his sight who lookes from aboue.qPsal. 113. 5, 6. Who is like vntounto the Lord our God that hath his dwelling so high, and yet humbleth himselfe to behold the things in heauen and earth? He taketh vp the simple out of the dust, and lifteth the poore out of the mire. And Psal. 138. vers. 6. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect vntounto the lowly: but as for the proud, he beholdeth them a far off. The most high then hath especiall respect to such as are most low.
Now lowlinesse in holy Scripture is vsed both
Actiuely, for humilitie.
Passiuely, for humiliation, basenesse and affliction.
Origen, Beda, Bernard construe this of Maries humilitie: but I thinke with the most, and best, that she meant by lowlinesse, her base degree:rMaldonat. in locum. For, Humilitas dum prod…ur, perditur. He that brags of his humilitie, loseth it. It is (saithsCom. in cap. 1. Abdiam. Hierome) the Christians Iewell.
Now, saithtHom. 27. Macarius, he is a foolish begger who when he findes a Iewell, instantly proclaimes it, Inueni, inueni: for by this meanes he that hath lost it, will demand it againe: so likewise when we boast of any good gift, the Lord who lent, will resume it.
It is improbable then that Mary spake this of her humilitie: for (as som… uIansenius, Beauxamis, Maldonat. in locum.Popish writers obserue) she did in this song ascribe all her happinesse to Gods mercy, and nothing to her owne merit.
It is true, that as death is the lastx1 Cor. 15. 26. enemie: so pride the last sinne that shall be destroied in vsus.yInnocentius de contemptu mundi, lib. 2. cap. 31. Inter omnia vitia tu semper es prima, semper es vltima: nam omne peccatum te accedente commuttitur: & te recidente dimittitur.zEpist. 56. Augustine told Dioscorus, Vitia caetera in peccatis, superbia verò etiam in benefactis timenda. When other sinnes die, secret pride gets strength in vsus: exaPet. Chrysolog. ser. 7. remedijs generat morbos, euen vertue is the matter of this vice: in such sort, that a man will be proud, because he is not proud. But this was not Maries mind to boast, in that she did not boast: but, as the word and coher…nce more then insinuate, she did vnderstand by lowlinesse, her meane estate and …ualitie.
bIuuencus, lib. 1. Euang. hist.Quod me dignatus in altum, erigere ex humili, celsam.
So doth her selfe construe the word, vers. 52. He hath put downe the mightie from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meeke: where humble is opposite to mightie, as in this verse the lowlinesse of Mary to Gods highnesse. I presse this point, because some Papists (ascAnnot. in loc. Erasmus affirmes) hauehave gathered out of this place, that Mary through her modest carriage, worthily deserued to bee the mother of Christ. Whereas (besides the reasons alleaged) the words of this verse, and the drift of the whole song, confute them abundantly.
For foreign, vsed by Luke, signifieth properly basenesse: whereas humilitie is called foreign: and albeit the vulgar Latine reade, respexit humilitatem, yet foreign, is aspexit, as in our English Bibles, hee looked on the poore degree of his handmaid. And this is not only the criticall Annotation of Erasmus, but their owne Iansenius, and Maldonatus obserue the same: for her intent was not to magnifie her selfe, but to magnifie the Lord.
Heere then wee may behold Maries exceeding great miserie, and Gods exceeding great mercy: the good Ladies infelicitie, who descended of a noble house, yea a royall blood, was notwithstanding a distressed sillie maiden, so poore, that, as we reade Luke 2. 24. she was not able to buy a young lambe for an offering. See the Gospell on the Purification.
LetdIerem. 9. 23. not the wiseman glory in his wisdome, nor the strong man glory in his strength, neither the rich man glory in his riches, nor the Nobleman of his parentage, for one generation passeth, and another commeth: ande1. Sam. 2. 7. as we hauehave heard, so hauehave we seen, some who came from the scepter, to hold the plough; and other who came from the plough, to manage the scepter. And the reason is rēdred in this Hymne; The Lord hath put downe the mightie from their seate, and exalted the humble and meeke: hee hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent emptie away. This was his exceeding great goodnesse toward Mary, to raise her out of the dust, so to magnifie her, as that all generations account her blessed.
From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.] In the verse before Magnificat, Elizabeth called her blessed: now the Virgin opposeth all men to Elizabeth, and all times to the present, saying; (asfIn loc. Theophylact doth note) that not Elizabeth only, but all men, and women, as at this time, so for euer also shall account me blessed. All generations, that is, all men in all generations (as the Schoole doth vsuallie distinguish) genera singulorum, albeit not singuligenerum, (or asgIn loc. Euthymius) all people who beleeue aright in the Sonne, shall blesse the Mother; not all liuing, but all beleeuing: for Iewes, and Gentiles, and Heretickes, in stead of this honour, reuile her.hLib. de haeresibus 56. haeres. Augustine mentioneth Antidicomarianites, Heluidius in Hieromes age was (asiLib. contra Lutherum, fol. 8 in margine. Roffensis termes him) a Mariaemastix; and in our time some are content to giuegive her lesse, because the Papists hauehave giuen her more then is due. Let vsus not make the Spirit of truth a lier, which saith, All generations shall call her blessed. This shall, is officij, not necessitatis: all ought, howsoeuer all doe not blesse this blessed Virgin.
For hee that is mightie hath magnified me.] Magna mihi fecit, hath done maruellous things in me. For it is wonderfully singular, and singularly wonderfull, that Mary should be both a virgin, and a mother: of such a sonne a mother, as was her father: hee that is mightie, and none but the Almightie could thus magnfie Mary: shee was blessed in bearing thekRom. 9. 5. most blessed, in whomlGen. 12. 3. all nations of the earth are blessed. VntoUnto this purposemHom. 3. super Missus est angelus Gabriel. Bernard excellently, Non quia tu benedicta, ideo benedictus fructus ventris tui: sed quia ille te praeuenit in benedictionibus dulcedinis, ideo tu benedicta.
Hitherto concerning the goodnesse of God toward her selfe: now shee remembreth his merciemercy toward other.
His merciemercy is on thē that feare him, &c.
Generally,
1. In helping and comforting thē: He exalteth the humbl… and meeke, filling them with all good things.
2. In scattering and confounding their enemies: He hath scattered the proud, put do…n the mightie from their seate, and sent the rich empty away.
More specially,
1. In promising.
2. In performing his gratious promise touching
the Messias of the world: Remembring his mercy hath holpen his seruant Israel, as he promised to our forefathers Abraham, and his seed for euer. These points arenCant. 2. 5. flagons of wine to comfort the distressed soule. For if God, who promised in the beginning that theoGen. 3. 15. seed of the woman should bruse the Serpents head, deferred his promise almost 4000. yeers, and yet at length accomplished the same to the very full: then no doubt, God hauing promised the resurrection of the dead, and euerlasting life, will in his good time bring them to passe. That which is past, may confirme our hope touching things to come: For he remembreth his merciemercy towards his seruant Israel, and it is on them that feare him throughout all generations.