Mary’s magnificat is the prayer of praises that Mary proclaims when she meets with Elizabeth in Luke’s gospel (Lk 1:46-55). Traditionally it is prayed during daily evening prayer. For about ten years I have been using a daily prayer book, called the Magnificat, for morning prayer, Mass readings and evening prayers. Yet it was only recently that I started to ponder if I could pray Mary’s prayer as my own.

Mary is God’s perfect creation. She was gifted with immaculate conception and she never sinned during her life. She first and only thought of herself as His handmaid. So how could such a sinner like me pray one of her perfect prayers? In a way, it’s all about the attitude.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” God has given me everything, how can I not rejoice in the Lord? My life may not be perfect but even if I thank Him for the basic gift of life, this statement should be mine to make with the same joy and gratefulness.

“From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.” I always thought this referred only to Mary, but for anyone who is pursuing a relationship with God and hopes to one day be with Him in heaven, i.e. a saint – even an unknown one, that person is blest and the Church does pray for all the saints in heaven. However, we cannot achieve this on our own; it is God who makes it possible. It is the Almighty who invites us into heaven and calls us to be holy, like Him.

“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” This is like a mini examination of conscience. For example, as we praise the Lord for rewarding with fairness, we may find that we are being sent away empty, not because God does not love us, but because we are already filled and we need to share what we received and empty ourselves so that God can fill us up again. By reviewing our daily activities each evening, we can identify what we need to work on the next day.

“He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.” Lastly, we are reminded that we are part of a family, not just a biological one that we are born into, or the one we grow up in, but the family of God. He has made a covenant with His people, starting in the Old Testament and it continues to this day through the Church.

Despite our imperfections, Mary’s magnificat can be our own prayer to God, thanking Him for all the gifts He has given to us, acknowledging His work within our lives and His help in what we need to focus on to be better and thanking Him for being part of His family.