Mary's Magnificat

 

In today’s gospel passage from Luke, we hear the familiar pre-Christmas story of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. He tells her that she will conceive a child (a great surprise to her!) and that her baby will be the holy Son of God. It’s a familiar story that we hear every year at this time.

The part of the story we don’t get in this excerpt is Mary going to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who is also unexpectedly pregnant. During this visit, Mary delivers a monologue that has come to be known as “Mary’s Song of Praise” or simply by the Latin name “Magnificat.” The full text of Mary’s Magnificat is:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 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. 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. 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 1:46-55)

Our hymn today is a contemporary paraphrase of Mary’s Magnificat called “My Soul Cries Out With a Joyful Shout.” Carl Daw writes about this text, “From the very beginning it is evident that this is no tame paraphrase of the Song of Mary. It identifies with, and draws energy from, the deeply revolutionary implications of what it means for the mighty to be put down from their thrones and for the lowly to be lifted up.” Interestingly, the first three stanzas address God while the fourth stanza shifts its focus to address other people of faith. Here’s the text in full:

1 My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
and my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
so from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

Refrain:
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn.

2 Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
and your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
you will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn. (Refrain)

3 From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
every tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
there are tables spread; every mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn. (Refrain)

4 Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
till the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around. (Refrain)

For me, it’s a powerful re-rendering of Mary’s song with an ever-helpful social justice bent. The refrain especially foreshadows what we all know is about to happen (“the dawn draws near”) in the coming days of Christmas (“the world is about to turn”). Enjoy!

Advent -- Light and Dark

One of the paradoxes of Advent for me has always been the notion of light and dark. Each year, as we march our way through the season, we grow closer and closer to the winter solstice – the longest night of the year. Or, said another way, the day with the least amount of light. At the same time, week by week, we add more and more light to the Advent wreath. We decorate our homes and Christmas trees with lights. Many folks add candles to their window sills. As the world grows darker and darker, we work hard to make our lights brighter and brighter. All of this, of course, in anticipation for the coming of the Light of the World on Christmas.

 

This idea is further explored a bit in our hymn today, “In the Depth of Winter’s Darkness.” It was written almost exactly 30 years ago, on December 19, 1990, by PC-USA ruling elder Joy F. Patterson of Wisconsin. This was an unfamiliar text to me until this year, and we’ve chosen to pair Patterson’s text with the familiar tune of the Christmas carol, “Angels From the Realms of Glory.” For me, the dark/light imagery is even more prevalent with the contrast of this peppy tune. Here’s the full text:

 

In the depth of winter’s darkness, lost in gloomy shades of night,
all humanity stands watching, waiting for God’s promised Light.
Alleluia, alleluia, come, Lord Jesus, quickly come. 

Now the time of preparation—with repentance, hope resolve,
let us ready minds and spirits for the Christ who comes in love.
Alleluia, alleluia, come, Lord Jesus, quickly come.

Once he came, and still he’s coming, mystery both new and old—
what the hour of his new Advent prophets and not known or told.
Alleluia, alleluia, come, Lord Jesus, quickly come. 

Doing justice, showing mercy, praying, praising, let us wait
so that we may greet his coming ready for the Daystar’s Light.
Alleluia, alleluia, come, Lord Jesus, quickly come.

 

As our days grow shorter and shorter (and darker and darker), I hope this text helps illumine your Advent path. Enjoy!

"Prepare the way, O Zion"

 

Our Advent hymn today comes from the Scandinavian country of Sweden. “Prepare the Way, O Zion,” first published more in 200 years ago (1812) in Stockholm, is considered one of the great Advent hymns to emerge from the Church of Sweden – a former state church and the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe. It was originally seven stanzas in length but is now most often published in the 3-stanza version that we have in Glory to God.

 

For me, this is one of my earliest memories of a hymn specific to the Advent season. As an organ nerd, admittedly, it could well be the organ arrangement I remember that features the melody played in dissonant intervals meant to imitate the “honking” of a semi traversing the open road – a nod to an earlier version of the hymn’s title: Prepare the Royal Highway. However, I also appreciate the hymn’s rhyme scheme and multiple Biblical references.

 

The hymn’s author, Frans Mikael Franzén, employs the same rhyme scheme throughout each stanza of this hymn, each consisting of four lines – three for each individual verse and a common fourth line refrain that follows. The three verses published in our hymnal are:

 

Prepare the way, O Zion, your Christ is drawing near!
Let every hill and valley a level way appear.
Greet One who comes in glory, foretold in sacred story.
Refrain: O blest is Christ who came in God’s most holy name.

He brings God’s rule, O Zion; he comes from heaven above.
His rule is peace and freedom, and justice, truth, and love.
Lift high your praise resounding, for grace and joy abounding.
Refrain: O blest is Christ who came in God’s most holy name.

Fling wide your gates, O Zion; your Savior’s rule embrace,
and tidings of salvation proclaim in every place.
All lands will bow rejoicing, their adoration voicing.
Refrain: O blest is Christ who came in God’s most holy name.

 

You’ll notice in each stanza the first two lines rhyme with each other – near/ap-pear; a-bove/love; em-brace/place. Franzén then uses internal rhyme (meaning there’s a rhyme scheme within the same line) for the third line of each stanza as well as the fourth line (refrain) – came/name. In the case of the third line, he takes the rhyming a step further and uses a two-syllable internal rhyme each time – glory/story; re-sounding/a-bounding; re-joicing/voicing. In my opinion, this gives the text momentum as the stanzas move along.

 

Finally, the text’s Biblical references make this a perfect hymn for the Second Sunday of Advent and the readings from Isaiah and Mark. In the first stanza, we get a reference to the prophetic voice of Isaiah (“foretold in sacred story”) as well as allusions to the Old Testament reading, Isaiah 40:1-11: A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain...’ (vs. 3-4). This same sentiment is later expressed by John the Baptist and written about by Mark in today’s gospel reading, Mark 1:1-8: As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight...’” (vs. 2-3).

 

I hope singing this hymn today will help enliven your Advent journey a bit. If you listen closely, perhaps you’ll even hear a couple of those “semi honks” in the musical offering!