tion,-"blessed is the womb that bare Thee," added, "yea, rather blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it." In each, then, let there be the soul of Mary, that it may magnify the Lord; in each let there be the spirit of Mary, that it may rejoice in God. If, says St. Ambrose, according to the flesh the Mother of Christ is but one; yet according to faith the fruit which all bear is Christ.

SERMON IX.

The Magnificat, FF.

ST. LUKE i. 46, 47.

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

Na former occasion I endeavoured to set be

ON

fore you the circumstances which led to the utterance of that divine hymn of praise known by the name Magnificat. I called your attention, too, to the deep and tranquil spirit of faith and humility exhibited in the conduct of the Blessed Virgin Mary subsequent to her being made aware of the high privilege which was in store for her. We found those heavenly graces especially indicated in the readiness with which she accepted the wonderful message of the angel, saying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord : be it unto me according to Thy word." We heard also the highest testimony to her preciousness in the sight of God, by reason of that very faith and humility; for both the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, and St. Elisabeth moved by the Holy Ghost, pronounced her Blessed among women; and furthermore, we found that it was under the influence of feelings springing from these very principles, that

the Blessed Virgin poured forth her hymn of praise, whereby she refuses to rest upon the thought of her own excellence, and transfers to God all the glory and the honour.

Imagine, then, to yourselves, my brethren, this holy woman, conscious of the marvellous privilege that was about to be bestowed upon her, that she should be the mother of the Lord; and mindful of the many promises of the Old Testament which would now be fulfilled; fully alive to the height of honour to which she had been raised, and to the excellency of God's goodness manifested through her to His people; imagine, I say, this holy woman thus honoured and blessed, and yet so penetrated with the truest and deepest humility, so free from every thought of selfishness, that she cannot bear even to receive words of praise from her inspired kinswoman, without at once making mention of the Author of all her blessedness. When St. Elisabeth, her cousin, in the fulness of the Spirit, magnified her with words of blessing, the lowly Virgin, passing them by, thinks only how she may magnify the Lord. "And Elisabeth said, Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Like the Psalmist of old, she desires with her whole being to testify to her sense of God's majesty and goodness: "Bless the Lord, O my soul;

and all that is within me bless His holy Name." She would declare with her soul and spirit, in the full depth of her feelings, and with all the power of her understanding and reason, the goodness and mercy of God, and would rejoice that He has indeed revealed Himself to her as a Saviour. The angel had told her that the holy Child to be born of her should be called Jesus; and now in prophetic spirit the fulness of the blessings comprised in His birth lay spread before her, and in Christ, the Son of God, who should be born of her, she realizes Him who should likewise be her Saviour.

Thus does she commence her song of praise, by at once making mention of Him who is the first object of all her thoughts, and by recounting His mercy to herself personally. And having spoken of God as her Saviour, she goes on to speak more particularly of His favour to her: "For He hath regarded," she says, "the low estate of His handmaiden." She could reflect on the lowliness of her position, and the little reason she had to expect that she of all women should have been chosen for so high an honour. True, she was of the royal stock of David, from whom the Messiah was to spring, but her family had evidently been long in obscurity, and she was now amongst the humblest of the people. Who, then, was she, that of her should be born the promised Messiah? Doubtless, too, there was a deeper feeling to which these words gave expression. She could not but remember the

vast and immeasurable distinction between fallen human nature, as represented in her person, and the divine nature of Him, who, being God, in wondrous condescension, was about to be enshrined in her womb; and in magnifying God's mercy for regarding her low estate, she utters thoughts which reach beyond herself to the whole human race, of whose restoration to a higher than its original condition, she was to be the blessed channel. For herein is God's mercy shewn to her, in that He makes her to be the channel of blessings to others; so that according to her own declaration, "from henceforth. all generations shall call her blessed." We are indeed to call her blessed, on account of the marvellous privileges with which God honoured her we are to think with reverence of the fulness of grace manifested in her, the faith, the humility, the love, and the keen susceptibility of heavenly influences, which combined together to bring her will into accordance with the Divine will, and prepared her for the reception of that pure and holy thing that should unite Himself to her.

But though the virtues, and graces, and privileges of the Blessed Virgin herself should lead all men to call her blessed, yet can we not separate the thought of her from the benefits which, through her, have accrued to the whole human race. We cannot forget that she is the channel through which all the blessings and graces which man can hope for have been conveyed to him. In her we behold the in