My soul doth magnify the Lord

Magnificat. What does this word mean? What does it mean to magnify God? Is it possible to magnify one whose grandeur and magnificence are immense, infinite and incomprehensible? Not at all—such a thing is impossible—impossible for God Himself, who cannot make Himself greater than He already is. We cannot magnify God, that is, make Him greater than Himself, since His divine perfections are infinite and therefore cannot be increased in themselves, but we can magnify Him in ourselves. "Every holy soul," said St Augustine, "can conceive the Eternal Word within himself by means of faith. He can engender God in other souls by preaching the Divine Word, but he can magnify His creator by loving Him so truly that he too may say: My soul doth magnify the Lord."

Notice that the Blessed Virgin does not say "I magnify," but "My soul doth magnify the Lord," in order to show that she magnifies Him from the utmost depths of her Heart and with her whole inner strength.

What is this "soul" that the Blessed Virgin calls her soul? My reply to this question is that these words, anima mea, refer first to the individual and natural soul which animates the body of the Immaculate Virgin, and second, to the soul of the Divine Infant whom she is carrying in her womb. This Divine Infant is so closely united to her own soul that their two souls, in a certain sense, form but one single soul. In the third place, the words anima mea (my soul) indicate and include all souls created in the image and likeness of God who have ever been, are now and ever will be in the whole world. St Paul assures us that the Eternal Father has given us all things in giving us His Divine Son, so there can be no doubt that, in giving Christ to His divine Mother, He thus gave her all things and therefore all souls belong to her. Mary is not unaware of this, and she also knows full well her sacred obligation to make use of everything that God has given her, for His honor and glory. Consequently, when Mary pronounces these words, My soul doth magnify the Lord, considering all the souls of the past, present and future as souls who belong to her, she includes them all in order to unite them to the soul of her Son and her own soul, and in order to avail herself of every soul for praising, exalting and magnifying Him who descended from Heaven and took flesh in her own virginal womb so that He might accomplish the great work of their redemption.

Saint John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary (1681)