A Tale of Two Songs: From Hannah's Prayer to Mary's Magnificat

Mary’s Magnificat (Week 1)

This Advent season, we will journey through one of the most powerful and prophetic songs in scripture - Mary's Magnificat. Each week, we'll explore how this song of praise has echoed through scripture, inspired artists across centuries, and shaped the church's understanding of God's justice and liberation. We'll see how Mary's words connect to ancient prophecies, appear in beautiful paintings and music, and have given courage to communities seeking justice throughout history.

We begin today by looking at a profound scriptural connection - the relationship between Mary's Magnificat and Hannah's song of praise. These two women, separated by centuries, share not only similar language in their prayers but also a deep understanding of God's pattern of working through those whom society overlooks.

As we begin Advent, we often focus on Mary's 'yes' to God - her famous words 'I am the Lord's servant' or 'slave-woman of the Lord' (Luke 1:38). But today I'd like us to look deeper at these words by connecting them to another woman in scripture who helps us understand Mary's experience: Hannah.

Centuries before Mary, Hannah also called herself God's servant while praying desperately for a child (1 Samuel 1:11). Both women used similar language of humility before God, and both would go on to sing powerful songs of praise that share remarkable similarities. Hannah's song and Mary's Magnificat both celebrate God's work of lifting up the lowly and bringing down the powerful (1 Samuel 2:1-10; Luke 1:46-55). Through these songs, we see God's pattern of working in history carried forward from Hannah's time to Mary's, and continuing to our own day.

Ben Wildflower Magnificat Image

Both Hannah and Mary lived in societies where women had very limited autonomy over their lives and bodies. Their use of servant language wasn't just spiritual metaphor - it reflected the harsh realities of their world. Yet within these challenging contexts, both women's stories show us something profound about God. While their culture saw women primarily through the lens of subordination, God engaged with Hannah and Mary directly, heard their prayers, and worked through them to bring about transformation.

Both women lived in societies where power was often wielded through violence and displacement. Their stories remind us that God's work often happens through those who are marginalized by empire and oppression. As biblical scholar Wilda Gafney points out, we must wrestle honestly with how biblical texts have been used both to oppress and to liberate. The same scriptures that tell of God's deep concern for the oppressed have sometimes been weaponized to justify colonialism and displacement of indigenous peoples.

Today, as we witness the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, we're called to remember that both Hannah and Mary sang of a God who lifts up the lowly and brings down the powerful. Mary's Magnificat specifically celebrates a God who 'has brought down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the humble' (Luke 1: 52). In our own time, when theology is still sometimes used to justify violence and displacement, these women's songs challenge us to ask: Where does God stand? Their answer is clear - with those who suffer, with those who are displaced, with those who cry out for justice.

As we light the first Advent candle, Hannah and Mary's stories remind us that God has always been in the business of working through those society considers lowly or subordinate. Their willingness to say 'yes' to God, despite living in cultures that said 'no' to women's full humanity, shows us what faithful response to God looks like.

In this season of waiting and preparation, may we have the courage to follow Hannah and Mary's example - not just in saying yes to God, but in believing in and working toward a world where power doesn't mean domination, where theology serves liberation rather than oppression, and where every person's dignity is honored as bearing God's image. As we prepare for the coming of Christ, may we commit ourselves to being agents of God's justice and peace in a world that desperately needs both.

References

Wilda C. Gafney, "Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne" (2017)