[46] And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; [47] my spirit rejoices in God my savior. [48] For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. [49] The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. [50] His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. [51] He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. [52] He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. [53] The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. [54] He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, [55] according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." [56] Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
(CCC 971) "All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship" (Lk 1:48; Paul VI, MC 56). The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.... This very special devotion... differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration" (LG 66). The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary (Cf. Paul VI, MC 42; SC 103). (CCC 2097) To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name (cf. Lk 1:46-49). The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world. (CCC 2679) Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes (cf. Jn 19:27), for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope (cf. LG 68-69). (CCC 2619) That is why the Canticle of Mary (Cf. Lk 1:46-55), The Magnificat (Latin) or Megalynei (byzantine) is the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church; the song of the Daughter of Zion and of the new People of God; the song of thanksgiving for the fullness of graces poured out in the economy of salvation and the song of the "poor" whose hope is met by the fulfillment of the promises made to our ancestors, "to Abraham and to his posterity for ever." (CCC 2678) Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary as a popular substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours. In the East, the litany called the Akathistos and the Paraclesis remained closer to the choral office in the Byzantine churches, while the Armenian, Coptic, and Syriac traditions preferred popular hymns and songs to the Mother of God. But in the Ave Maria, the theotokia, the hymns of St. Ephrem or St. Gregory of Narek, the tradition of prayer is basically the same.
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