Prayers, psalters, chants, canons, akathists are integral components of every service. Among them we can highlight the song of the Mother of God “My soul magnifies the Lord.” It precedes the ninth song of the canon in the morning Orthodox hymn. It is composed of several parts:
- eulogy of the Virgin Mary,
- chorus "The most honorable cherub..."
Therefore, it can also be found under the name “The Most Honest”. There is information that the prayer-magnification “The most honorable cherub...” was written by the Monk Kosma of Mayum. And the hymn of the Mother of God itself with the prophecy of Zechariah are together included in the ninth biblical hymn.
History of creation
The prayer of the Theotokos “My soul magnifies the Lord” was first said by the Virgin Mary when meeting with her relative Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. She could not get pregnant for a long time and only at a fairly advanced age did God’s grace descend on her. As soon as the Mother of God received such joyful news from the Archangel Gabriel, she immediately went to Nazareth to bring joy to Elizabeth.
The house was in the mountainous part of Judea, which belonged to the family of Judah. As soon as the Mother of God appeared on the threshold, the baby John, still in the womb, felt the approach of the Lord and began to beat. Elizabeth immediately conveyed such a sign to the Virgin Mary and it was interpreted as a harbinger of the appearance of the Infant God. It was the Mother of God’s response to Elizabeth’s words that became the text of the prayer “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
How does the prayer “More Honest Cherub” help?
Since ancient times, the Mother of God has acted as the protector of the human race before the Lord. You can trust her and tell her about all your joys and sorrows. The Queen of Heaven will increase joy and quench sorrow. People turn to her in the following cases:
- diffidence;
- greed, envy and selfish intentions;
- in search of answers to painful questions;
- in a difficult life situation.
The Mother of God bestows humility and fortitude, delivers from all evil thoughts and confirms us on the righteous path. According to the faith of the one who asks, may it come to him.
The meaning of the text and the song in worship
The text of the prayer has been preserved only in Greek, as well as in translations. It can be assumed that this prayer was originally in Aramaic or Hebrew.
There is a certain established procedure for using this prayer. It is often performed between canons 8 and 9 and the same chorus is added after each verse. After canon 9, “The most honorable cherub,” you can also sing the chorus “It is worthy to eat.” While singing the prayer, the servant performs a full censing of the temple. the brethren, in turn, bow down.
Also read: Prayer to Paraskeva Friday
There are certain days when singing this song is canceled:
- Bright and Holy Weeks,
- twelve feasts of the Lord,
- twelfth feasts of the Virgin Mary,
- Weeks of the Colored Triodion,
- the day after Christmas,
- Epiphany,
- Pentecost,
- Circumcision of the Lord and others.
On such days, other special choruses may be sung at the 9th song of the canon. The first of them is announced by the deacon.
"My soul magnifies the Lord..."
The hymn of praise sung by the Most Holy Theotokos to God in one of the Gospel events is at the same time a song of praise to the Mother of God Herself. This widely known song, especially beloved by the church people, is heard at the morning of Orthodox worship and is preceded by the words: “Let us exalt the Mother of God and the Mother of Light in song!” Mother of Light - as the one who gave birth to the “Light of men” (see: John 1, 4).
Song of the Virgin Mary (see: Luke 1, 46–55)
1. My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Chorus: Most honorable Cherub and most glorious without comparison Seraphim, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption, we magnify Thee as the real Mother of God.
2. Because you have looked upon the humility of Your servant, behold, from now on all your kindred will please Me. The most honest...
3. For the Mighty One has done greatness to Me, and holy is His name, and His mercy throughout the generations of those who fear Him. The most honest...
4. Create power with Your arm, scatter the proud thoughts of their hearts. The most honest...
5. Cast down the mighty from the throne, and lift up the humble, fill the hungry with good things, and let go of the rich. The most honest...
6. They will remember His servant Israel, remembering His mercies, as He said to our fathers, Abraham and his seed, even unto the ages.
The most honest...
Holy Scripture and Worship
“Try to ensure that the Gospel is assimilated into your mind and heart... Then your activity will conveniently become evangelical . St. Ignatiy Brianchaninov
The source of Orthodox doctrine is Divine Revelation. The Word of God teaches us an image of both right faith and Christian piety. According to the Fathers, every work we do must have the testimony of Scripture. To do this, it must be a constant subject of our attention. Those who neglect this are robbing themselves. “All of us who neglect reading the Scriptures suffer harm and impoverishment from this. In fact, how will we bring our affairs into order if we do not know the very laws by which we need to bring them into order? - asks St. John Chrysostom. A Christian must read, study, and assimilate the Holy Scripture. Scripture, to make efforts to ensure that it - especially the New Testament - becomes the criterion and guide of his entire life.
Orthodox worship, rich in both Old Testament and New Testament biblical texts, is of great help in this. It is worthy of attention that during the divine service the Church teaches us the Holy Spirit. Scripture in the context of its Holy. Tradition, without which Scripture can neither be understood nor assimilated. “Orthodox worship is the Holy Gospel and Sacred Tradition, translated into prayers, miraculous and life-giving stichera, troparia, kontakia, canons, verses, songs, sighs...” writes St. Justin Popovich. These liturgical treasures are the heritage of the Church, which she shares with us.
The song we are talking about today is also from this treasury. Its text is the own words of the Most Holy Theotokos, the chorus is the creation of St. hymn writer Cosmas Maiumsky. The event in which the Virgin Mary sang the song is described in the Gospel of Luke.
From the Gospel story (Luke 1, 39–56)
After the event of the Annunciation (Luke 1, 26-38) - the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin and Her humble consent to become the Mother of God, Mary hurries to visit her relative Elizabeth, the future mother of John the Baptist. The purpose of the visit is to share His joy with her and to take part in the joy of Elizabeth herself, awaiting the birth of her son. At the moment of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, the baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and uttered prophetic words about the Mother of the Lord who visited her home. According to the fathers, Elizabeth’s words are a joyful greeting from the Earth to the Son of God, who descended from Heaven and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Mary answered her with a solemn inspired hymn: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...”, glorifying God for the fulfillment of the promises about the coming of the Savior into the world, and prophetically testified that from now on all generations will please Her for the fact that mercy God's fulfillment of these promises was revealed through Her. Mary's song can be called victorious, since it expresses the triumph of humility and virtue, crowned and exalted by God Himself.
Let us consider the words of this song in more detail in the light of the interpretation of St. fathers of the Orthodox Church.
Patristic interpretation
Let us turn to the blessed one for explanations. Theophylact, Archbishop. Bulgarian, whose interpretations of the texts of the New Testament were called “Blagovestnik” and accepted by the Orthodox Church. “When reading the Evangelists, one should also read the Gospel... Reading the Gospel is necessary, it contributes to the correct understanding of the Gospel and, consequently, to its most accurate fulfillment. Moreover, the rules of the Church require that Scripture be understood as the Holy Fathers explain, and not at all arbitrarily,” writes St. Ignatius Brianchaninov.
So, according to the blessed one. Theophylact...
Verses 1–3. The Virgin, being completely confident in the truth of what was predicted to Her, glorifies God; attributing the miracle not to Himself, but to Him, he says: “He looked at Me, the humble one, and it was not I who looked at Him; He showed Me mercy, and it was not I who sought Him. And “from now on all generations will please Me...” Why please? Is it really for My virtue? No! But because God showed greatness to Me.” Indicates that “His mercy” is not for Her alone, but for all who fear Him. The words “throughout all generations” mean that this mercy will be received from God not only in this age, but also in the eternal (see: Matt. 19:29). Regarding the words “My soul magnifies the Lord... and my spirit rejoices” - Blessed. Theophylact explains that first the soul magnifies the Lord, and only then the spirit rejoices. Do you call yourself a Christian? - Do not diminish the dignity of the name of Christ through unworthy deeds, but magnify it through great deeds, then your spirit will rejoice.
Verses 4–6. According to the explanation of the bl. Theophylact, the muscle of God the Father - Son. The Lord “scattered the arrogant” demons, driving them out of human souls. One can also understand here the Jews, who are still in dispersion. “He brought down the mighty from their thrones,” that is, the demons who dominated people and had thrones in their souls. But the Pharisees, strong as the thieves of the property of the poor and as teachers, have thrones from which they have been deposed. “He exalted the humble” - people or pagans whom sin humbled, exalted, giving them sonship; He filled the hungry pagans (since they did not have the Scriptures, the law or the commandments) with the blessings of the Scriptures, and sent the Jews, rich in the law and commandments, outside the borders of Jerusalem, above and below, deprived of all good. “He received Israel his servant” - it is said either about the sensitive Israelites, many of whom believed, and God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled: “and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3); or about spiritual Israel: Israel means “those who see God” - God took all those who see God into the heavenly inheritance.
And let’s complete the interpretation of the Song of the Mother of God with spiritual reflections on this topic. Gregory (Lebedev), bishop. Shlisselburgsky (gave his life for Christ in 1937; canonized in 2005). He writes: “The proud and arrogant collects the treasures of the earth and hopes to satisfy his thirst for primacy on earth... But in vain! The Lord satisfies only “those who hunger for righteousness”... They are satisfied with true “goods” and “become rich in God”... And these are blessed... And the arrogant ones chase after the illusory saturation of life, after deceptive wealth. They are not even rich, but “getting rich,” that is, thinking that they are rich. In reality, they are the last beggars, because, chasing after the illusory foundation of life, they remain in emptiness and themselves empty and naked... The Lord sent those who were rich away “with nothing”...
Thus, the humble, who has surrendered himself to God’s guidance and has taken God’s path of life, is confirmed, exalted, and saturated with life; and all this because the Lord “took” him as “Israel, His servant,” and extended over him “His mercy promised to Abraham and his seed (descendants) forever.”
Exalt the Lord, my soul, and rejoice, my spirit, in God my Savior!”
"The most honorable Cherub..."
The chant that serves as the refrain of the Song of the Virgin Mary is not only beautiful, but also deeply dogmatic, confirming the truth that Orthodox worship is a wonderful textbook of theology. This hymn, which expresses the essence of the Church’s teaching about the Mother of God, contains two important truths for our faith - about the Mother of God and the ever-virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These truths clarify the question of the venerability and unparalleled glorification of the Virgin Mary in the Church, placing Her above all created beings - not only people, but also Angels.
About the veneration of the Mother of God
“Of all that is good, She is the best; of all that is holy, She is the holiest; of all that is pure, She is the purest; of all that is wonderful, She is the most wonderful... After the Lord Christ, She is the most perfect All-Virtue in the human race.” St. Justin Popovich
“Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed” the Church calls the Most Holy Theotokos. We honor Her - because this is the will of God; because She is a wonderful Mother of God and Virgin; because She is the Mother of salvation, because She gave birth to the Savior; because She is All-Holy; because She is the Mother of all Christians; because “thou didst not forsake the world in its dormition”... And the personal experience of all those who turn to Her with requests for help and intercession testifies that these requests do not remain unanswered.
At the same time, St. Filaret of Moscow notes that our veneration should not consist only in words. He writes: “Praise is not red in the mouth of a sinner. If we wish to honorably please the Mother of God, then let us love Her dignity and virtues with all our hearts; having loved, let us be jealous, if possible, to worthily follow in life what we please in thought and word.”
Prepared by Lyudmila Kuznetsova
