The Annunciation – 8 April 2024 (transferred from 25 March 2024)

The Annunciation Stained Glass Window in St George’s Church by Thomas Freeth

The Magnificat – the Song of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed;
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,
Casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
to remember his promise of mercy,
The promise made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Luke 1.46-55

The Magnificat is a message of fulfilment-
fulfilment of all that God has promised to His people:
the world has a saviour.
It is a message of confident hope –
all our needs will be filled, our cries will be answered –
the kingdom of God is before us.
It is a message of faith –
for those who receive the Word of God.
It is a message of freedom –
for the lowly, those who are oppressed,
for those who put their trust in God their Saviour.
To us all the Word is announced: the reign of God is here.
This theology of freedom and liberation
is what we need as we hear of
oppression, destruction and despair.

Almighty God,
who looked upon the lowliness of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and chose her to be the mother of your only Son:
grant that we who are redeemed by his blood
may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

For God, on earth, she is the royal throne,
The chosen cloth to make his mortal weede;
The quarry to cut out our Corner-stone,
Soil full of fruit, yet free from mortal seed;
For heavenly flower she is the Jesse rod
The child of man, the parent of a God.

by Robert Southwell