OUR EARLIEST CHRISTMAS HYMNS

HE first song of the Christian era came from the lips of the Virgin Mary. The greatest honor that could be bestowed upon a woman was hers, for

she is the destined mother of the Messiah. The joy of her soul knows no bounds. Conscious of the wonderful thing which God hath done for her, and through her for the world, Mary breaks the stillness of the expectant hour with the strains of the Magnificat.

Inspired, because of the wonderful thing which God hath done unto her, this humble maiden of Israel sings the first Christian song, in the quiet of the home of her kinswoman, Elizabeth, in the hill country of Judea.

The circumstances under which this hymn was first sung, its theme, its spirit and its contents give to the Magnificat a precedence over all the other hymns of the Church.

Mrs. Charles has well said of this hymn: "The heart of Mary, like a sweet flower with its cup turned up to the morning sky, in its lowliness drank in the light and dew of heaven, and sent them back in fragrance; full of God and therefore full of joy. Yet her hymn is no angelic song, no thanksgiving of an unfallen spirit who looks on adoring at the great miracle of divine love. That human tone which gives its deepest music to the new song of heaven is not wanting in Mary's. She can say, 'My Saviour,' that she also may sing hereafter, "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us by Thy blood!' The Magnificat of the blessed

Virgin is but another strain in the great song of redemption."

If we compare the Magnificat with the song of Hannah, recorded in the first chapter of I Samuel, we will note enough similarity to warrant the view that Mary must have been familiar with this Old Testament song to which it bears a close resemblance.

There have been a number of attempts to put the Magnificat into verse, but they are not popular, for the simple reason that nothing can surpass in beauty and stateliness the rhythmical prose of this chant as it came from the lips of Mary and is recorded in the New Testament. We are fortunate in having this canticle occupy an important place in our services. It should be, in view of its origin and association as the first hymn of the Christian Church committed to memory in our youth. The song is so rich in thought, so beautiful in its origin and setting that, rightly understood, its frequent use will necessarily deepen spiritual life and strengthen the devotion of the worshiper.

THE MAGNIFICAT

My soul doth magnify the Lord: and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For He hath regarded: the low estate of His handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed.

For He that is mighty hath done to me great things: and holy is His name.

And His mercy is on them that fear Him: from generation to generation.

He hath showed strength with His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seats: and exalted them of low degree.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away.

He hath holpen His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy: as He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed, for ever.

Times of unusual experiences in the religious life, whether they are times of trial or of joy, have ever been fruitful in song. So it is that at the glad time of the coming of our Lord into the world song succeeds song. No sooner do the strains of the Magnificat die away than we hear the notes of another of our beautiful New Testament canticles, the song of Zacharias proclaiming the advent of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord.

A priest, as he was, and inspired of the Holy Ghost to prophecy, we have in the Benedictus, as it comes from the lips of Zacharias, a lyric which, like Mary's song, has passed into the permanent liturgy of the Church, and which is expressive of the devotion of every pious heart.

Concerning this hymn, Edersheim says: "Strictly Hebrew in its cast, and closely following Old Testament prophecy, it is remarkable and yet most natural-that this hymn of the priest closely follows, and, if the expression be allowable, spiritualizes a great part of the most ancient Jewish prayer, the so-called Eighteen Benedictions; rather, perhaps, that it transforms the expectancy of that prayer into praise of its realization. And if we bear in mind that a great portion of these prayers were said by the priests before the lot was cast for incensing, or by the people in the time of incensing, it almost seems as if during the long period of his enforced solitude the aged priest had meditated on, and learned to understand, what so often he had repeated."

How beautifully these chants link the Old and the New