About Today
Monday 22 December 2025
22 December
The Lord is at hand: come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
O Rex gentium!
O Rex géntium
et desiderátus eárum,
lapísque anguláris,
qui facis útraque unum:
veni et salva hóminem,
quem de limo formásti.
“O King of the peoples, whom they long for, the cornerstone, who make the two into one: come and save man, whom you made from clay.”
In this, the penultimate of the seven great antiphons to the Magnificat at Vespers which count down the days to Christmas, two new images appear. Jesus is now no longer the king just of Israel, but of all the peoples, who long to be united under his kingship. He is, then, like the stone at the corner of two walls, or (by an ancient and praiseworthy conflation) the keystone which, merely by being there, stops the two sides of an arch from collapsing inwards. These inanimate, even mineral images are appropriate because after all we ourselves are minerals given life by God. As Genesis says, “The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.” And Isaiah adds, “We are the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand.”
Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord'
Gosepl: Luke 1:46-56
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.’
And Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and returned to her home.
Reflection on the painting
After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she visited her cousin Elizabeth. And within thecontext of this visit, Mary says her great Magnificat prayer. When Elizabeth greeted Mary,she declared Mary blessed. Mary’s response in turn was to praise God, ‘My soul magnifiesthe Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’. Her prayer sprung from an event in herlife, a visit to her relative. This can be true of our prayer too. Our prayer, like Mary’s, tends tobe rooted in our lives. It is often the case that our prayer is rooted in the pain and struggle ofour life. We find ourselves in some dark or difficult situation, and we cry to God for help. Oreven in moments of great joy, like Mary, we tend to want to give paise to the Lord'sgoodness. That is what this beautiful magnificat prayer is: a prayer of thanksgiving for all thegoodness that the Lord has done for us.
Why this is such a powerful prayer is that the prayer highlights how Mary's relationship withGod may be personal, but it is not private. She shared her words with the world. It is thesame for all of us. God comes to us through the new people, new neighbours, a homelessperson in the street, the church. Our relationship with God is, hopefully, personal, but it isnot private... it is always communal!
Our painting by Sandro Botticelli is called the Madonna of the Magnificat. The Virgin Mary,crowned by two angels, is depicted on a throne. Under the guidance of her Son, she iswriting the canticle "Magnificat anima mea Dominum", the words of our reading today. Jesusis sitting on His mother's lap, looking upwards to His Father. Mary and Jesus are touchingwith their left hands on a pomegranate, whose red seeds foretell the blood shed by Jesus tosave humankind and… those seeds are also symbolic of the seeds of the Word which willmultiply into the world.
The Madonna of the Magnificat,Painted by Sandro Botticelli (Firenze 1445 -1510),Painted circa 1483,Oil on panel© Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
22 December
The Lord is at hand: come, let us adore him.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
O Rex gentium!
O Rex géntium
et desiderátus eárum,
lapísque anguláris,
qui facis útraque unum:
veni et salva hóminem,
quem de limo formásti.
“O King of the peoples, whom they long for, the cornerstone, who make the two into one: come and save man, whom you made from clay.”
In this, the penultimate of the seven great antiphons to the Magnificat at Vespers which count down the days to Christmas, two new images appear. Jesus is now no longer the king just of Israel, but of all the peoples, who long to be united under his kingship. He is, then, like the stone at the corner of two walls, or (by an ancient and praiseworthy conflation) the keystone which, merely by being there, stops the two sides of an arch from collapsing inwards. These inanimate, even mineral images are appropriate because after all we ourselves are minerals given life by God. As Genesis says, “The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.” And Isaiah adds, “We are the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand.”
Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord'
Gosepl: Luke 1:46-56
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.’
And Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and returned to her home.
Reflection on the painting
After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she visited her cousin Elizabeth. And within thecontext of this visit, Mary says her great Magnificat prayer. When Elizabeth greeted Mary,she declared Mary blessed. Mary’s response in turn was to praise God, ‘My soul magnifiesthe Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’. Her prayer sprung from an event in herlife, a visit to her relative. This can be true of our prayer too. Our prayer, like Mary’s, tends tobe rooted in our lives. It is often the case that our prayer is rooted in the pain and struggle ofour life. We find ourselves in some dark or difficult situation, and we cry to God for help. Oreven in moments of great joy, like Mary, we tend to want to give paise to the Lord'sgoodness. That is what this beautiful magnificat prayer is: a prayer of thanksgiving for all thegoodness that the Lord has done for us.
Why this is such a powerful prayer is that the prayer highlights how Mary's relationship withGod may be personal, but it is not private. She shared her words with the world. It is thesame for all of us. God comes to us through the new people, new neighbours, a homelessperson in the street, the church. Our relationship with God is, hopefully, personal, but it isnot private... it is always communal!
Our painting by Sandro Botticelli is called the Madonna of the Magnificat. The Virgin Mary,crowned by two angels, is depicted on a throne. Under the guidance of her Son, she iswriting the canticle "Magnificat anima mea Dominum", the words of our reading today. Jesusis sitting on His mother's lap, looking upwards to His Father. Mary and Jesus are touchingwith their left hands on a pomegranate, whose red seeds foretell the blood shed by Jesus tosave humankind and… those seeds are also symbolic of the seeds of the Word which willmultiply into the world.
The Madonna of the Magnificat,Painted by Sandro Botticelli (Firenze 1445 -1510),Painted circa 1483,Oil on panel© Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence