Magnificat is a monthly publication which comes in a light, truly pocket-sized booklet, making it very easy to keep with you wherever you go. At home, I have three different books I regularly consult for daily readings, information on the lives of the saints, and for Scripture reflections. It wouldn’t be practical to carry all of these with me to Mass, Adoration, to work, while running errands, or when I travel. Much of what is in the heavy books I refer to when at home is contained in the Magnificat in monthly increments.
This is the perfect prayer guide for the person on the go. I’ve gotten in the habit of keeping the current issue in my purse and reading or rereading parts of it throughout the day—during a break at work, while waiting at the doctor’s office, etc. A year's subscription includes 14 issues—one for each month as well as a special issue for Holy Week and one for Christmas.
I found the Magnificat to be an indispensable worship aid when I was studying abroad in Paris, France during my junior year of college. I had memorized and come to a better understanding of the prayers prayed at Mass as a child, and knowing that Mass is the same all over the world helped somewhat when I attended my first Mass in French. However, the prayers, responses, and even Bible readings don’t translate exactly, so I was rather out of sorts without any written order of worship or Order of the Mass in the French language I’d studied for years but never in a religious setting.
I felt much more comfortable and confident participating in Mass when I had all of the prayers in French at my fingertips. I'm certain it improved my French to hear and read along with the Order of the Mass, the Scripture Readings, and prayers in the French edition of the Magnificat. Even eight years later, after saying the response to the Eucharistic prayer in English aloud at Mass, I still say it to myself silently in French.
I've found it helpful to see in print many of the prayers said aloud at Mass though I memorized them years ago. Sometimes we may tend to glaze over the richness of these words, because they have become so familiar. Seeing them there in black and white makes the Truths the Catholic Church upholds all the more real and present today.
Whether you’re a convert, revert, or a devout cradle Catholic, this is an amazing faith resource that will feed your spirit, give you a deeper appreciation for the liturgical aspects of our faith, and encourage you to pray throughout each day.
You can purchase a subscription here. I wrote this review of Magnificat for the Tiber River Blogger Review program. Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.
