"Mary is the Magnificat."

"[Mary] is truly Israel, the servant, the humble handmaid who can sing the song of faith and joy, the song of the servant that will be fulfilled in Jesus, her Son....  Luke says with simplicity, 'And Mary said.'  Surely Mary lived the song of the servant and shared it with Elizabeth and Zechariah.  But it is not merely a song in one great peak experience.  It is the word and prayer displayed so lavishly by the totality of her life, thoughts, desires, and actions.  In the hours of joy and in the moments of suffering, and even under the Cross, Mary's life will sing the song of the servant.  Mary is the Magnificat.  The apostolic community finds in this great song of praise a perfect blend of the life and the role of Mary in the Church."  Fr. Bernhard Häring, C.SS.R.