Hannah’s canticle of praise (used in place of a responsorial Psalm today) is clearly a foreshadowing of Mary’s Magnificat. Many of the words Hannah uses to extol God are repeated by Mary when she, too, is so filled with the spirit of God that the best way to express herself is song.
Hannah, the barren wife, has finally become pregnant, satisfying her deep longing for a son. Mary is pregnant with the child who is the Messiah, fulfilling everyone’s longing for deliverance from sin and death.
A child is always an occasion for rejoicing! Each one has been called by God into being for a special purpose only he or she can accomplish. Let us rejoice at the coming birth of our Savior, the Child who had the ultimate purpose ordained by God and who fulfilled it to perfection.