Visitors ask...What is the Latin Word for "Magnificat?"

The Latin word for "magnificat" is "magnificat." It means "it magnifies" and arises from the response of Our Blessed Mother to Saint Elizabeth during the Visitation. Here is a portion from the Vulgate:

"Et ait Maria: [Magnificat anima mea Dominum: et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo." (Luke 1: 46-47)

It begins the Canticle of Mary and begins [And Mary said]: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." It is taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke. It gives its name to the Magnificat, the devotional reader mentioned yesterday.