Magnificat: serving the Church as a point of unity for women. (Lay Movements XVI).

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord" (Lk 1:46) is the beginning of Mary's Magnificat. The entire scene of the Visitation is the inspiration for this ministry, which adopts as its own the name of Mary's hymn and the spirit of this biblical encounter. Following the example of Mary and Elizabeth, this woman-to-woman ministry within the Church attempts to generate a lively faith in God and in God's action in our lives, along with a love for Mary and the Church.

Magnificat was begun by a group of Catholic women from the American Archdiocese of New Orleans who noticed a need among Catholic women for a faith-sharing experience in a relaxed social setting. With the encouragement of the local bishop, its first function, a prayer breakfast, took place on October 7, 1981. While Magnificat began under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and was first incorporated in the State of Louisiana, each local chapter functions with permission of the local ordinary and is incorporated in its respective city. Since its origin, Magnificat has flourished, with chapters worldwide, including in the U.S.A., Canada, the West Indies, the Virgin Islands, Poland, and Malta.

A private association of the Christian faithful and a registered charitable organization, Magnificat has two Canadian chapters, in Halifax and Toronto. The Toronto chapter, Mary Cause of our Joy, was begun in August 1997 with the blessing of Bishop Prendergast. With the service team, based at St. Benedict Parish, Etobicoke, the ministry serves the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Central to its ministry is the Magnificat Meal. Sponsored twice a year, the Magnificat Meal provides an opportunity for a shared meal, fellowship, praise, prayer, and personal testimony. The first breakfast in Toronto, with its humble beginnings in St. Benedict parish hall, in May 1998, gave clear indication that this was the start of something good. Each breakfast thereafter has been held in a local banquet hall so as to accommodate a capacity crowd ranging between 250 and 300 women.

True to Magnificat, the experience over the prayer breakfasts so far has been that the ministry reaches out to all women: women who are actively involved in ministry, women beginning their journey of faith, and women who want to share a spiritual encounter. It has great appeal to those women who may be struggling with faith or who have lost touch with the Church. One woman, now a regular guest at the breakfasts, who is active with family life and volunteer work in her parish, comments that the breakfasts give her spiritual refreshment and nourishment, a support she needs in her life. Another young lady, a catechumen in the RCIA program, speaks of her spiritual growth, saying that, while she would not have been interested in such an event one year earlier, she left her first Magnificat Breakfast with joy in her heart and an awareness of how much her faith means to her.

With the Magnificat Meal as the central function of the ministry, Magnificat seeks to respond to the local needs of women between meals. In the experience of the emerging Toronto chapter, this takes the form of a monthly mini-Magnificat. This is an occasion for women to come together to listen to the testimony of how 'one of us' has come to know the Lord. Since the woman is from the parish community, this experience assists in building community within the local parish. Another outreach in Toronto includes a Breakfast for the girls of the local schools who are candidates for Confirmation. Together with their mother and woman sponsor, these youth participate in a breakfast to which both a youth and an adult are invited as guest speakers. In the fall of 2002, Magnificat in Toronto will sponsor a day-retreat for women. The next Magnificat Meal in Toronto is a breakfast planned for Saturday, November 2, 2002.

For more information contact Ms. Pace, St. Benedict Parish, 2194 Kipling Ave., Toronto, ON, M9W 4K9, tel. [phone] (fax-8884), e-mail <[e-mail]>, or Barbara Hoar, Halifax, tel. [phone].