Lourdes Magnificat (My soul now glorifies)

This hymn is a setting of The Magnificat It has two refrains (with different tunes) - only one should be used each time the hymn is sung. It is based on a hymn written by French Roman Catholic priest and choir-master at Lourdes, Alexandre Lesbordes (1912 - 1969).

The translation was made English Roman Catholic academic, teacher and hymnologist, Michael Hodgetts (1936-2022), and shared below, with the permission of the literary executor of Hodgett's estate. Permission to record or reproduce these words must be requested from hymns@hodgetts.eu

It was published in:

Alleluia! Amen, 1978,
Songs of the Spirit, 1978

No further publications or released recordings have been found, apart from some videos on YouTube - shown below. However it has recently been used by religious orders in Africa, usually without either of the initial refrains.

Downloads

This section may contain affiliate links: I earn from qualifying purchases on these. Free downloads are provided where possible (eg for public domain items).

Lead sheet (melody + chords) - Refrain I (The Lord has shown ..)

Lead sheet (melody + chords) - Refrain II (God fills me with joy ..)

PowerPoint slides refrain 1
(The Lord has shown)

PowerPoint slides refrain 2
(God fills me with joy)

PowerPoint slides - no refrain

Examples

Singer, unaccompanied

Singer, unaccompanied - recorded live in a church service:

Virtual choir with organ and rhythm:

Friars with band:

Derived version - seminarians(?) with keyboard and rhythm:

Lyrics

Refrain 1:
The Lord has shown his power in me,
Holy is his name.

OR Refrain 2:
God fills me with joy, Alleluia.
His presence is my robe, Alleluia.

My soul now glorifies
The Lord who is my Saviour.
Rejoice for who am I,
That God has shown me favour.

The World shall call me bless’d
And ponder on my story,
In me is manifest
God’s greatness and his glory

For those who are his friends
And keep his laws as holy
His mercy never ends
And he exalts the lowly.

But by his pow’r the great
The proud, the self conceited
The kings who sit in state
Are humbled and defeated.

He feeds the starving poor
He guides his holy nations,
Fulfilling what he swore
Long since in revelation.

Then glorify with me
The Lord who is my Saviour,
One Holy Trinity
Forever and forever.

ABC Notation

About ABC notation

X:1
    T:Lourdes Magnificat - Refrain I 
C:Words - Lesbordes 
C:Music -
    Abbé P Decha 
M:2/4 
L:1/8 
K:Dmaj 

    A,2| "D"F3 F | "A" E2 FG | "D"A3 G | "Bm" F4 | F2 F2 | "A" E2 E2 | "D" (D4 |
    D2) F2 | 

    w:1~~~The Lord has shown his_ power in me, ho-ly is his name._ My 
w:2
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The 
w:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For
    
w:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But 
w:5 . . . . . . . . . . . .
    . . He 
w:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Then 
M:2/4 

    F3 F | "Bm"F2 ED | "A"E4 | "D"z2 FA | "G"G3 G | "A7"FE DC | "D"D2 D2 | z2 A2
    | 

    w:1~~~soul now glo-ri_fies the_ Lord who is_ my_ Sa-viour. Re- 

    w:2~~~world shall call me_ blessed and_ pon-der on_ my_ sto-ry. In 

    w:3~~~those who are his_ friends and_ keep his laws_ as_ ho-ly, His 

    w:4~~~by his power the_ great, the_ proud, the self_ con_ceit-ed, the
    

    w:5~~~feeds the star-ving_ poor He_ guides his ho_ly_ nat-ions, ful 

    w:6~~~glo-ri-fy with_ me the_ Lord who is_ my_ Sav-iour, One 

    A3 A | "G"GA FG | "D"A4 | z2 F2 | "Bm" F3 F | "G"DE FG | "A7"E4 | "D"D4 ||
    

    w:1~~~joice for who_ am_ I, that God has shown_ me_ fa-vour. 
w:2~~~me
    is ma_ni_fest Godâ€™s great-ness and_ his_ glo-ry 
w:3~~~merc-y ne_ver_
    ends and he ex-alts_ the_ low-ly. 
w:4~~~kings who sit_ in_ state are
    humbl-ed and_ de_feat-ed. 
w:5~~~fill-ing what_ he_ swore long since in
    re_ve_lat-ion. 
w:6~~~Ho-ly Tri_ni_ty for-ev-er and_ for_ev-er.