The Infancy Canticles

One of the joys of praying with the Daily Office (the Catholic version of The Book of Common Prayer), is how every day you pray the three canticles from Luke's infancy narrative.

There are three canticles (songs) from the gospel of Luke associated with the birth of Jesus.

The first is the Benedictus (the Song of Zechariah) from Luke 1.68-79, Zechariah's praise to God for the birth of John the Baptist.

The second canticle is the Magnificat (Mary's Song), sung by Mary in Luke 1.46-55 to praise God for the birth of Jesus.

And the third canticle is Nunc dimittis (the Song of Simeon) from Luke 2.29-32, the song Simeon sings thanking God for the birth of Jesus.

Most of us only sing and read these songs during the Advent and Christmas seasons. But the Daily Office has you pray these canticles every single day.

For morning prayer you pray the Benedictus. For evening prayer you pray the Magnificat. And for Night prayer you pray the Nuc dimittis.

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