We don’t know much about the Mary, the Mother of Jesus but I think she may have been a musician. Perhaps not a formally trained one like we’d think of today, since it is unlikely she received much formal education. Instead I think Mary was one of those women for whom music is a natural gift, a part of her soul, who sang her way through life.
I think there are two pieces of evidence that show us that Mary loved music. First, in Luke 1 we have an actual song that Mary wrote. It is often called “The Magnificat” and expresses, as best she could, Mary’s feelings and understanding of her miraculous calling. It is patterned closely after Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 1 in the Old Testament, a song that Mary would have undoubtedly known and sung.
Mary’s creation of her OWN song, one that she most likely sang to others, reveals something about her character and personality. She felt comfortable enough with music to be not just a singer but also a song writer. When it came to expressing the deepest thoughts of her heart, her chosen medium was— music.
Secondly, it is interesting that Jesus quoted from the Pslams (the ancient hymn book of the Jews) more times than he did any other scripture. His most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, is expertly laced with fragments of psalms. And even on the cross, in his deepest agony, his lips spoke the words of the psalms. It is evident that Jesus LOVED the psalms.
And I wonder if His love of the psalms, this love of poetry and music, came to him from his mother— a woman who sang to him before he was even born. She had music in her soul and I can imagine Jesus growing up in a musical home; one where singing was a natural way to learn. So later, when he taught others, the words and music of the psalms were in his heart.
We can’t know if any of this is true, but I love thinking about Mary as a musician. To think that maybe her love and gift for music influenced her son and that maybe– just maybe– in His words we find some of her.
