Antiphona ad Magnificat (II Vesperis)

This antiphon repeats a text used elsewhere in the Marian commons: 'Beata es, Virgo Maria, quae Dominum portasti Creatorem mundi' (Blessed art thou, Virgin Mary, who didst bear the Lord, Creator of the world). The paradox of creature bearing Creator is central to Incarnation theology. The phrase 'genuisti qui te fecit' (thou didst give birth to him who made thee) expresses the temporal order inverted: Mary's maker becomes her child. The perpetual virginity is affirmed: 'in aeternum permanes Virgo.' At Second Vespers, this antiphon grounds Carmelite devotion in the universal Marian titles.