Magnificat helps women find fulfillment

As society grapples with issues of “women’s empowerment” and “influence,” the international ministry Magnificat helps women find ultimate fulfillment in becoming the person God created them to be.

Magnificat, a Catholic women’s ministry, is canonically rooted in the church as a Private Association of the Christian Faithful. It began under the inspiration of a daytime Charismatic prayer group in New Orleans, according to Judy Zelden of Baton Rouge, who served on the first Magnificat service team and is the author of two Bible studies. 

“It began to renew our faith and to see God’s word in a new light and see our faith in a new way but to also see that what the world was telling women to be and to do was so far from what Scripture says,” Zelden said.

She said besides the emphasis on equality, such as women should be paid equal to men for the same job, there were other elements, such as the promotion of abortion that were incompatible with the faith.

“It seemed like women were on a precarious journey away from God’s plan,” said Zelden.
As the group grew they attended a meeting of  “Women Aglo,” a non-denominational version of Magnificat. 

“Women would be drawn to it and loved it. But they were looking for something like that in the Catholic Church,” Zelden said. 

Magnificat founder Marilyn Quirk approached the late Bishop Stanley J. Ott, who was then auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and the late Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans. They encouraged the women to start a Catholic Charismatic women’s ministry.  

The women prayed and felt the Holy Spirit prompting them to move forward. The new ministry was given the name Magnificat, which was inspired by the Scripture passage of Mary’s visitation with Elizabeth.


“The idea of Mary and Elizabeth, two women anointed with the Holy Spirit and coming together and sharing the wonderful things that came out of that visit (Mary, as the bearer of Christ, and Elizabeth as the bearer of St. John the Baptist, who leapt at the sound of Mary’s voice and would become the herald of Jesus as Christ, the redeemer.)”
The first sold-out breakfast was held at the St. Dominic Church in New Orleans Knights of Columbus Hall. The building had a capacity of 200 people. The inaugural speaker was Patti Mansfield, who participated in the historic “Duquesne Weekend” in February, 1967, which marked the beginning of the Charismatic Renewal movement in the Catholic Church. 

“And we started prayer breakfasts four times a year. And there were women from across the river on the West Bank (of New Orleans) who loved it and wanted something like it in their own area,” Zelden said.

From there, chapters sprouted in the Slidell area, then the Mississippi Gulf Coast and from there expanded globally.

Zelden said she has made “many wonderful connections” through Magnificat, and the testimonies given at their meetings are powerful.

“The Book of Revelation says the saints overcame (Satan) through the blood of the lamb and through word of their testimony, and the love of life did not detour them from death,” she said. “So I think a woman who has really given her whole heart and soul to God has a powerful testimony to tell that reaches others and touches others and encourages others that if the Lord could do that in her life, then he could do that in mine.”

One such testimony was April 30, given by Nicole Johnson about her conversion to the Catholic Church at a breakfast meeting of St. Elizabeth of the Visitation Chapter of Magnificat in Baton Rouge.

Johnson spoke about how she denied she would become Catholic. A mother of two at the time and serving on the staff of a Methodist church, she began the RCIA process with the intention to show her Catholic husband how the Catholic faith was wrong. 
But she received a “wake up call” in the middle of the night from God that he wanted her to join the Catholic Church. She and her husband have three children, and she is also a lector, teaches Bible studies and leads VBS. She also serves as coordinator of the service team for the West St. Tammany Chapter of Magnificat.

She discussed how Magnificat brought healing from strained family connections.
“I was invited to a Magnificat breakfast, even though I had no clue what it was,” she said. “I was really struggling with the sense that God was abandoning me even when I was following where he sent me.

“I desperately longed to join in the heavenly banquet of souls with unending praise and worship that morning. After finishing our food, the music began to play. We entered into a time of praise and worship. And I knew that I was home during that time. I heard God whisper to my soul, ‘I haven’t forgotten you, my dear child.’ ”

She added, “Magnificat was God’s gift to me and will continue to be his gift.  When God blesses, He does so tremendously.” 

Johnson noted during that breakfast she learned of redemptive suffering through her years as a young child of a broken marriage.

“The constant fighting in my household between my father and stepmother, and then the agony of another divorce, I simply didn’t have anything to do with the pain,” she said. “I remember sitting there listening to this new idea that my suffering could be used for the greater good.”

“I smiled knowing that the Catholic Church and that breakfast were right where I was supposed to be.”

Gwen Gillis, coordinator for the St. Elizabeth of the Visitation Magnificat chapter, agrees that the opportunity to praise and worship is a unique work of the Holy Spirit in women’s lives.

“My very first Magnificat breakfast was in 2000,” Gillis said. “When I walked into the prayer breakfast with the beautiful praise and worship music filling the room, I felt this is what my heart has been longing for. 

“I could feel an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When I left, I was full of the Holy Spirit. Since then I have always belonged to Magnificat. It has helped me learn how to pray and grow spiritually.”

“Today I serve on the service team,” she added. “Even with all the work, it brings me joy. I tell everyone, I am working for the Lord, and he blesses me with joy. Magnificat will be the salvation of my soul.”

For more information about the various spiritual growth opportunities provided by Magnificat, visit magnifi cat-ministry.net. For more information about the St. Elizabeth of the Visitation Chapter, email [email protected].