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The archangel Gabriel's words to Mary are well-known because they form the beginning of the Hail Mary prayer: Haile thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women. Luke 1:28 KJV

Elizabeth's greeting to Mary then complements Gabriel's greeting in the next part of the Hail Mary prayer: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruite of thy wombe. Luke 1:42 KJV

Gabriel and Elizabeth's words are also commonly recognized from the Latin Vulgate: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus.

which is commonly translated as Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

It is worth noting that gratia plena, full of grace, or highly favored, is a translation, rather than a transliteration of the original Greek. That is, gratia plena or full of grace in Greek would be pleres charitos (πλήρης χάριτος),whereas St. Luke chooses to use kecharitomene(κεχαριτωμένη).

Scholar Rene Laurentin points out that both theologically and philologically, kecharitomene indicates "a transformation of the subject." (Laurentin 1986, pp. 18-19) It is then natural to ask, in what sense was Mary transformed? Building on Laurentin's work, apologist Karl Keating indicates that in Greek, the word kecharitomene indicates a perfection of grace. A perfection in the original Greek context, he continues, must be perfect not only intensively, but extensively over time as well. (Keating 1988, p. 269)

Thus, when Gabriel greeted Mary as kecharitomene, or full of grace, he was greeting and recognizing her as being a perfectly transformed subject, perfectly transformed by grace both intensively in the moment, as well as extensively from the moment of her conception. This understanding of kecharitomene is also why many of the early Church Fathers refer to Mary as immaculata, i.e. stainless or without sin, thus laying Scriptural groundwork for the Church's understanding of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Absolute versus Relative Perfection

Theologians also carefully distinguish between Mary kecharitomene and pleres charitos as is predicated of Jesus (cf. Jn 1:14). Here the distinction in perfections of grace is absolute versus relative; i.e. Fulness can be understood in two senses; either one has all there is of something (absolute fulness), or one has all he can hold at the moment (relative fulness). Only Christ possesses an absolute plenitude of grace, perfect both intensively and extensively. Mary's fulness of grace is relative... (Donlan et. al. 1958, pp. 260-261)

Thus, on the one hand, kecharitomene and pleres charitos both commonly connote a perfection in duration or time. That is, Mary (kecharitomene) and Jesus (pleres charitos) both had a fulness of grace at each and every moment of time in their lives.

On the other hand, the perfection in intensity of grace over time differs between the two. As theologians point out, the grace, sanctity or holiness of Jesus is the same at the moment of His conception, as it is at His Virgin Birth, as it is through His life, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. The intensity of His grace, sanctity or holiness does not increase over time. This is because of the hypostatic union of His human nature to His Divine Nature.

With Mary, the perfect intensity of grace at one moment may be added, as it were, to the perfect intensity of grace at the next moment. In this sense, Mary grows perfectly in grace, holiness and sanctity from the moment of her Immaculate Conception to the end of her life; i.e. the grace of Mary (kecharitomene) is relatively perfect, whereas the grace of Jesus (pleres charitos) is absolutely perfect.

Closing Note

N.B. The theological position presented above is sometimes referred to as high Christology. Other theologians take the route of what is sometimes referred to as low Christology; cf. Luke 2:52. Although there is a prima faciae apparent (though perhaps not actual) contradiction in drawing the distinction in grace between Mary and Jesus through low Christology, this is not to say that the obstacles are insurmountable through such an approach.

REFERENCES

The Bible Museum. The Bible: 1611 King James Version: 1st Edition, 1st Printing, (Goodyear, AZ: The Bible Museum, 2006).

Brown, R. Comfort, P. trans. Douglas, J. ed. et. al. The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1990).

Donlan, T. Cunningham, F. Rock, A. Christ, and His Sacraments, (Dubuque, IA: The Priory Press, 1958).

Laurentin, R. The Truth of Christmas Beyond the Myths, (Petersham, MA: St. Bede's Publications, 1986).

Keating, K. Catholicism and Fundamentalism - The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians", (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1988).

The angel told her that she was to carry the Child of God.

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13y ago
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14y ago

The angel greeted her saying, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."

Then he told her not to be afraid for she had found favor with God, and that she would bear a son: "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

When Mary asked how this could be, since she had no relations with a man, the angel said: "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Answer from Islamic Perspective

In Quran, Angel Gabriel (Jibril) made the following conversation with the Virgin Mary (as a meaning translation):

"O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him (God), whose name is the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, revered in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (to God). He will speak to the people from his cradle and as a man, and he is of the righteous." She said, "My Lord, how can I have a child when no mortal has touched me?" He said, "So (it will be). God creates what He wills. If He decrees a thing, He says to it only, 'Be!' and it is." (Quran, 3:45-47)

There is a complete chapter (or Surah) in Quran, titled Mariam (Mary), that confirms Mariam virgin birth. (Chapter 19)

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13y ago

Luke:1:27-37:

27: To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28: And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29: And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30: And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31: And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32: He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34: Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35: And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36: And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37: For with God nothing shall be impossible.

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Gabriel was sent by God to announce to Mary that she had been chosen by God to become the mother of his son.

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15y ago

The angel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to a son and she was to give that son the name Jesus, meaning "he who saves" or"saviour".

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