The Blessed Virgin, Part VII: More Themes in the Annunciation

From the very outset, my intention in writing this series of posts on the Blessed Virgin Mary has been to offer evidence, and to present arguments for those peculiarly Catholic doctrines which concern the Mother of Christ. However, as so often happens when writing, these essays have seemed to take on a direction of their own, one which I am inclined to pursue for the time being, while not losing sight of my original purpose.

For now, I would prefer to adopt a less argumentative, or demonstrative, approach, and focus rather on continuing the examination of the Marian passages in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, with an aim to exploring the various themes, Old Testament prophecies, and Scriptural connections contained within them. These themes will serve us well later on when we seek a deeper understanding of the Catholic Church's teaching on the Blessed Virgin. I hope to finish this all-too-brief overview in the next two to three posts, at which point we will proceed to a more doctrinal and demonstrative approach.

Until then, let us pick up where we left off.

In the last post we examined the expression "The Lord is with you",or Dominus tecum, with which the archangel Gabriel greeted the young Virgin of Nazareth. We learned, among other things, that this expression, taken within its Scriptural context, never stands on its own. It is always followed by an announcement of momentous importance, which will radically alter not only the life of the one to whom it is addressed, but also the history of the whole people of God. We saw that Mary "was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be." (Lu. 1:29)

We may now read on expectantly, pondering with Mary, what tremendous message was to follow this extraordinary greeting.

"Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 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.'" (Luke 1:30-33)

Here, at last, is the denoument, the revelation of the vocation for which God had prepared the Virgin Mary; and that revelation is nothing less than the unveiling of the coming Incarnation, the parousia of the God-Man, the mystery of the Word-made-Flesh.

All the Old Testament examples of announcements following the Dominus tecum formula, simply pale in comparison with the message which was declared to Mary. The Incarnation is the center point of the history of our species, and it is the center point of Mary's life, as well. An understanding of the Incarnation is crucial to our understanding of the person and role of Mary. It was for this purpose that she had been prepared from the moment of her conception; and it was for this vocation that she had been chosen from all eternity, in the mind of God.

Concerning this holy Mystery, however, what are we to say? Two thousand years and countless volumes have not even remotely begun to exhaust the riches of the Incarnation. While we will frequently return to this topic in the course of these essays ( since the life of Mary is so intimately connected with the Incarnation) the topic is so vast that I prefer for now to say rather too little than too much, and to focus on other themes.

For the moment, our chief interest will be in Mary's response to Gabriel. In verse 34 she replies: "How shall this be, seeing that I do not know man?"

There are two principal points which we will consider here, concerning the Virgin's response to the paradigm-changing announcement which she had just received. The first concerns her faith; the second, her virginity.

Faith and Virginity

1. Faith. A cursory reading of this passage would give us the impression that the Blessed Virgin was either lacking in faith, or that her faith faltered in the face of the tremendous promise which she had just been given. "How shall this be....?" she asks. This idea is emphasized by the fact that other notable Biblical personages (Abraham, Sarah, and Zechariah), have posed similar questions when told that they would miraculously conceive, and these questions seemed to indicate a lack of faith.

"God further said to Abraham: 'As for you wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai: her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples shall issue from him.' Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself, 'Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?'" (Gen. 17:15-17)

"One of them said, 'I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.' Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, 'Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?' But the Lord said to Abraham: 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Shall I really bear a child old as I am?" Is anything too marvelous for the Lord to do?'" (Gen. 18:10-14)

"But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John....' Then Zechariah said to the angel, 'How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.' And the angel said to him in reply, 'I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at the their proper time.'" (Lu. 1: 13-20)

The parallels between these passages, especially the annunciation to Zechariah found in the same chapter of the same Gospel, could easily lead us to imagine that Mary's question also indicated a lack of faith. However, a closer reading will render such an idea untenable.

A paragraph further on, we find the expectant Virgin traveling to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, now more than three months pregnant with John the Baptist. After Mary had greeted Elizabeth, her cousin is "filled with the holy Spirit" (vs.41) and declares, "...Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Lu. 1:45) This can leave little room for doubt that Mary did not lose faith.

We may also consider the fact that Zechariah is rebuked by Gabriel for his lack of faith, and is even punished by being made temporarily mute. No such rebuke or punishment follows Mary's question to the archangel. Thus we must conclude that the Virgin's question was not motivated by lack of faith, but was rather of a more practical nature. Since the normal means of conception were not available to her, she simply asks how this miracle is to be accomplished. She did not doubt the word, she merely wished to know how it was to be fulfilled.

2. Virginity. While most orthodox and traditionally-minded Protestants and Catholic have both accepted the doctrine of the Virgin Birth, the question of the perpetual virginity of Mary has long been a point of contention between the two. In the early days of the Protestant Reformation it was not as uncommon to find Protestants adhering to the doctrine of the perpetual virginity as now. Luther firmly accepted the position, as did many Anglicans.

In keeping with the non-argumentative theme of this post, I do not intend to attempt to treat with this doctrine here at any great length. The perpetual virginity deserves its own post (or two, or three!), so I will confine myself to one brief comment here.

It is in the Virgin's response to Gabriel that many Catholic apologists have traditionally found Scriptural evidence for Mary's continued virginity. There has long been a tradition within the Church that not only did Mary remain a virgin after the birth of Christ, but that she must have taken a of vow of virginity in her youth, and had never intended to have sexual relations with any man.

This idea, of course, poses the obvious question of why any person so consecrated would then enter into a state of betrothal and marriage. Such a concept would seem not only illogical, but even unnatural. For the time being I must leave this objection to the side, to be treated with in its appropriate place. Let it suffice to say that there is more than one very plausible answer to the problem, which appear to me not only reasonable, but quite convincing.

The only point which I wish to address here is Mary's question, "How shall this be, seeing that I do not know man?" The angel's words to Mary had given no specific indication of a time frame within which she would conceive. He does not say that her conception will take place immediately, but merely that it "will" happen. As an engaged woman, one who would probably be married in a matter of months, the announcement that she "will conceive" would naturally be understood as meaning "conceive by sexual relations with your husband." In fact, given her betrothed state, the Blessed Virgin's confusion over how she was to conceive makes absolutely no sense at all.

If, on the other hand, she had no intention of fulfilling normal relationships with her soon-to-be husband, Joseph, her question make perfectly good sense. Of course, there are many more arguments to be found on both sides of this issue, but at least this may serve as an introduction to the question of Mary's perpetual virginity.

The Overshadowing

Gabriel's response to the Virgin's question supersedes all previous human experience:

"And the angel said to her in reply, '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.'" (Lu.1:35-37)

There is a great deal to ponder in this passage, but for now I would like to draw our attention to the first line: "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

The word "overshadow" (or a grammatical variant of it) appears in five other places in the New Testament. In Acts it is used in reference to those who sought healing by Peter's shadow falling upon them. This passage is not directly connected to our present theme, so we will focus upon the other four.

Three of the passages in which the word occurs are actually different versions of the same story: the three Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration of Christ.

In this particular scene, Jesus leads the three principle disciples (Peter, James, and John) up onto Mount Tabor. While they are there, Moses and Elijah appear, and begin conversing with Jesus. Peter, confused and frightened, not knowing what to say or do, suggests that they build shelters on the mountain so that the great prophet and the great law-giver can remain longer with them. At this moment, however, something tremendous happens. A great cloud "overshadows" them, and from it a Voice speaks, saying, "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him." Terrified, the disciples fall on their faces, but when they are recovered, they discover that they are now alone with the Christ.

The mountain, the cloud, Moses, the Voice of God-- all these things draw us inexorably to the Old Testament. In the cloud we now recognize the Shekinah, the bright cloud of the glory of God, which figured so prominently in the early history of the children of Israel.

The fifth use of "overshadow" appears in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 9, in which the writer is describing the furnishings of the sanctuary, which he tells us were "patterns of heavenly things":

"For a tabernacle was constructed, the outer one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, in which were the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant entirely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar containing the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of expiation." (Acts 9:2-5)

We know from the Old Testament that the ark of the covenant and the place of expiation were also covered with the same Shekinah cloud of glory which we mentioned above. Let us then turn our attention to the Old Testament passages which concern this bright, yet inscrutable cloud, in which the glory of God was both revealed and hidden.

We first encounter the Shekinah in the thirteenth chapter of Exodus. It appears as a cloud by day, and a column of fire by night. It leads the children of Israel (Ex. 13:21-22; Ps. 78:14), and offers them protection (Ex. 14:24-25). Through the cloud God proclaims His name, "Lord", to His people (Ex. 34:5).

A little further on we find a great cloud descending upon Mount Sinai. Here we find a clear parallel to the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration. The cloud comes upon the mountain, God speaks from the cloud, Moses is upon the mountain, and Moses' face is transfigured. (Ex. 16:9,16; 24:15-18) There is an interesting connection between Sinai and Jerusalem as well, which St. Paul draws out: "These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. Hagar represents Sinai, a mountain in Arabia; it corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery along with her children. But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother." (Gal. 4:24-26) Later on in the Old Testament, the cloud appears again in connection with Mount Zion, in a deeply Messianic passage (Is. 4:2-6). The mountain theme is very important.

After the construction of the Tabernacle, the cloud descends again, and fills the Tabernacle with the glory of God (Ex. 40:34-38). The Hebrew people can only break camp when the cloud is lifted from the Tabernacle; as long as it remains upon the Tabernacle they must stay put (Nu. 9:15-22).

Within the Tabernacle itself we find mention of the Shekinah specifically within the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, over the Ark of the Covenant, and the Propitiary (Lev. 16:2). In the book of Numbers we also find the Ark leading the children of Israel with the cloud above them (Nu.10:33-36).

We find the cloud yet again appearing when God takes some of the spirit which was upon Moses and grants it to the seventy elders, who will assist Moses in ruling the twelve tribes (Nu. 11:25). This parallels the passage in which Christ sends out the seventy disciples (Lu. 10:1-12)

After God's covenant people have settled in the Promised Land, and the time of their wanderings in the desert are over, the mobile Tabernacle is replace with a Temple, constructed along the same designs. It is Solomon, the son of David, who accomplishes the building of the Temple. On the day of its dedication, the Shekinah so fills the Temple that the Levitical priests cannot continue with their liturgical duties (I Ki. 8:10-11; II Chr. 5:13-14). The cloud is also connected with the Temple in (Ez. 10:1-4), a book which also seems to connect it to the four living creatures (Ez.1:4-7).

Finally, the Psalmist mentions it as protective covering  (Ps.105:39).

These represent the principal occurrences of the Shekinah in the Old Testament.

Thus, when we read of the power of the Most High overshadowing Mary, and understand it in its Old and New Testament context, we may see three particular themes appear: the Mount Sinai/Mount Zion theme (and we have already briefly touched upon the Zion typology in an earlier post), the Tabernacle/Temple theme, and the Ark of the Covenant/Propitiary theme. Zion, Temple, and Ark-- these three themes will serve us well in the future, when we examine them more closely.

The New Eve

At the end of the angel's declaration we find the Virgin's response:

"Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her." (Lu. 1:38) 

In Latin, the words "be it done to me" have traditionally been translated as Fiat mihi. The fiat of Mary has been the source of rich theological considerations and piety among Catholics for centuries. This is not the place to enter into a study of the fiat, except to note the interplay between predestination and free will. The angel's message to Mary is not formulated as a question, it is a declaration; this will take place. Yet God does not force Himself upon us, particularly in a matter such as this. There was never any question that the Incarnation would take place through Mary, yet the conception waits for her reply. One can imagine all the universe waiting, breathless, for her response. Mary is mankind's great "yes" to God, the "amen" which God Himself had prepared.

The attitude and disposition of Mary is that of the perfect disciple. She gives herself utterly to God, offering herself as the "handmaid of the Lord." She is attentive to Word of God, and obedient to His Will.  She is full of grace and faith, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, God Himself is formed in her, to bring salvation unto all the world.

Due to the limitations of time and space, we will consider here only one more theme from the Annunciation-- the theme of Mary as the New Eve.

The New Eve theme figures prominently in the Marian thought of the early Church Fathers, and will be granted a more lengthy consideration in a future post. For now we will only notice the parallels between Eve and Mary as found in the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke.

The first Eve is formed from the side of Adam after he is cast into a "deep sleep". Mary, and all Christians are granted spiritual life from the sleep of death of the New Adam, whose side was pierced upon the Cross.

Eve is created free from original sin, in a state of original justice. We have already seen the strong argument from the word kecharitomene that Mary was also created free of original sin, and was full of grace.

Both were virgins.

Eve listened to the word of a fallen angel, lost faith in God, and was disobedient to her Creator. Mary listened to the word of the archangel Gabriel, was full of faith, and was perfectly obedient to God.

Eve is related physically to Adam, "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh." The New Adam takes His flesh and bones from Mary.

Eve is the "mother of all the living". Mary is the mother of Christ, in whom the saved are now made spiritually alive.

Through the sin of Eve, and the cooperation of Adam, death came into the world. Through the faithfulness of Mary, and the work of the New Adam, life came into the world.

In conclusion, we may add to the themes we have already seen in these posts (such as that of Zion/Jerusalem)  four new themes: the theme of faith, the theme of virginity, the Temple theme, the Ark of the Covenant theme, and the theme of the New Eve.

Until next time, may God be with you, and may the Holy Spirit guide your meditations!

The Blessed Virgin, Part VI: The Annunciation and the Fears of Mary

"Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abeizrite. While his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press to save it from the Midianites, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, 'The Lord is with you, O champion!'" (Judg. 6:11-12)

"And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold the dwelling of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. And they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.'" (Rev. 21:-3)

In a few posts we will begin to examine the great Old Testament themes and prophecies which relate to the Blessed Virgin Mary. For now, however, we will continue with our study of the Lucan texts which relate to Mother of Christ. Up until now, we have only examined the first two words of Gabriel's greetings, which form the opening of the Annunciation scene. Today we will look briefly at the rest of the angel's salutation. It is not my intention to be particularly argumentative in this post, or to attempt to prove any of the peculiarly Catholic doctrines concerning Mary; rather, it is my intention to create an overview, to simply draw our attention to some of the themes and points of interest which occur in St. Luke's Gospel, and which will serve us well in our future considerations.

In Luke 1:28-29 we read, "And coming to her, he said, 'Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.' But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be." In the next verse the angel bids Mary to not be afraid, so we understand that "greatly troubled" indicates fear, or at least something akin to fear. The Greek word used in this passage conveys the idea of a strong emotion that causes disturbance or anxiety. I wish to focus here, for a while, upon the Virgin's fear.

There are two aspects of her fear which are important to note. The first is that her fear, or state of being troubled, was a direct response to Gabriel's greeting. Indeed, the Evangelist seems to go out his way to emphasize this point, saying that she was troubled "at what was said", and then immediately informing us that she "pondered what sort of greeting this might be." The second point to notice is that the Virgin evinces no trace of fear whatsoever at the presence of the angel himself, the very thing which we might expect to cause her the most fear.

This is not the place to enter into a lengthy consideration of some of the early Christian apocryphal literature which treats of the birth and childhood of the Blessed Virgin, as I hope to offer an examination of these in a separate post in the future; but one aspect of them seems worth mentioning briefly here. It is important to insist that this body of literature is in no way considered canonical or scriptural by either Protestants or Catholics, nor is it considered to be a part of Sacred Tradition by Catholics; yet it may offer us some insight into an ancient Christian tradition which may be rooted in biographical fact. According to these texts, Mary, much like Isaac and Samuel, was a child of promise, granted by God to two aging and barren parents, the saintly Anne and Joachim. Much like Hannah, the mother of Samuel, Mary's parents decided to offer their child back to God, and took her, at three years of age, to the temple where she grew up in a life dedicated to prayer and temple service, and where she was regularly visited by an angel.

While there is no need whatsoever to consider these stories as being inspired, they may offer an answer to the fact that Mary was not troubled, nor even surprised by the appearance of the archangel. It is quite possible that she already knew St. Gabriel, or had at least had previous contact with angelic beings. There is no need to try to make too much of a case of this, but it is interesting, especially when we contrast the Annunciation of Christ with the Annunciation of John the Baptist.

The two passages are remarkably parallel, so much so, in fact, that the differences between them become even more striking. When Gabriel appears to Zechariah, during the time of the priest's duty to offer incense, Zechariah is filled with fear:

"Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard.'" (Lk.1:10-13a)

The parallels are clear; the angel of the Lord appears, Zechariah is also "troubled", and the angel also bids him to "not be afraid." Yet again, the Evangelist is pointedly clear. Zechariah is troubled by what he saw. Mary is troubled only by the greeting. Whatever we are to make of all this, it certainly seems to be a point worth pondering.

The second, and perhaps the more important aspect of the Virgin's fear, concerns determining precisely of what she was afraid. Since St. Luke goes to some length to draw our attention to fact that she was troubled by the words that were said, and pondered what manner of greeting this might be, we must go back and examine the angel's greeting, and see it there is anything in it which would be likely to cause fear or consternation.

We can divide the angel's greeting into three parts: the actual greeting, "Hail"; the title by which he calls her, kecharitomene; and the closing statement, "The Lord is with you".

The first part of the angelic greeting, chairo, or "hail", scarcely seems troublesome. In an earlier post we offered a brief examination of the word, which literally means "rejoice", and of its connection to Messianic prophecies, in which we were able to see Mary as the archetype of Zion, or the daughter of Zion. A greeting from an angelic being, in which one is commanded to rejoice, and in which there is the intimation of Messianic hope, does not seem to offer reason for being "greatly troubled." 


The second possibility is that the Virgin was troubled by the name, or title, with which the archangel addressed her. This seems to be a more plausible answer, though by no means definitive. We already spent the greater part of two posts studying the tremendous nature of the title kecharitomene, and the greatness of Mary which it indicated. If the Catholic viewpoint of Mary is true, if she was filled with grace and virtues more than any other saint, then it is certain that her humility must have been of the highest order. A soul so devoted to the worship and adoration of her God would quite possibly have little or no awareness of her own greatness. Thus, to be called by such a name as the Blessed Virgin was called would have caused confusion, and would perhaps have been almost troublesomely offensive to great humility. This is certainly a possibility, but I am not at all convinced that it is a certainty. Remember, it is the "greeting" which disturbs her equanimity, and I think that there is something about the greeting as whole, something about the main thrust of it, which unsettled Mary and caused her fear. It is also worth noting that, in her humility, she might well have been troubled by the angelic title, but there does not seem to be anything about it which would cause fear, as it is a very positive title which emphasizes the work and favor of God towards her.

Thus we come to the third possibility. At first glance, however, the statement "The Lord is with you" seems so unlikely to cause fear that we may be inclined to discard the possibility and return to our previous option as the final solution to our question. After all, to have the "angel of the Lord" tell one that the God of all creation which one worships is actually "with you", would surely be one of the most comforting things which one could hear. However, our instinctive understanding of these words suffers from a lack of awareness of their Old Testament context, and a lack of awareness of the their full import. It so happens that these are not merely words of comfort, but word pregnant with meaning, words which will be followed by a life-changing demand upon the one who hears them.

Fr. Lucien Deiss, in his magnificent and illuminating book Mary, Daughter of Zion, blesses us with a careful and comprehensive exegesis of the Old Testament occurrences of the expression "the Lord is with you", or Dominus Tecum. He writes, "With the very opening words of his message, Gabriel makes known to the Virgin that she is chosen for a special vocation, a mission whose fullness will embrace the entire people of God." In the same chapter he quotes from Fr. U. Holzmeister: "In all the cases we have cited, this formula is never applied to a man placed in ordinary circumstances; on the contrary it refers either to the people of God who are the object of the special divine election and protection, or-- more commonly-- to a particular man whom God has entrusted with a mission of singular importance...." From these authors' considerations of the Dominus tecum texts we learn five things about the expression.

1. It is not individualistic. When we read the words "The Lord is with you" we automatically view them in a personal and comforting sense-- God is with me, what a blessing! However, this is not the Scriptural use of this formula. In the Old Testament, the expression does not so much indicate that God is with a person as a companion, but rather He is with the person in the sense of divine assistance. God is with them precisely to help them do something, or to fulfill a vocation; and what He asks them to do will affect and involve the entire people of God. This is a different and larger  picture than the one we see if we interpret "the Lord is with you" at face value. Fr. Deiss again quotes Fr. Holzmeister: "By the preposition 'with' is affirmed a certain mode of the divine presence: and a presence which is by no means inoperative, but active and oriented toward the work that the man in question is called upon to accomplish." We can see a particular example of the collective nature of the expression in the story of Gideon, the opening lines of which bear a striking resemblance to the Annunciation. The angel of the Lord (likely Gabriel himself) comes to Gideon and says, "The Lord is with you, O mighty champion!" (Judg. 6:12b) The angel clearly is addressing the formula to Gideon personally, given the personal and singular nature of the phrase, "O mighty champion", yet Gideon immediately responds with "...if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?" (Judg. 6:13b) Thus we see both the singular and the collective aspect of the expression in the same place.

2. With but one exception, the formula is never applied to a woman, besides the Blessed Virgin Mary. The one exception is that of the ancient Jewish heroine Judith. Since the book of Judith is considered apocryphal by Protestants, I will pass over it for the time being. So clear is the foreshadowing of Mary in the Book of Judith, and so strong are the parallels, that it is difficult to not imagine that it was inspired. Surely St. Luke had it in mind at times as he composed the first chapter of his Gospel. Nonetheless, I will leave the examination of Judith to a separate post of its own. As far as the standard Protestant cannon of the Old Testament goes, we may say with certainty that "the Lord is with you", is never applied to a woman.

3. The precise phrase does not appear elsewhere in the New Testament, but the idea does. Here it is connected with the presence of God in the midst of His people, the Church. Thus it seems as if Mary is at once the culmination, so to speak, of all the Old Testament recipients of the expression, and is also the archetype of the Church. The ecclesialogical dimension of Marian dogma will be explored further elsewhere.

4. The formula never stands on its own. It is usually followed by either a promise, and/or a command. Thus, a Jewish person, with great familiarity with the Jewish Scriptures, would have understood that the formula was about to be followed by some earth-shattering announcement, and very likely one which would demand a great deal of the one receiving the greeting.

5. The Old Testament usages of the expression may, with almost no exceptions, be grouped into three particular categories. The first, found in Genesis, is related to descendants and blessing. Thus God is with Isaac and Jacob whose descendants will be innumerable, and in whom the whole world will find its blessing. The second category, found later in the Old Testament, concerns those who (such as Jeremiah, Gideon, and Moses) are to rescue God's people from slavery and the forces of evil by prophecy, combat, and leadership. The third category is found during the time of the Exile, in which it is connected to leading the people of God back to the Promised Land.

From these three categories we can more readily understand why the expression "the Lord is with you" was typically addressed only to men, and not to women. With few exceptions, women in the Old Testament were not seen as leaders, especially not military leaders. Also, the concept of descendants, or seed, was strictly related to the male. The promised Child of the Virgin, however, had no human father; thus we see in Genesis that it is the woman's "seed" who will appear victorious over the serpent. Furthermore, the role of Mary in combating evil was a spiritual one, not one which relied on might of arms, or public leadership. Yet the Child of Mary is greater than all the promised descendants who came before, and her role in the redemption of God's people is greater than that of all previous saints combined. It was to this that I referred when I said above that Mary is the culmination of the usage of the expression "the Lord is with you."

If we consider the import of the three categories listed above together, we may see that St. Gabriel's apparently innocuous and comforting greeting to the humble Virgin of Nazareth carried with it the intimation that Mary was about to be called to a threefold vocation: a vocation of blessing to her own people through her Holy Child; a vocation of combat against the forces of evil; and, like her namesake, Miriam of old, a vocation of being intimately involved with the new Moses in leading the covenant people of God out of bondage, into their everlasting home.

It is doubtful that Mary guessed all of this in detail at the moment of the angel's greeting. Yet, as a devout Jewish girl, well acquainted with the Scriptures, it seems clear that she would have understood that Gabriel's greeting was merely an introductory remark, an introduction to some monumental announcement: the announcement of a vocation that would demand everything of her, and change the her history and the history of her people.

There is one final point which we must consider before moving on, and it may well be considered the most important aspect of this entire discussion. It is also perhaps the most obvious aspect, yet it is so obvious that it is easy to overlook. The virgin birth was prophesied long before the Annunciation, by the prophet Isaiah:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel." (Is. 7:14)

The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in the conception and birth of Christ; yet Gabriel does not tell the Virgin to name her Son Emmanuel, but rather Yeshuah, "God saves". It appears that nowhere in the New Testament is Christ called by the name Emmanuel. But if we remember that the meaning of the name Emmanuel is literally "God-with-us", we will see that this is not the case.

Perhaps the clearest revelation of this name occurs in Matt. 28:20. The scene is the Ascension of Christ. A moment before He returns to the Father the tells His disciples, "...And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Christ reveal Himself to His apostles, and hence to the nascent Church, as not merely temporarily, but permanently, Emmanuel.

The principle dwelling place of God with men in the Old Testament, the temple, was transient; the temple was destroyed and has never been rebuilt. But the Church is the temple "not made with hands", comprised of "living stones", and it is the New Jerusalem, in the midst of which God now dwells. Mary is the archetype of the Church, the new covenant people of God.

We noted above that in the Old Testament the expression "The Lord is with you" is most commonly addressed to an individual, for the benefit of the entire people. Mary is last person to receive the individual greeting; from the time of the Annunciation on the idea is directed towards the Church. Thus we see that the Old Testament occurrences of "The Lord is with you", directed to prophets, leaders, and champions, are all dim foreshadowings of the declaration to Mary. Directed to the Mother of Christ, it finds the genesis of its fulfillment and completion. It is in and through the Blessed Virgin that the age of Emmanuel is inaugurated.

When we ponder the great dwelling places of God (or the symbols of Christ) in the Old Testament, we do well to contemplate them in the light of God-with-us in Mary, and in the Church. The Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the Temple, Zion: all of these are fulfilled first in the Mother of Christ, then in the Body of Christ, the Church. Does not the body of a Child come from its Mother? Are not then all of those who are the Body of Christ, the Son of Mary, who are "of his flesh and bones", also children of the Virgin of Nazareth?

"Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!...The Lord, your God, is in your midst...." (Zeph. 3:14-17)

The Lord is with you. Emmanuel. God with us.

As we have noted before, there was nothing ordinary about any part of the archangel's greeting, and Mary knew it. This was no commonplace, no pleasant greeting or assurance of God's love and presence; this was the preface to a paradigm-changing invitation to a vocation that would radically alter the very course of the universe itself. Small wonder that the Blessed Virgin was greatly troubled, and pondered what the greeting might mean.

"Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'"

The Blessed Virgin, Part V: The Angelic Salutation, Summary and Objections

"The girl was beautifully formed and lovely to behold....The king loved Esther more than all other women, and of all the virgins she won his favor and benevolence. So he placed the royal diadem on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti." (Es. 2:7,17)

"I do not, in fact, recall having read in any other place in the Sacred Scriptures these words: Rejoice, kecharitomene. Neither of these expressions is ever addressed to a man: such a special greeting was reserved only for Mary." (Origen, 4th Century)

In the last post we began to examine the first scene of the Annunciation, in particular the first two words of the Angelic Salutation. Most importantly, we focused on the second word of the Archangel's greeting, and it's implications for the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the general sinlessness of Mary.

From our study of this particular word, kecharotimene, we learned the following four things:

First, that it is used by St. Gabriel in place of Mary's name. Thus kecharotimene is used as Mary's name, or official title.

Secondly, that it is a unique title. The word itself is only used once before in Scripture or Greek secular literature, and never as a personal title. Thus the Blessed Virgin's title of kecharotimene is unique and remarkable.

Thirdly, that the angel conveys God's own message. Thus, kecharotimene is God's own title for Mary.

Fourthly, that these considerations, coupled with the literal meaning of the Greek word kecharotimene inform us that the Blessed Virgin was fully graced; filled with grace completely, as water fills a bucket; that this action of filling the Virgin with grace was due to God's gratuitous action; that the action was completed in the past; that the Virgin's state continues to the present; and that, by virtue of the title, or name, by which God called her, we may conclude that the state will continue throughout the future.

In the last post we considered these reflections to bear evidence of the Catholic Church's position concerning the Immaculate nature of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Before proceeding any further with our examination of Sacred Scripture, I would like to consider several possible objections. Some of these are actually quite standard objections commonly used by Protestant apologists.We shall consider them one by one.

1. The first, and perhaps most common objection given by Protestant apologists, is simply that kecharotimene is not unique. It is, according to these apologists, actually used several other places in the New Testament in such a way as to indicate no uniqueness concerning the Blessed Virgin. Particularly, Eph. 1:6 is pointed to as a use of kecharotimene to refer to all the faithful. This is simply a grammatical issue. The word used in Eph. 1:6 does indeed use the same root word, charis, as kecharitomene, but it is a different form of that word, and in a different tense. In Ephesians the word is echaritosen, and roughly means "he (God) has granted grace." It does not offer the same sense of completeness as kecharitomene. Yes, the root here and in other places may be the same, but the actual grammatical form of the word is different in each case; thus the uniqueness of St. Luke's use of the word is not affected by such arguments at all. It is also important to note that these other uses of similar words in the New Testament are not titular. Kecharitomene was used by Gabriel as a direct title or name for Mary, and under such usage the word has never appeared elsewhere.

2. The second common objection is that two other persons in the New Testament are referred to as being "full of grace." They are, Jesus (no surprise there), and St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Here we merely have an issue with translation. The Greek words used of Jesus and Stephen are different than the one used of Mary, but due to the limitations of the English language we have traditionally translated all of them into the same expression: "full of grace." This is unfortunate, as it causes some confusion. As I noted in the last post, "full of grace" is not a perfect translation of kecharitomene, since it does not tell us enough about the aspect of time contained in that particular Greek word. However, "full of grace" is an excellent translation when used of Jesus and Stephen, for that is literally what the Greek means in those two passages (Jn. 1:14, and Acts 6:8). The Greek phrase used in these places is pleres charitos, and it does, in fact, mean "full of grace." The question then is, why did the Evangelists not use kecharitomene to describe Jesus and the holy deacon? The reasons are fairly simple. Kecharotimene, as you will recall, is in the passive voice. It indicates to use that Mary received grace, not because of her own works, but purely because of the gratuitous action of Almighty God. Jesus is full of grace by virtue of being the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To use kecharitomene of Christ would have been demeaning. In the case of Stephen we find that Stephen is "full of grace", but nothing is said concerning how long he has been in that state. Again, you will remember that kecharitomene indicates to us that the state of having been graced was completed in the past, continues to the present, and indicates permanence. Pleres charitos simply speaks for the present moment. I, as a Catholic, have no problem in believing that St. Stephen was at some point in his life full of grace, and free from sin. However, no evidence is given here that this was his title, a description of who he was, nor is a guarantee of permanency associated with this state, nor are we informed that he had been full of grace in the past. As one Catholic apologist, Dr. Robert Sungenos has written, "The reason Luke didn't choose PLERES CHARITOS for Mary is that the phrase cannot, in itself, distinguish time, agent or continuity, whereas KEKERTIOMENE can."

3. A third question which comes to mind is whether "full of grace" automatically denotes sinlessness. Let us see what Sacred Scripture has to say:

"For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace." (Rom.6:14)

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved)...." (Eph.2:4-5)

"He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began...." (II Tim. 1:9)

"For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age...." (Tit. 2:11)

"For there have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 4)

These passages and other considerations lead us to the conclusion that grace is the antithesis of sin. Therefore, a person who is completely filled with grace would have no room left in them for the presence of sin.

4. Perhaps the most difficult objection concerns the question of whether the "time past" aspect of the word kecharitomene goes back all the way to the beginning of Mary's existence. In other words, while it may imply sinlessness in some past time in Mary's life, does it really imply the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception? I think that the following two quotes accurately sum up the correct answer:

"The...question is still more difficult: Did the grace granted to Mary exist in plenitude from the first instant, from the moment of her conception? This problem never entered the mind of Saint Luke because the question was not raised for many centuries. All that we can say in regard to the term kekharitomene, is that the perfection of fullness which it suggests was truly complete if it was in her soul from the beginning. Nothing demands this sense of fullness absolutely, but it is a logical extension of the strict meaning....Consequently we may say that the word, kekharitomene, offers a firm basis for the theological acceptance of the privilege of the Immaculate Conception; but this position goes far beyond the conclusions of exegesis." Jean Galot, S.J. "Mary in the Gospel"

" Being a perfect, passive, participle that is applied on a titular basis, KEKERITOMENE denotes that: (a) the state of grace began in past time, (b) it is a completed and accomplished action, (c) its results continue into the present, (d) that the verbal title is received by Mary from an outside agent. Although these four grammatical characteristics do not prove the Immaculate Conception, KEKARITOMENE is the best Greek word that could have been chosen to coincide with it. Any other Greek word would have been inadequate or even faulty." Dr. Robert Sungenos

What are we to make of this information? On the one hand, both of these Catholic scholars agree that kecharitomene cannot be used to absolutely prove the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. It is a possible interpretation, but not a definite one. On the other hand, we learn two important things from these writers: first, that St. Luke picked the best Greek word for the Virgin's title that allows for the doctrine; and secondly, that the doctrine is a "logical extension of the strict meaning" of kecharitomene. It is upon this second point that I wish to dwell for a few moments.

We may understand Fr. Galot's statement by considering the idea of fullness in two ways, spatial (in a spiritual sense) and relation to time, or duration.

In the first way, spiritually spatial fullness, we can envision a person filled "to the brim" (so to speak) with grace. Thus, every space inside of that person is entirely filled with grace. We have already used the analogy of a bucket filled entirely with water. In this was we could refer to an object, such as a bucket, as filled from "top to bottom".

In the second way, we can think of the fullness of grace as a fullness of duration, i.e., "start to finish." Thus we may see the plenitude of the grace which Mary had been given as a plenitude "in the moment", and also as a plenitude of duration, completely filled with grace throughout her life.

The strict definition of kecharitomene allows for both ideas-- fullness within the moment, and fullness throughout  one's past. In this connection, we remember that this particular Greek word does indicate that the "gracing" of Mary was completed in the past.

Thus we see that we have two possible interpretations to the word kecharotimene in regards to how long the Blessed Virgin had been in that state, with neither interpretation opposed to, or excluding, the other. Therefore, we may agree with the two authors quoted above, that kecharotimene does not automatically prove that Mary was conceived without sin, but that the word allows for the possibility, it is the perfect word in Greek to allow for that possibility, and that that possibility is a "logical extension of [its] strict meaning."

If the possibility is there, then we are left merely with a matter of interpretation. How do we choose which interpretation is the one to which we shall adhere? With prayer and meditation, of course, but I think that there is more information concerning the Blessed Virgin which, when considered, will eventually tip the scales in favor of the second. We will see this theme return throughout this series of posts, but I would like to close this particular post with a brief consideration of only three particular points.

It is possible that at this point we may have become too caught up in examining the word kecharitomene, perhaps we have become bogged down in nuances, perhaps the dissecting of the word has destroyed its remarkableness. So if we can step away from all this for a moment, and simply remember that the word kecharitomene, used as the name or title of the Virgin of Nazareth, indicates that she had been filled by God with a plenitude of grace, past present and future; it will very likely seem logical, almost obvious even, that such a fullness is truly full if it pertains to all of the past, present, and future.

We may also return to the first Christian martyr whom we briefly mentioned above-- the glorious St. Stephen, who is also referred to as being "full of grace". We remember that the Greek words used to describe the holy deacon do not have the same element of time or duration as does kecharitomene. It indicates merely that he was full of grace at the moment of his ordination, or more precisely, a moment before. It would be highly unlikely to assume that he became full of grace the second the apostle decided to appoint him to his position. Thus, if we consider the scene carefully, we will recognize that Stephen was not only full of grace at that particular moment, but had also been for some little time past. It is also easy to assume that he remained in that state, as it was a very short period that intervened between his ordination and his martyrdom.

We can imagine, then, that if the fullness of grace indicated by the word kecharitomene only indicated a period of time beginning in the recent past, that the word (or a similar form) would have been used of St. Stephen. Yet Luke, the Evangelist, who was the same author of both passages, and a clear master of the Greek language, does not use kecharitomene, but rather pleres charis. Thus, logically, it would seem that if both Mary and Stephen had been graced at some previous point in their lives, yet kecharitomene is applied only to the Virgin,that the uniqueness of Mary's title would indicate that the fullness of grace which she had received was also a fullness of duration, extending to the first moment of her existence.

A second, and similar consideration involves the great Precursor of Christ, St. John the Baptist. His conception, like the conception of Jesus, was announced by the same angel, St. Gabriel. The Baptist received the gift of sanctifying grace no later than the moment of his birth, for the archangel prophesies that "he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb." ( Lk. 1:15b) Most likely this event took place prior to his birth, if we draw the angel's statement together with Lk. 1:41, in which we find the six month nascent prophet leaping for joy in Elizabeth's womb as Mary greets his mother. Yet the Evangelist again records no such unique and remarkable title to John the Baptist as the title kecharitomene with which Gabriel addresses the Blessed Virgin Mary. If John was sanctified before his birth, would not the uniqueness of Mary's gracing indicate that she was graced from the moment of her conception?

The issue here, to state it simply, is a matter of difference and degree. If Mary had received this plenitude of grace a few months earlier than John, or some years earlier than Stephen, then we are dealing merely with a matter of degree. She would simply have been graced a little longer than the other two. Yet, if she were kept free from original sin, as they were not, her uniqueness would be a matter of difference, and not merely degree. To my mind this is a strong consideration, but there is much more to be said on this topic in later posts.

Thus, while the word kecharitomene may not absolutely prove the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, it seems that the strength of the word, couple with comparisons to St. John the Baptist and St. Stephen Martyr, offers a strong indication of the doctrine. Yet, I believe that we must take all the Scriptural passages into account, and more evidence and suggestions of this idea will be added as we go along.

I hope that the reader will forgive me for having gone to such lengths in discussing the first two words of the Angelic Salutation, though we are far from having plumbed their depths. Yet it seems to me to be an ideal place to start, as this is the clearest passage which we have in Sacred Scripture which gives to us the title, or name, of Mary that God Himself applied to her. What better place to begin our considerations?

I have striven throughout to be accurate and to avoid hyperbole; yet, in reality, the wonder of this angelic greeting should scarcely be understated. It is more than remarkable; it is nothing short of amazing, filled with theological and spiritual insights.

In closing let us briefly summarize what we have so far learned from the opening of the Angelic Salutation.

1. We have learned that this greeting indicates the beginning of the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies, which call upon the people of God to rejoice. All the longings of the prophets are about to be fulfilled in time, and the beginning of their fulfillment is found in the humble Virgin of Nazareth's worshipful "Fiat" to her Creator.

2. The greeting of chairo draws our attention to the Messianic prophecies addressed towards Zion and Jerusalem, and we understand( at first dimly, but ever more clearly as we go along) that the Blessed Virgin is, in some way the archetype or embodiment of Zion, and the prototype and embodiment of the Church.

3. We  have learned that the name Mary is the equivalent of the Hebrew name Miriam, a name applied in the Old Testament only to the sister of Moses and Aaron. We saw that Miriam was deeply involved in the story of the Israelite's redemption and freedom from slavery, to such an extant that Scripture tells us that she was one of the three who actually led the people of God out of slavery.

4. We discovered the astounding name, or title, which God Himself bestows upon Mary through the lips of His holy messenger, St. Gabriel. We learned that this name means that Mary was completely graced by God, to a point of total fullness, and that she existed in that state past, present, and future.

5. We saw that grace is the antithesis of sin, and that the fullness of grace which Mary received indicates that freedom from sin was granted to her by God, through the meritorious Passion of her Divine Son.

6. Through our study of this word, and through comparison with two other remarkable New Testament saints, we drew the logical conclusion that her title strongly indicates the likelihood that the grace which she received from her Maker was granted to her at the moment of her conception, so that she was full of grace from the beginning of her life to its end.

7. We learned that kecharitomene allows for this possibility, and actually was the best Greek title which St. Luke could have chosen to allow for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

I wish to leave these reflections with the reader, to prayerfully ponder, and to consider the strong possibility that the sinlessness of Mary is not only not opposed to the teaching of Sacred Scripture, but is very much in keeping with its message. If the evidence offered in these first five posts does not seem conclusive, or overwhelming, there is an abundance of further evidence and considerations still to come.

For now, may the peace of God be with you all, and may we each strive to be a little more each day like Mary, whose said to her God, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your word." (Lk. 1:38)

The Blessed Virgin, Part IV: The Angelic Salutation

"You are all-beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you." (Song of Solomon, 4:7)

As a Catholic, I would be the first to admit that the idea of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (the dogma that she was conceived without original sin) is nowhere explicitly stated in the Sacred Scriptures. The verse quoted above from the Canticles has been viewed by countless theologians to be a prophecy of the Blessed Virgin, as well as a description of the Church, and it is used in the liturgy for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. While this verse may be the one exception, even it is not tied explicitly to Mary's name. 

I would also point out, as I mentioned at the end of the last post, that little enough is said of Mary at all in the Bible. But what is said is remarkable. Each verse, each word, is laden with riches. The Magnificat, Elizabeth's prophecy, the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple, Simeon's words, Christ's gift of his Mother to the Beloved Disciple during His Passion-- what a wealth of spiritual truth and light is found in these passages! Thus, while not all the peculiarly Catholic dogmas concerning Mary may be found explicitly in Scripture, I most firmly believe that all of them are found, at least implicitly, or in kernel form, within its pages.

Throughout the course of these essays we will examine all the passages that deal with Mary specifically, and the prophetic types of her found in the Old Testament. Along the way we will also strive to "think with the mind of the Church" by examining the Church Fathers and various ancient Christian writings, especially those in the first five or six centuries.

Today we will begin with the Annunciation, in particular the Angelic Salutation, St.Gabriel's remarkable greeting of the Virgin. This is a passage with which all of us, both Protestant and Catholic, are deeply familiar. It  heralds the moment in which Mary conceived the Messias, the Savior, in her womb, and is thus a familiar passage in all churches around the time of Advent and Christmas. In one sense it is Gospel, the first proclamation of the Good News.  It is also familiar to Catholics for another reason, as the opening words of the Archangel's greeting have been taken as the opening words of the "Hail Mary" prayer, so popular among Catholics for many centuries.

Such universal familiarity, while good in itself, can also be a negative, if by familiarity, we become so accustomed to a thing that it loses its remarkableness. I fear that this is very much the case with this particular passage. If we can step back for a moment, read it as if for the first time, and contemplate its uniqueness, we will find ourselves amazed. Gabriel's greeting, the name by which he calls the Virgin of Nazareth, her replies, their entire conversation-- about these there is nothing ordinary at all, not even by the standards of the intercourse between angels and humans found rather more frequently in the Old Testament.

Before considering this passage itself, let us set the stage with a few preliminary observations.

The Annunciation is found only in the Gospel of St. Luke. This particular Gospel also has more to say about Mary than any of the other three. In the beginning of Luke's Gospel the author clearly states that he had gone to some length to diligently research his information, and to set it forth accurately, to the "most excellent Theophilus." Luke was not one of the Twelve Apostles, though he spent much time after his conversion traveling with St. Paul. He was likely not an eyewitness of many of the things which he recounts in his Gospel. Certainly God could have given him a direct revelation concerning these events, but his opening words clearly indicate that he did his research, probably by consulting as many eyewitnesses as possible.

This consideration leads us to an important question. Who were the eyewitnesses to the Annunciation? As far as we know, there was no one present besides the Archangel Gabriel and the Blessed Virgin herself. This fact, coupled with the fact of Luke's greater amount of information concerning Mary, leads us strongly to the conclusion that he must have consulted Christ's mother herself before composing his Gospel. I doubt that any of us would question the Virgin's humility, yet it seems that she herself was the one who decided to recount the incredible title by which St. Gabriel saluted her. This is a matter of profound significance, and one worthy of great consideration.

The second preliminary point to ponder is the use of language. All of the earliest manuscripts for all the Gospels which have survived to our day are in Greek. We know, however, that the Gospel of St. Matthew was originally composed in Aramaic, so the Greek manuscripts which are available to us are actually early translations of that particular Gospel. St. Luke, however, composed his Gospel in Greek. Thus we may well accept the idea that important and carefully chosen Greek words found in St. Luke's Gospel were intentionally set there by the Evangelist himself. Now, we do not know what language the angel spoke when he greeted the Virgin Mary. It may have been Aramaic, it may have been liturgical Hebrew. It may have been no human tongue at all. The dialogue may, in fact, have proceeded without the use of human words whatsoever. Whatever the case may be, however, St. Luke took the concept that the Blessed Virgin conveyed to him, and then set it forth as accurately as possible in Greek.

The third consideration concerns the Archangel. Angels speak only the truth, and they convey to us the message of God, not their own message. Thus, when they speak, it is as if God Himself were speaking. The message which Gabriel conveys to Mary is not Gabriel's message, but God's message. The name by which he calls her is not Gabriel's name for Mary, it is God's name for her.

Thus, as we prepare to consider the Scriptural passage itself, let us keep these three facts in mind, and realize that the Greek words used here were set down under inspiration by St. Luke, to convey the Annunciation story as it was told him by the mother of Christ, expressing the message of God Himself. What weight must we then attach to these words! What prayerful consideration and meditation must we expend upon them!

The Archangel's greeting then, begins with two Greek words, "Chairo, Kecharotimene!" We will consider these two words in order.

Chairo

Chairo, is a Greek word that means roughly "rejoice", or "be happy", but which can be used in two different ways. The first way is as an imperative,  in which the greeter bids the one greeted "to rejoice". The second way is as formal greeting, as which it has commonly been translated as Ave in Latin, or "Hail" in English. Both of these interpretations appear to be valid in considering this passage. The standard Latin translation as Ave indicates that the second interpretation is probably the most traditional. Concerning the second, we have theologians of no less weight than Hans Ur Von Balthasar and Pope Benedict XVI adopting it in modern times.

The reason for accepting both versions is due to the use of the word in two different versions of Sacred Scripture. Since the word is Greek it appears nowhere in the Old Testament, which was originally written predominantly in Hebrew. However, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Septuagint, uses the word on several occasions. While many Protestants do not approve of the Septuagint, it should be noted that the majority of Old Testament quotes used by the Apostles in the New Testament are from the Septuagint, indicating at least some validity to the translation. Thus, we must be prepared to consider the use of the word Chairo in the Septuagint as a valid translation of its Hebrew equivalent. This particular use of Chairo is always in the imperative. The second use of the word may be found in the Greek New Testament, the same set of writings in which we find Gabriel's greeting. Here it is used strictly as a formal greeting. Thus, I see no way to avoid accepting both usages of the word as valid, and accepting what both teach us.

When we consider the use of Chairo as an imperative in the Septuagint, we will find the word used three times. Each time is within the context of a Messianic prophecy. These three passages are Zeph. 3:14-17; Joel 2:21; and  Zach. 9:9.

Let us look at each of these verses:

 Joel 2:21-23: "Fear not, O land! Exult and rejoice! For the Lord has done great things. Fear not, beasts of the field! For the Pastures of the plain are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and the vine give their yield. And do you, O children of Zion, exult and rejoice in the Lord, your God! He has given you the teacher of justice: he has made the rain come down for you, the early and the late rain as before." 

The first of the commands to rejoice is made to the "land", the second is made to the "children of Zion". Neither of these are the kind of personal greetings found in Luke, chapter 1. The second thing to notice is that a little further on, vs. 27, God says through the prophet, "And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel...." I would like to draw particular attention to this idea, as we will see it again.

Zach: 9:9: "Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass." 

There are several points to observe in this passage. First, the phrasing of the greeting is far more similar to the Angel's greeting in Luke, and the one greeted is a personification of God's holy mountain, "daughter Zion", and God's holy city, "daughter Jerusalem". Secondly our attention is drawn to the time and manner of the coming of the Messiah. The specific fulfillment of this verse is seen in Matt. 21:4, and Jn. 12:14, when Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding upon a donkey. But we must remember that the beginning of the Messiah's coming occurred at the moment in which He was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. This, too, was an example of meekness and humility, for St. Paul tells us in Phil. 2:6-7, "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." We may perhaps even see the donkey as a type of the flesh-- our Savior, meek, and overcoming in the flesh. Thus we begin to see a threefold interpretation which will serve us well in the future: the literal Zion/Jerusalem as a type, the fulfillment of that type first in Mary, and the second fulfillment of it in the Church, the New Jerusalem. We also notice here, again, the idea of God being present to His people, being with them.

Zeph. 14:-17: "Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; the King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully, because of you, as one sings at festivals." 

Here, again, we see the greeting addressed to "daughter Zion", "daughter Jerusalem", and also "Israel." Again, we see the statement of the fact that God "is in your midst". The third interesting point to notice here, is that "on that day" (the day when the prophecy is to be fulfilled), "it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion...." And on the day of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel says to Mary, "Fear not...."

The promises of the infinite, eternal, omnipotent, immaterial God being in the "midst" of a material place or city are remarkable. When we think about the Incarnation we must feel awe and astonishment that God Himself walked among us as a man. As Catholics we feel the same kind of awe when we consider the Blessed Sacrament-- Christ still materially present with us. Yet it was Mary who first bore our Lord within herself. God was truly "in the midst" of her.It is interesting here that Gabriel uses a rather redundant expression to announce the conception of our Blessed Lord: "You shall conceive in your womb." It is obvious that whenever a woman conceives it is always in her womb, and there does not seem to be any particular reason to point the fact out. Nor did the same angel use that expression three months earlier when he announced to Zachariah that Elizabeth would bear a son. It seems as if Gabriel was trying to get a message across. As the Church Fathers said, the Blessed Virgin contained within her womb the One Whom heaven and earth could not contain.Whenever we consider the Old Testament types that have to do with the idea of God being in a place, we will do well to consider the Blessed Virgin first as we seek to find their fulfillment in the New Testament. Temple, Ark of the Covenant, Zion-- in all of these we will find foreshadowings of both Mary and the Church. This is an idea which will be considerably amplified in a later post.

If we move away from the Greek Old Testament and consider the use of Chairo in the Greek New Testament, we will find it is used over seventy times. However, only seven times is used directly as a greeting in the same grammatical structure as Luke 1:28.

I wish to be cautious here, and to not try to make a case out of evidence that does not exist. I will say that what follows is not conclusive, perhaps not even overwhelming, but I think that it is interesting and very worthy of consideration.

The idea which I wish to express is that there seems to be something respectful, for lack of a better word, about the use of chairo as a greeting in the Greek New Testament. The reason why I do not want to make too much out of this is because chairo was simply a standard greeting used among Greek speaking peoples of Jesus' time. Yet within the limits of the New Testament itself, the use of the greeting strikes me as interesting.

Matt. 26:49 "Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, 'Hail, Rabbi!' and he kissed him."

The speaker here is Judas, who was in the process of betraying Jesus. Certainly there was nothing respectful towards Jesus in Judas' heart, yet the language itself is respectful, greeting a venerated teacher.

Matt. 27:29 "Weaving a crown of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'" 

Sarcasm indeed, but still acting as if they were greeting someone of a superior position, in this case a King.

Matt. 28:9 "And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, 'All Hail.'" 

This is the only exception, in which the greeting is addressed to those who are clearly inferior to the speaker. But I do not think that it is inconsistent at all to think that here chairo should be used in its literal meaning of "Rejoice", since Jesus is greeting the women for the first time after His resurrection, and His victory over sin and death.

Mk. 15:18 "They began to salute him with, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'" 

Jn.19:3 "...and they came to him and said, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they struck him repeatedly."

Again, the sarcastic address noted above in Matt 27:29.

Acts 15:23 "This is the letter delivered by them: 'The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings.'"

Not addressing a superior in this case, but certainly formal, and deeply respectful.

Acts 23:25-26 "Then he wrote a letter with this content: 'Claudius Lysias to his excellency the governor Felix, greetings.'" 

This was written by a Roman commander to a governor, hence a superior.

James 1:1 "James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings."

Similar to Acts 15:23 James is not clearly addressing a superior, but again, is deeply respectful.

While several interpretations of the word chairo seem possible here, it will seem very difficult, after we examine the next word of the greeting, to assume that St. Gabriel was merely greeting Mary with a cheery "Hi!", or "Top o' the mornin' to you!"

At the very least, a brief study of the Greek word chairo in the Greek Old Testament and the Greek New Testament affords us ample room for meditation.

Kecharotimene

"Just as you know not how the breath of life fashions the human frame in the mother's womb, so you know not the work of God which he is accomplishing in the universe." (Ecc. 11:5)

But it is the second word of the Archangel's greeting that amazes us, and tells us that something momentous has occurred in human history. That word  is kecharotimene, and it is remarkable for three reasons: first, because of its meaning; secondly, because of its uniqueness; and thirdly, because of its use as a title, or name.

Let us first consider the word itself. The Greek root of the word is charis, and it refers to grace. It has traditionally been translated as "full of grace", but in more modern times it has been more often translated as "highly favored". The second translation is by far the poorer of the two, but neither full express the profundity of this remarkable word. Kecharotimene is a feminine, perfect past participle, in the passive voice. What does this mean? It is passive, because it indicates that the action has been received by the subject, Mary, and is not due to her own work. It is feminine because it addresses a woman, which would probably explain why it has sometimes been translated as "highly favored daughter". As a perfect past participle it indicates an action that has been completed in the past and continues to the present time. The structure of this Greek word also indicates a sense of "maximizing", of completeness, an intensification.

What then does kecharotimene mean? It is impossible to translate it into a single English word, or even into two or three. It indicates a state of having been graced (by God, since it is in the passive voice), to a point of total fullness, like a bucket filled to the very brim with pure water, a state completed in the past, and continuing into the present. Thus, "full of Grace" is not a bad translation, but it is lacking in two chief respects. First of all, it does not indicate the passive voice, and can thus be troubling to Protestants who are not familiar with Catholic teachings concerning Mary. If we understand that Mary was "full of grace" because she had been given this grace by God, well and good. If, however, we understand it to mean that Mary had her own grace to bestow on others from her own fullness, then we have left the land of Catholic theology and entered the land of paganism. Secondly, "full of grace" is imperfect because it fails to indicate the aspect of time which occurs in the Greek. "Fully graced" is a somewhat better option, but a very awkward one to use as a title or name. I think that "full of grace" is about as good as we can do in a few short words, and, despite its imperfections, it is far more true to the Greek than "highly favored."

This literal meaning of word is remarkable enough, but there is even more to notice here. I mentioned above the uniqueness of the word. It is so unique, in fact, that only one other time, in Scripture or in Greek secular literature does it ever appear again. The word practically does not exist. The one other occasion in which it is used is found in the Septuagint, in the book of Sirach. This book is deemed apocryphal by most Protestants, it is in the genre of wisdom literature, and kecharotimene is used, not as a title, but as a description of a hypothetical good person, and hence has no bearing on the present situation. Thus, we may observe, with no little astonishment, that not only is this word used only twice in history, but that it has never been used to name or title a single living person except in all the world, except the humble Virgin of Nazareth.

The third point to notice is that Gabriel uses the word in place of Mary's name. We are so accustomed to the "Hail Mary" prayer, that we may simply assume that Gabriel actually addressed Mary with the words "Hail Mary, full of grace." This, however, he never did. Rather he used kecharotimene in place of her name: "Hail, fully graced one!" This is a fact of great importance. Name changes are given great significance in Scripture-- Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, etc. They indicate something far more real and significant about the one whose name was changed, than do the apparently random names with which we far too often casually endow our children. They also indicate a permanency of position. They tell us something essential about the person, something that God declares to be true, something about how He sees that person. Given the similarity of this greeting with the greeting of Gideon, it is also possible to see it as a title. One Catholic scholar has written that the word kecharotimene should be seen as somewhere between a title and a name. If it is used as a name, it becomes even more interesting, since the Angel does not announce that he is changing her name. Abram, Jacob, Simon, were all notified of a change in their names. Thus we would see in Gabriel's greeting not a name change, but a statement of something that had already been true, as the grammatical structure of the word indicates anyway.

At any rate, it is of outstanding importance that this is the word with which Gabriel addresses the Virgin of Nazareth, and it tells us a great deal about who Mary really was. However, the name which the angel did not use is also significant. The name Mary means simply "Lady" (something which we will ponder more in a later post), and is simply our translation of the Hebrew name Miriam. This name, Miriam, sends us back to the Pentateuch, where we find that other famous Miriam, the sister of Moses. Types in the Old Testament find their fulfillment in the New, and the Old Testament types always fall short of their New Testament archetypes. Thus Moses is a type of Christ Himself, yet he sinned and was denied entry into the Promised Land. Miriam we most likely remember for composing a victory song, and for being given leprosy for an offense against her brother Moses, which, through Moses' intercession, was soon removed. However, she is mentioned again much later in the Old Testament in a most remarkable passage. "For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery I released you; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." (Micah 6:4). Thus we see that the children of Israel were led by priest and prophet, and also by a woman, whose name was simply "Lady". No other Miriam is mentioned in the Old Testament. We begin to see here that God had planned, through His own will and grace, to intimately involve Mary in the history of salvation, to help lead His people out of slavery.

To summarize our reflections on the word kecharotimene, we may consider the following. The Archangel Gabriel, the Angel of the Lord, does not use Mary's actual name. Instead he greets her with the title, or name kecharotimene. Since this word is used as a title or name by the angel it tells us three things-- that this is who Mary actually is, that this is God's title or name for her, and that it is permanent. Thus we may see from this incredible greeting that Mary, alone among all persons in the history of our species, was given the name kecharotimene, meaning "filled by God completely with grace", and that she had been so filled already in the past, remained so until the present, and would continue so into the future.

Grace is the antithesis of sin. To be filled so completely with grace as the word kecharotimene indicates leaves no room for sin. Thus, we are led, by the strength of Sacred Scripture itself, to understand that God, in His wisdom and omnipotence, preserved the one who would become His mother on earth from every stain of sin.

It is pertinent here to offer a quote on this topic by two Greek scholars, noting that they are Protestant scholars (who make no attempt to define kecharotimene in this way, but merely affirm that the following definition is consistent with the Greek language):

"It is permissible, on Greek grammatical and linguistic grounds, to paraphrase kecharotimene as completely, perfectly, enduringly endowed with grace." (Blass and DeBrunner, Greek Grammar of the New Testament).

An objection comes easily to mind here. Perhaps, it may be asked, the Virgin was sinless and fully graced past, present, and future; perhaps, but how far in the past? Could not this Divine "gracing" have occurred somewhat earlier in her youth? Why take it back all the way to her conception, and say that she never sinned, that she was Immaculate?

This objection certainly has weight, but even if it were found to be true, what we have learned concerning the Blessed Virgin's title is already unfathomably amazing. However, I believe that there is good reason to think that the "time past" aspect of the word kecharotimene goes all the way back to the beginning of her existence. But I shall reserve this and several other objections and considerations for the next post, as this one has already gone on far too long.

If I may be allowed to offer my own paraphrase of the angel's greeting, based upon what we have learned concerning Mary's title and its uniqueness, we may say, "Hail, you who alone of all the human race have been freely filled by God with grace; filled so completely that there is no place within you that is not filled to the maximum with grace; so filled past, present, and future. The Lord is with you!" 

This, my brothers and sisters, is no ordinary greeting, and its like has never been heard before or since by human ears.