“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you”
The angel Gabriel first greeted the daughter of Joachim and Anne in the house at Nazareth with those words: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee”. And those words have been translated into nearly every spoken language on earth, and recited by Christians for two thousands years. St. Jerome’s Latin translation of the angelic salutation is well known” “Ave Maria, Gratia plena, dominus tecum.” After hearing this greeting, St. Luke tells us that Mary “pondered what sort of greeting this might be” so today, let’s ponder the meaning of the Angel’s greeting.
And to do that, let’s look at Saint Luke’s original greek. In Saint Luke’s original greek, the angel says to Mary,
“Chaire kecharitomene, o kurios meta sou”
The first word in the greek, Chaire, is sometimes translated to latin word, “ave” as in Ave Maria, or “Salve” as in Salve Regina, Hail, Holy Queen. Chaire can mean, hello, hail, a friendly greeting. When you’d see your friend walking toward you down the street, you’d say, “Chaire” Hail, Friend.
The word was also used by the prophets in the Old Testament as an announcement of Joy. Chaire, Hail, God is about to do something wonderful. So the word “Chaire”, in the Old Testament, is sometimes translated as rejoice. In announcing to Israel that from her would come a savior, the prophet Zechariah said, “Chaire” rejoice daughter sion.
So every time we repeat that word, “Hail” Mary, we are greeting her as a friend, and we are greeting her with a greeting of joy. Every time we recite the Hail Mary, we share in Mary’s joy.
The second greek word is very important for today’s feast—kecharitomene—“full of grace.” This is a very interesting word because in greek it is in the perfect passive tense, meaning, something has been done to Mary in the past. What has been done to her? She has been made “full of grace”. When was she made full of grace, and by who? She was made full of grace at the first moment of her existence, in the womb of her mother Anne. And she was made full of grace by God.
So the first words the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary form the basis of our belief in Mary’s Immaculate Conception—that from the moment of her conception, Mary was made immaculate by God. The word Immaculate comes from the latin meaning without stain. What stain was Mary without? The stain of sin.
That word kecharitomene is interesting for another reason. In the greek, the perfect passive participle refers to not only something that happens in the past, but also something that continues in the present. Mary was made full of grace, and she continues to be full of grace.
So every time we pray the hail Mary, we our professing our belief that Mary continues to be free from any sin, and full of God’s love and God’s grace. Because Mary is full of God’s love, she looks down upon us from her place in heaven. I know it is hard to believe, but she loves us even more than our parents and grandparents love us, because she loves us with a heart perfectly free from any sin. A heart of boundless charity, an ocean of love. So we can always turn to Mary for help in following the way of Christ.
Today’s feast celebrates that God had a plan for Mary from the moment of her conception. Yet, in the epistle, St. Paul reminds us that we too have been chosen from the foundations of the world to be holy and without blemish. God chooses each of us to be holy.
Mary’s Immaculate Conception reminds us, what each of us are called to be, through baptism. Every human being is destined for holiness, because every human life is precious to God, every conception is important. But it is up to us to cooperate with his plan.
So, on a very regular basis, every Christian ought reflect upon Mary’s example: to reflect on what it means for me, in all of the details of my life, in all of my relationships and responsibilities, with all of my weaknesses, what does it mean for me to radically surrender my life to God, as Mary did from the first moment of her conception? What does it mean for me to be free from selfishness, free from self-centeredness in God’s service, like Immaculate Mary?
In addition to the liturgical celebration, as many of you know, today also begins the great Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. Great graces are available to each of us this year, for the transformation of our hearts and the transformation of the world.
In the Papal Bull announcing the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis writes why he chose this feast day to open the Year of Mercy. The Pope writes, “The Holy Year will open on 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This liturgical feast day recalls God’s action from the very beginning of the history of mankind. After the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not wish to leave humanity alone in the throes of evil. And so he turned his gaze to Mary, holy and immaculate in love (cf. Eph 1:4), choosing her to be the Mother of man’s Redeemer. When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive… May the sweetness of Mary’s countenance watch over us in this Holy Year, so that all of us may rediscover the joy of God’s tenderness.”
By drawing near to Mary in prayer, by contemplating her example, her virtues, her radical surrender, we too came come to discover the joy of God’s tenderness and the awesomeness of his plan. So if you are depressed, or sad, or feel like your life is missing something, if there is a lack of joy in your life, those are signs that you are meant to draw near to Mary, to seek her help, to follow her example.
May Mary, full of grace, help us respond to God with wholehearted surrender, obedience, and trust, and prepare well for all God has in store for us, for His Glory and the salvation of souls.
The angel Gabriel first greeted the daughter of Joachim and Anne in the house at Nazareth with those words: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee”. And those words have been translated into nearly every spoken language on earth, and recited by Christians for two thousands years. St. Jerome’s Latin translation of the angelic salutation is well known” “Ave Maria, Gratia plena, dominus tecum.” After hearing this greeting, St. Luke tells us that Mary “pondered what sort of greeting this might be” so today, let’s ponder the meaning of the Angel’s greeting.
And to do that, let’s look at Saint Luke’s original greek. In Saint Luke’s original greek, the angel says to Mary,
“Chaire kecharitomene, o kurios meta sou”
The first word in the greek, Chaire, is sometimes translated to latin word, “ave” as in Ave Maria, or “Salve” as in Salve Regina, Hail, Holy Queen. Chaire can mean, hello, hail, a friendly greeting. When you’d see your friend walking toward you down the street, you’d say, “Chaire” Hail, Friend.
The word was also used by the prophets in the Old Testament as an announcement of Joy. Chaire, Hail, God is about to do something wonderful. So the word “Chaire”, in the Old Testament, is sometimes translated as rejoice. In announcing to Israel that from her would come a savior, the prophet Zechariah said, “Chaire” rejoice daughter sion.
So every time we repeat that word, “Hail” Mary, we are greeting her as a friend, and we are greeting her with a greeting of joy. Every time we recite the Hail Mary, we share in Mary’s joy.
The second greek word is very important for today’s feast—kecharitomene—“full of grace.” This is a very interesting word because in greek it is in the perfect passive tense, meaning, something has been done to Mary in the past. What has been done to her? She has been made “full of grace”. When was she made full of grace, and by who? She was made full of grace at the first moment of her existence, in the womb of her mother Anne. And she was made full of grace by God.
So the first words the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary form the basis of our belief in Mary’s Immaculate Conception—that from the moment of her conception, Mary was made immaculate by God. The word Immaculate comes from the latin meaning without stain. What stain was Mary without? The stain of sin.
That word kecharitomene is interesting for another reason. In the greek, the perfect passive participle refers to not only something that happens in the past, but also something that continues in the present. Mary was made full of grace, and she continues to be full of grace.
So every time we pray the hail Mary, we our professing our belief that Mary continues to be free from any sin, and full of God’s love and God’s grace. Because Mary is full of God’s love, she looks down upon us from her place in heaven. I know it is hard to believe, but she loves us even more than our parents and grandparents love us, because she loves us with a heart perfectly free from any sin. A heart of boundless charity, an ocean of love. So we can always turn to Mary for help in following the way of Christ.
Today’s feast celebrates that God had a plan for Mary from the moment of her conception. Yet, in the epistle, St. Paul reminds us that we too have been chosen from the foundations of the world to be holy and without blemish. God chooses each of us to be holy.
Mary’s Immaculate Conception reminds us, what each of us are called to be, through baptism. Every human being is destined for holiness, because every human life is precious to God, every conception is important. But it is up to us to cooperate with his plan.
So, on a very regular basis, every Christian ought reflect upon Mary’s example: to reflect on what it means for me, in all of the details of my life, in all of my relationships and responsibilities, with all of my weaknesses, what does it mean for me to radically surrender my life to God, as Mary did from the first moment of her conception? What does it mean for me to be free from selfishness, free from self-centeredness in God’s service, like Immaculate Mary?
In addition to the liturgical celebration, as many of you know, today also begins the great Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. Great graces are available to each of us this year, for the transformation of our hearts and the transformation of the world.
In the Papal Bull announcing the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis writes why he chose this feast day to open the Year of Mercy. The Pope writes, “The Holy Year will open on 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This liturgical feast day recalls God’s action from the very beginning of the history of mankind. After the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not wish to leave humanity alone in the throes of evil. And so he turned his gaze to Mary, holy and immaculate in love (cf. Eph 1:4), choosing her to be the Mother of man’s Redeemer. When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive… May the sweetness of Mary’s countenance watch over us in this Holy Year, so that all of us may rediscover the joy of God’s tenderness.”
By drawing near to Mary in prayer, by contemplating her example, her virtues, her radical surrender, we too came come to discover the joy of God’s tenderness and the awesomeness of his plan. So if you are depressed, or sad, or feel like your life is missing something, if there is a lack of joy in your life, those are signs that you are meant to draw near to Mary, to seek her help, to follow her example.
May Mary, full of grace, help us respond to God with wholehearted surrender, obedience, and trust, and prepare well for all God has in store for us, for His Glory and the salvation of souls.
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