MARY FULL OF GRACE

Merciful Father, as you have sent the Holy Spirit on Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to write all that You wished and wanted, we pray You, send the same Holy Spirit on us, so that we may understand, appreciate Your Word, and make it our plan of life. This we ask for the merits of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

54 … Regarding the ‘change of name’.                                                                        According to the Biblical custom, usage, the ‘name’ of a person, indicates, shows, describes the person who bears such a name. When Gabriel addressed Mary as ‘Full of Grace’, the message was that this person, Mary, enjoyed the ‘fullness’ of God’s pleasure. This shows that from the moment of her Conception, Mary had been endowed with the brightness, the ‘aura’ of holiness, which was totally unique.

The reason is because the ‘fullness of grace’ or the ‘Divine Joy’ can’t exist side by side with sin nor even a slight stain or a shadow of sin.

The title bestowed on Mary by the Angel; “Full of Grace” refers to the exceptional grace bestowed, given to Her who was destined, chosen to be the Mother of the Redeemer. This maiden, future Mother of God had to be perfectly Holy, totally and absolutely Spotless from the very first instant of Her existence.

I quote (liberal quote) from “The New Dictionary of Mariology”

“In truth, because of the intimate union of Mary’s life and destiny, with her Son Jesus Christ, Mary was surrounded, with the Love of the Father, with the Grace of the Son, and with the Enlightment of the Holy Spirit, from the very first moment of Her existence.”            (Ed.Paoline, p.693)

The Church Fathers                                                                                                                         The Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries. The term is used for the intellectual leaders of the Church, not necessarily saints, and does not include the New Testament authors. It also excludes writers condemned as heretics, although several of the Church Fathers, such as Tertullian and Origen, did occasionally express certain views.

Catholic and Orthodox traditions regarding the Fathers of the Church differ; with greater honor paid in the West to such men as Pope Gregory the Great and St. Augustine, and more attention given in the East; to such writers as Basil the Great and John Chrysostm. In addition, Orthodox tradition considers the age of the Church Fathers to be open-ended, continuing up to the present day, while Catholic tradition ends the age much earlier.

Regarding the title, “Full of grace” (Lk.1,28)the Fathers of the Church write:   
“Mary, the most glorious Virgin, with whom the Almighty has done great things (Lk.1, 29) was so radiant, shed such strong light with the abundance of graces from heaven, with such innocence, that thus she became the main and primary miracle  of God, the greatest of His miracles and she became the worthy Mother of the Lord. She is so close to God, the closest any creature could be, Mary’s honour, respect, esteem is higher than that of the angels and of all the human beings.”                 /55

                             

Certain Information taken, with kind permission, from the book “Who is Mary” by H.G.Mons. Sylvester Magro ofm, Bishop of Benghazi. A very dear friend.