Hail Mary

The scenes from Luke’s infancy narrative of the Annunciation of Jesus’ Birth to Mary (Lk 1:26-38) and the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56) give us one-half of the “Hail Mary” (or Ave Maria) prayer. From 1:28 we get the “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” line and from 1:42 we get “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” These scenes interrupt the narrative of the announcement and birth of John the Baptist. But they also intersect with that story, as well. Gabriel’s appearance to Mary occurs in the sixth month” (v. 28, 36) of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and led Mary to travel from Galilee to Judea to visit her.

In one of the rare agreements in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke, Lk 1:27 describes Mary as “betrothed” (same Greek word used in Mt 1:18) to Joseph, who is of the House of David. As described in my article on the annunciation to Joseph, they were considered married because they had exchanged consent, but they had not begun living together. Unlike Matthew, however, Luke states that Mary was a resident of Nazareth, whereas Matthew has Mary and Joseph living in Bethlehem and only taking up residence in Nazareth after returning from Egypt, deeming Judea unsafe.

Full of Grace

The first Greek word of Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, translated as “hail” in some English versions, is a normal salutation like “hello, good day, greetings.”

The second Greek word is usually translated as “favored one,” or something similar. The Latin Vulgate translated it as “full of grace,” hence the line in the prayer. The root of the word means “grace, favor, charm,” so it’s not entirely out of the ballpark but it’s a bit strong. Luke knew the term and used it in Acts 6:8, but chose not to use it here. In later Catholic theology, the idea took root that Mary was full of all possible graces and led to proclamations of her being free from Original Sin from the moment of her conception (the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, not to be confused with the virginal conception of Jesus).

Most scholars are in agreement that the word should be understood as one who has been favored or graced by God. At any rate, Mary was perplexed and wondered what sort of greeting this was (v. 29). Gabriel clarifies by stating, “You have found favor with God” (v. 30). He goes on to explain to the reader that God’s favor is the grace of conceiving “the Son of the Most High” (vv. 31-32). This perfectly fits a translation of “favored one.”

Virgin of the Rocks (1483-86) by Leonardo da Vinci. This earlier of two almost identical versions hangs in the Louvre. (The other version is in London’s National Gallery.) The scene depicts an encounter between the infant John the Baptist and the Madonna and baby Jesus. The angel Uriel points to John the Baptist. Usually, in the iconography of religious art, John points to Jesus.

How Can This Be?

Mary’s response to the angel (“How can this be since I am a virgin?”) in v. 34 has caused consternation and confusion for many. Why would Mary ask Gabriel how she could conceive a child? She’s married to Joseph, but not living with him, so why does she not assume that when she eventually has marital relations she will conceive in the normal way? If you consider the parallel annunciation to Zechariah, after he had completed his priestly service in the Temple, he returned home and afterwards Elizabeth conceived (vv. 23-24). Similarly, in various OT birth annunciations, the conception of the child occurs after the angelic announcement is made. Mary has no reason to think her situation would be different.

A popular theory is that Mary took a vow of virginity. Knowing this, an elderly Joseph agreed to marry her to protect her from other suitors. While this theory gained popularity at a time when men and women regularly took monastic vows, there are no historical precedents in 1st century Judaism. And, as we see elsewhere in Luke (1:25, 48), childlessness in the culture at that time was viewed as a “disgrace.”

A literary explanation looks at other birth announcements in Scripture. At the appearance of the divine messenger, the visionary is told not to be afraid. Then comes the announcement that a woman will give birth to a male child and the name that child is to be called. The visionary then objects that this could happen or asks for a sign and the encounter concludes with the giving of a sign. All of these steps are present in the annunciations to Zechariah and to Mary.

The formula requires an objection in order for the angel to explain to the reader how this is to happen and provide the sign. Zechariah has the objection of age, but Mary’s only objection is that she has not had sexual relations. Her objection allows the angel to spell out that her child will be conceived, not through human agency, but by the Holy Spirit.

Blessed are You Among Women

The sign that Gabriel provides Mary is news that her aged relative Elizabeth is in her sixth month. Mary plays the role of the ideal disciple in Luke by accepting the will of God and then making her way in haste to the hill country of Judea to share the good news. This is a distance of about 90 miles and would have taken 4-5 days to complete on foot.

Playing the part of the prophet he would take later in life, the unborn John stirred in his mother’s womb upon Mary’s arrival. This revealed to Elizabeth the nature of Mary’s condition as mother of the messiah. She then blessed Mary and the unborn Jesus within her. Mary responded with her Magnificat, which has been discussed in another article. She stayed with Elizabeth for three months before returning home, allowing Luke to get her off-the-stage before returning to the conclusion of his narrative of the birth of John the Baptist.

The beginning and end of Elizabeth’s blessing of Mary (vv. 42, 45) are very reminiscent of a scene that only appears in Luke’s gospel (11:27-28). When a woman in the crowd blesses the mother who bore and nursed him, Jesus rejected the importance of biological motherhood: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” The OT tells of Jael (Judg 5:24) and Judith (Judith 13:18) who were also considered “blessed among women.” But Jael and Judith were blessed because God used them to deliver Israel through the slaying of an enemy warrior. Mary is blessed because of the fruit of her womb. This, too, recalls a passage from Deuteronomy: “If you fully obey YHWH your God and carefully follow all his commands…the fruit of your womb will be blessed” (Deut 28:1, 4). Elizabeth’s further words (vv. 45) makes clear that it is not only Mary’s physical motherhood that is being praised, but also her faith.

Not only has this passage given us the “Hail Mary” prayer, but it has also been the basis for various Marian doctrines: Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, and so on. Luke seems clear that Mary is not to be praised because she was physically the mother of Jesus, but because she meets the criterion of true discipleship.