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To: kinsman redeemer
Of Mary, the Greek word [Lk 1:28] is kexaritomena (highly favored), of Christ (and Stephen) the Greek phrase [Jn 1:14 and Acts 6:8] is plaras karitos (full of grace).
Let me preface my remarks by saying that my computer is broken and I was reduced earlier to pecking out a reply on my blackberry. Having said that, I spent well over an hour trying to reply via blackberry, only to have it wiped out before I could even finish my reply, never mind post it. Since then, I've found a public computer to use, but I am still frustrated by my earlier experience, so please forgive me if my reply is not as thorough as I would like.

The word and phrase that we're looking at in the three verses cite at the head of this post (to which I will soon add a fourth) share a Greek radical (χάρις) meaning grace, so there is some commonality among the verses, though they are clearly not identical. In Jn 1:14 and Ac 6:8, the phrase πλήρης χάριτος is used adjectivally to qualify Christ and Stephen in their respective verses; and since the phrase is used not only of the divine person Christ but also the human person Stephen, one can reasonably infer that the phrase πλήρης χάριτος could, in the proper context, be used of any Christian, including Mary.

But it is not used of Mary in Lk 1:28, which is the point of my post #73. In Lk 1:28, the word κεχαριτωμένη is used to address Mary. The word κεχαριτωμένη is a form of a rare Greek verb, χαριτόω (and I say rare because a form of the verb is used only one other time in the Gr NT, at Eph 1:6). A characteristic of Gr verbs ending in -όω is that they are causative; i.e., they signify actions that effect a change concerning the person or thing that the subject affects. (Cf., e.g., δολόω (to enslave) (see 2Cor 4:2); ἐλευθερόω (to make free) (see Jn 8:32).) So χαριτόω -- which as mentioned above is a verb incorporating the radical χάρις (i.e., grace) -- means something along the lines of to effect a change by means of grace, or simply to engrace. And what greater effect of grace is there than the removal of sin?

The form of χαριτόω that appears in Lk 1:28 -- κεχαριτωμένη -- is a perfect passive participle. It is passive with respect to Mary because only God can effect a change in someone by means of his grace. And it appears in the perfect tense to indicate a change that has already occurred in the past and that has a continuing effect in the present. The essential meaning conveyed by κεχαριτωμένη in Lk 1:28 is that Mary has been -- and continues to be -- radically changed by the grace of God.

One final remark: Earlier, I made the point that one could reasonably infer from the use of phrase πλήρης χάριτος in Ac 6:8 that, in proper context, the phrase could be used of any Christian. At this point, I'd like to suggest that the same could be said of the word ἐχαρίτωσεν in Eph 1:6 -- the only other NT occurrence of a form of the verb χαριτόω. ἐχαρίτωσεν could, in proper context, be said all Christians who have been changed by the grace of God, including Mary. But Gabriel addresses Mary in a unique way at Lk 1:28 -- κεχαριτωμένη. God prepared Mary -- and Mary alone -- to be the new Garden of Eden, if you will, prepared in advance for the new Adam, just as he had prepared the original Garden of Eden in advance for the original Adam in Genesis. And he prepared Mary as this new Garden of Eden by thoroughly transforming her by his grace -- and what greater effect of grace is there than the removal of sin? -- just as he had prepared the original Garden of Eden without defect in advance for the sinless first Adam.

Peace.
100 posted on 05/24/2014 1:23:34 PM PDT by eastsider
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To: eastsider

So now I am totally confused. Are you agreeing with Catholic theology or not? Kinsman’s responses made me think you do not.


103 posted on 05/24/2014 2:06:04 PM PDT by piusv
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To: eastsider
Thanks for that post regarding the translation of kecharitoméne.

I recently learned that this Greek word is a hapax legomenon, since there are no examples of its use in literature prior to the Annunciation.

Chaire kecharitomene. "Hail, Full of Grace," we translate it. In Latin, following the venerable St. Jerome's translation known as the Vulgate, it is Ave, gratia plena.

The word that Luke uses--κεχαριτωμένη, kecharitomene--appears to have been crafted out of thin air, appearing into the Greek vocabulary as unexpectedly as the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and as silently as the Word became Flesh. It was the word for the moment.

The word is used nowhere else in the Scriptures or in secular Greek literature. The technical name for such a novel, unique word is hapax legomenon. Hapax legomenon--which comes to us from Greek--means "expressed once."

This sort of word is sometimes also referred to as a nonce word. In this case, it is a one-of-a-kind word for a one-of-a-kind person in a one-of-a-kind situation. No one else in human history is κεχαριτωμένη (kecharitomene).

Though a nonce word, it is not nonsensical. Grammatically, the word kecharitomene is the feminine present perfect passive voice participle of a verb, specifically, the Greek verb χαριτόω (charitóō). In the passive voice, the verb means to have been made graceful, to have been endowed with grace.

The Greek verb charitóō is itself a little scarce in Scripture. Other than its unusual form in Luke 1:28, it is used by St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians. Here we read St. Paul use it for the redeemed sinner: "for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted (ἐχαρίτωσεν, echaristōsen) us in the beloved."

Here, the word charitóō is in what is known as its aorist active indicative form, obviously an entirely different form from Luke 1:28. So though the root verb (charitóō) is the same in Luke 1:28 and Ephesians 1:6, the words are used in entirely different tenses, voices, and senses. The only commonality, it seems, is sanctifying grace.

Hail Mary: Kecharitomene, A Unique Word for a Unique Lady

Anyway, your post got me googling, and I found this in one of John Paul II 's addresses.

BLESSED VIRGIN WAS FILLED WITH GOD’S GRACE
Pope John Paul II

...The expression "full of grace" is the translation of the Greek word kecharitoméne, which is a passive participle. Therefore to render more exactly the nuance of the Greek word one should not say merely "full of grace", but "made full of grace", or even "filled with grace", which would clearly indicate that this was a gift given by God to the Blessed Virgin. This term, in the form of a perfect participle, enhances the image of a perfect and lasting grace which implies fullness. The same verb, in the sense of "to bestow grace", is used in the Letter to the Ephesians to indicate the abundance of grace granted to us by the Father in his beloved Son (Eph 1:6), and which Mary receives as the first fruits of Redemption (cf. Redemptoris Mater, n. 10).


104 posted on 05/24/2014 2:09:38 PM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
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To: eastsider

Excellent post. Thanks!
Your remark re. the Garden and Mary reminds me of the contrasts we
Find in 1 Cor 15:45 ff. and Rom 5:12.
Now, may I ask you to declare: What efficacy is there in intercessory prayer - other that through Jesus Christ?
I hope your computer problems are in the past because I look forward to your reply.
In His grace,
KR


105 posted on 05/24/2014 2:29:27 PM PDT by kinsman redeemer (The real enemy seeks to devour what is good.)
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