Hail, full of grace! In the history of the world, these words have been addressed to only one person. She is a woman. Mary of Nazareth. The angel Gabriel speaks this greeting to announce the Incarnation. At that precise moment, and with Marys divinely ordained consent, the eternal Son of God became man for our salvation. Heaven and earth rejoice.
The Incarnation of the Son of God touches the whole human race. No wonder that the Church encourages us to guard and cherish this great mystery: The doctrine of faith must be firmly believed which proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, and he alone, is the Son and the Word of the Father.
The message of the angel also tells us about the Mother of Jesus Christ. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. God saved Mary in a way that remains unique to the Mother of the Redeemer. In view of the foreseen merits of her Son, Mary is preserved from contracting original sin. What Christ offers effectively to each person on earth, Mary receives fully at her conception. That Mary is conceived without sin enhances her freedom. She is able to love God more. Those who follow Jesus of Nazareth also cling to his Mother Mary. They recognize in her Immaculate Conception a source of hope.
Reflection based on Luke 1:26-38
Father Romanus Cessario
Let us look at these scriptures:
Gen 1:15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
("she shall crush" is more often translated from Hebrew as "he shall crush", meaning that not Eve directly but her seed, Jesus, will crush Satan)
Luke 1:28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
(Here the usual since King James translation, "most favoured one" instead of "full of grace" inaccurately translates the Greek "kecharitomene"; only rarely is "charis", -- "grace" translated as "favor" by King James, making "most favoured" inconsistent and forced).
The immaculate conception of Mary is derived from these two verses: in Genesis 3 we learn that the enmity will be put between Mary and Satan; in Luke 1 we learn that Mary is full of grace. In both instances, Mary is cast by the inspired authors as wholly opposite of Satan or his work, sin. The doctrine was formalized late, in 1854 by Pius IX. It was, however, among the beleifs of the early Church. The symmetry between Mary and Eve was developed by Justin Martyr in his Dialog With Tryphone in AD 100.