28. Hail, full of grace: literally the Greek text reads Rejoice!, obviously referring
to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.
Full of grace: by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Marys
special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church taught that
this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces
reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, which meant that she was never subject to the curse, that is, was
preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one
of the sources which reveal the dogma of Marys Immaculate Conception (cf.
Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus; Paul VI, Creed of the People of God).