Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Origen on Luke 1:28 and κεχαριτωμένη

  

7. The angel greeted Mary with a new address, which I could not find anywhere else in Scripture. I ought to explain this expression briefly. The angel says, “Hail, full of grace.” The Greek word is κεχαριτωμένη. I do not remember having read this word elsewhere in Scripture. An expression of this kind, “Hail, full of grace,” is not addressed to a male. This greeting was reserved for Mary alone. Mary knew the Law; she was holy, and had learned the writings of the prophets by meditating on them daily. If Mary had known that someone else had been greeted by words like these, she would never have been frightened by this strange greeting. Hence the angel says to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary! You have found grace in God’s eyes. Behold, you will conceive in your womb. You will bear a son, and you will name him ‘Jesus.’ He will be great, and will be called ‘Son of the Most High.’ ” (Homily on Luke 6.7 in Origen, Homilies on Luke and Fragments on Luke [trans. Joseph T. Lienhard; The Fathers of the Church 94; Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009], 26)

 

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