About My Jesus

The Blessing of Mary

Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is without controversy the most blessed woman of all time. Luke's gospel gives us the most complete description of her blessedness by using three distinct Greek words. The first word used to express Mary's blessedness is spoken by the angel Gabriel:
"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"" (Luke 1:26-28). Blessed here is the word εuλογηενη pronounced (ū-log-ā-nā); meaning "uniquely favored from among all women", or "acted upon favorably by God". The antonym (opposite) of this word is "anathema", meaning something that is cursed.

Next, Luke relates a dialog between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. By this time Mary has conceived, by the Holy Spirit.
"Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."(Luke 1:39-45)

This word for blessed is μακαρια (ma-kar-ē-ă); "to be pronounced or declared as blessed", "the state of being marked by the fullness of God", "fully satisfied by God". Again, the antonym is "to curse".

The third word for blessed is contained in Mary's reply to Elizabeth, known as "Mary's Magnificat".