To defend the translation Full of grace, we note that the Church
always uses that- but that goes back to the Vulgate of St.
Jerome. Can we defend that? Yes.
St. Luke wrote <kecharitomene>.
This is a perfect passsive participle, and as such, is very
strong. It is of the verb <charitoo>. The verbs in <oo> normally
mean to put a person or thing into the state indicated by the
root. That root here is <charis>, which means favor or grace. But
if we translate favor, we must keep firmly in mind that it does
not mean God just sits there and smiles, giving nothing, so the
person does something by his own power. That would be Pelagian.
So it is best to use grace.
Very importantly, the word is used in place of a personal name.
That is comparable to our English pattern of saying e.g., he is
Mr. Tennis - meaning the ultimate in the category of tennis.
So she is Miss Grace - the ultimate in the category of grace.
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