Kecharitōmenē

Kecharitōmenē (Greek: κεχαριτωμένη) is the word the angel Gabriel used to address the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation — translated in most Bibles as "full of grace" or "highly favored one" (Luke 1:28). It is the key Greek word underlying the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception and one of the most theologically significant single words in the New Testament (CCC 490).

The Grammar

Kecharitōmenē is a Greek perfect passive participle of the verb charitóō — meaning "to fill with grace" or "to favor completely." The perfect tense in Greek indicates a completed action whose effects continue into the present. The passive voice indicates that this grace was given to Mary, not earned. The participle form makes it a description of her identity — not just something God did for her, but what she is (CCC 490).

What It Reveals

Gabriel does not greet Mary by name but by this title — as if "full of grace" is her defining characteristic, who she most fundamentally is. The perfect tense indicates that this state of grace was already complete before the Annunciation — she came to the Annunciation already in a permanent, completed state of divine favor. This is precisely what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception describes: Mary's fullness of grace from the first moment of her conception (CCC 490–491).

Only Used Twice in the NT

The verb charitóō from which kecharitōmenē derives appears only twice in the entire New Testament: here in Luke 1:28 (applied to Mary) and in Ephesians 1:6 (applied to all Christians). The application to Mary is in the perfect passive participle — a completed, permanent fullness. The application to Christians in Ephesians is in the aorist — a past action, not necessarily permanent or complete (CCC 490).

Frequently Asked Questions

Don't all translations just say "favored one"? Many modern translations render it as "favored one" or "highly favored," which is not wrong but loses the grammatical richness. The traditional "full of grace" — from the Latin Vulgate gratia plena — captures better the sense of a completed, abiding fullness that the Greek perfect tense conveys (CCC 490).