Luke 1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 1:27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 1:28 The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!”

‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour!’ (JB);
‘Hail, thou that art highly favoured’ (AV);
‘Hail, O favoured one’ (RSV),
‘Greetings, favoured one!’ (NRSV).

Ian Paul insists that kaire should be translated ‘Rejoice!’ (Not, ‘Greetings!’):

‘The precedents of this pattern, of greeting + address + reference to divine action or attitude, found in Zeph 3.14–15, Zech 9.9 and Joel 2.21 demonstrate that we should interpret kaire not as ‘Greetings!’ (which it can mean in first century Greek) but rather as ‘Rejoice’, which fits with the wider theme of joy and laughter in Luke’s gospel.’

Amy Peeler (Women and the Gender of God) thinks that this expression marks Mary out as worthy.  But no: Mary is the ‘favoured one’.  As Denny Burk remarks:

‘Mary was a sinner like all other people, but God showed his grace to her in calling her to be the mother of Jesus (Lk 1:30). She was chosen not because she deserved it but because of God’s grace. All generations call her blessed not because of her own merits but because God in his mercy had done great things for her (Lk 1:49-50).’

These words of the angel Gabriel to Mary are taken by Roman Catholics to be equivalent to, “Hail Mary, full of grace.” This is then taken to set Mary apart from the rest of the human race, and to support the doctrine of her ‘immaculate conception’ (i.e. that she was born without original sin):

‘Catholics believe that God saved Mary in a special way, preventing her from sin, because of her extraordinary role and proximity to God the Son and Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35). An angel called Mary highly favored or full of grace in Luke 1:28. The Greek word, kecharitomene, means “completely, perfectly, enduringly endowed with grace.” On this and other grounds, Catholics hold that she was free of sin from conception and throughout her life.’ (Source)

Nicholas Russo, a Jesuit author, defended the Catholic view in 1886:

‘In honoring Mary, what else are we doing but imitating the heavenly messenger who saluted her as full of grace, united to God [“the Lord is with thee”], blessed among women? What are all the praises which the Church offers to Mary, . . . but a faint commentary on the words of the archangel? What is the veneration we have for her but the fulfillment of the prophecy made by our heavenly Mother herself when, filled with the Holy Ghost, magnifying the Lord and extolling His mercy, she exclaimed: All generations shall call me blessed? (Luke 1:43). To suppress our feelings, therefore, would not only be inconsistent with the filial love we should have for her, but would also contradict the clear teaching of the Gospel.’ (Source)

But this is to misunderstand the biblical concept of ‘grace’, which does not refer to goodness or purity in the individual, but rather (as the great majority of translations indicate) to God’s (unmerited) favour. This point may receive further support from Lk 1:47, where Mary refers to God as her ‘Saviour’ (although, to be fair, this could be taken in context to refer to God as her ‘deliverer’ and not have any direct reference to salvation from sin).

Roman Catholic scholar Luke Timothy Johnson observes that:

‘The Vulgate has gratia plena, “full of grace,” which has stimulated a great deal of speculation concerning Mary’s special status among other humans. The plain sense of the greeting (which Luke says confused her, too) is given by the angel: Mary has found favor with God. The evidence and expression of that favor is her being enabled to bear the Messiah.’

The NET Bible notes:

‘The address, “favored one” (a perfect participle, Grk “Oh one who is favored”) points to Mary as the recipient of God’s grace, not a bestower of it. She is a model saint in this passage, one who willingly receives God’s benefits. The Vulgate rendering “full of grace” suggests something more of Mary as a bestower of grace, but does not make sense here contextually.’

The translation of these words as, “Hail Mary, full of grace,” is misleading, suggesting that Mary is a source of grace to other people, whereas the meaning is simply that God’s favour rests upon her. “Rejoice, so highly favoured!” (JB). The Vulgate ‘gratiae plena‘ “is right, if it means ‘full of grace which thou hast received’; wrong, if it means ‘full of grace which thou hast to bestow”‘ (Plummer)

Ian Paul concurs:

‘The “grace” referred to is not a quality that Mary possesses inherently, but something that has been bestowed by God. Although Luke does emphasise both piety and obedience, the focus here is God’s surprising favour bestowed on someone who is otherwise unremarkable. The movement here is not from someone virtuous to God’s reward, but from the gracious initiative of God to the response of rejoicing and obedience.’

Bishop Hall noted:

‘The angel salutes the virgin; he prays not to her. He salutes her, as a saint; he prays not to her as a goddess. For us to salute her as he did wer gross presumption, for neither are we as he was, neither is she as she was. If he that was a spirit, saluted her that was flesh and blood here on earth, it is not for us that are flesh and blood to salute her which is a glorious spirit in heaven. For us to pray to her in the angel’s salutation, were to abuse the virgin, the angel, and the salutation.’

There is, therefore, no warrant for the exaggerated claims made by the Roman Catholic church, who insist on Mary’s immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, and assumption. Catholics find ‘implicit’ support in this verse for the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception (meaning that she was entirely without original sin; that she was in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence’) in this verse (see Catholic Answers).  But the text provides no such support.

Still, we should not forget the immense privilege accorded to Mary. No woman has ever been so highly honoured. But, again, whover does the will of God, is Christ’s brother, sister and mother, and, blessed as the womb was that bore the Son of God, more blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it (Mk 3:35; Lk 11:27).