“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Hail, O full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!’ ...and the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God’” (Luke 1:26,30)
Orthodox Christian theology does not limit the grace of the Lord given to Mary the Theotokos only to the conception and birth of the Son of God. We believe that following the Annunciation she continued to be blessed by the Holy Spirit. Her human nature was not left without grace, but rather she lived in the spiritual energy that came to her first at the Annunciation. Here we part company with Protestants, or better stated, where they leave our theology. Rather odd that they could be insensitive to the common sense that would recognize how precious grace would be to a teenage girl with the assignment of bringing into the world the Messiah, not only through pregnancy but at His birth and all that transpired following that saving event. How much more was she than a mere instrument for bringing an infant—much less this child—into the world. She became part of the process of humanity’s salvation by virtue of her sharing in the ongoing events that followed. Need we list all those incidents that adorn our Nativity icon and fill the Christmas story with such an awesome panorama of mysteries?
Protestant doctrine has its own agenda for moving the Mother of God away from holiness apart from her role as the mother of our Savior. They feel it takes away some of His unique status. Sola Christus, Christ Alone, they insist; yet it would appear even stranger in our time, as we grow ever more aware of the influence of parents, especially mothers, on the nurturing and development of their offspring. Can we not acknowledge her impact on Jesus? Among His last words before being captured, or rather giving Himself over to those who came with Judas, He prayed so fervently: “Father, if it be Your will, let this cup pass from Me—nevertheless not as I will, but as You will” [Matthew 26:39]. Do we not hear an echo of His mother’s answer to Gabriel the Archangel: “How shall this be?” and then again, “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” [Luke 1:34,38]. And why would she acknowledge Elizabeth’s blessing for her belief that what Mary heard from the angel was a fulfillment from the Lord, and why would Mary then respond with the poignant magnification hymn expressing her awareness of what had happened to her, as well as Who it was she was bearing in her womb, and His affect on the world, if it were not for the grace of the Holy Spirit in her soul? “Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them.” [Luke 2:19] Was she not inspired?
Even more theologically stated, The Son and Word of God descending into our world from the heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit unites two natures in Christ, but it takes into account the interpenetration within the God-bearer, Mary. Not only does she share in the human nature of Christ, she also had received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to Mary at the Annunciation communicating to her the power of holy conception so that the Son of God was incarnated through the Holy Spirit who incarnates without separation or confusion. A simpler way to explain this awesome mystery is to realize that the Theotokos had a private and personal Pentecost long before the one we know that is recorded in the book of Acts.