{"id":5068,"date":"2015-12-11T13:23:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T17:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=5068"},"modified":"2017-04-24T13:25:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T17:25:16","slug":"marys-carol-my-8th-xmas-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2015\/12\/marys-carol-my-8th-xmas-poem.html","title":{"rendered":"Mary’s Carol (Dave Armstrong’s 8th Christmas Poem)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"Mary21\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Nativity<\/em> (1523), by Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556)<\/span> [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]\n

***<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
(12-14-08)\n

***<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
[for the biblical background (that I\u2019ve taken great pains to closely follow),
\nsee: Luke 1:26-56; 2:1-20,35]<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * * * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I was just a young, poor girl from Nazareth in Galilee;
\nTo Joseph betrothed; descended from King David\u2019s line.
\nObedient to Moses\u2019 and Yahweh\u2019s holy laws were we;
\nSeeking in all our ways and acts to follow the Will Divine.<\/div>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

The glorious angel Gabriel suddenly one day appeared;
\nSpeaking solemnly in troubling and confusing ways.
\nWith words causing great awe, confusion, even fear:
\nWhy hail me as \u201cO favored one\u201d and \u201cfull of grace\u201d? *<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

I was told that I was chosen to bear a special Son,
\nA great man: the righteous \u201cSon of the Most High.\u201d
\nInheritor of David\u2019s throne and higher than everyone;
\nReigning over Jacob, with His Father\u2019s kingdom nigh.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit was to \u201covershadow\u201d me like a cloud;
\nMy precious child was all-holy; God\u2019s only begotten.
\n\u201cWhat did that mean?\u201d, I wondered; yet not out loud;
\nTrembling, pondering a message not soon forgotten.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

To Gabriel I said I was the lowly \u201chandmaid of the Lord\u201d;
\nWhatever God wanted, I was happy and willing to do.
\nI resolved to \u201clet it be to me according to your word\u201d;
\nI embraced the luminous vision of God\u2019s holy gospel anew.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/div>\n

I visited my kinswoman Elizabeth, in Judaean hills far away;
\nThe prophet John the Baptist did leap for joy in her womb.
\nHe would prepare the way for Jesus on that wonderful Day:
\nThe healer of the blind, Who raised the dead from the tomb.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, praised this lowly maid;
\nCalling me blessed among women, carrying a blessed child.
\nI was even the mother of her \u201cLord,\u201d \u2014 is what she said;
\nI kept these things in my heart, astonished all the while.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then my soul praised God: magnifying His name and deeds,
\nRejoicing that He saved me by grace from a certain fate.
\nMarveling at how He had always filled His people\u2019s needs,
\nFrom generation to generation: Abraham up to that date.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The night I bore my Lord Jesus is always clear in my mind;
\nNo inn or house in sight; just a cold, dusty (but dry) cave.
\nEven the beasts \u201cunderstood\u201d, and were so gentle and kind;
\nThe Lord of Lords was now with us, to seek and to save.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Angels sang of glad tidings; curious shepherds came to see \u2014
\nAfter hearing loud heavenly choruses of great peace and joy \u2014
\nThe King of kings, David\u2019s heir, and carpenter\u2019s son of Galilee.
\nGod had become man: the eternal Creator was a baby boy!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then I quietly meditated on the divine mission my child had;
\nThough my soul be pierced; by His death we\u2019d reach heaven.
\nBut I accepted this: God\u2019s love and mercy made me so glad;
\nFor this divine plan my body and soul I have joyfully given.Written on 10 December 2008<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

*Completely optional explanatory footnote!:<\/p>\n

Most translations today for Luke 1:28 have \u201cfavored one.\u201d But \u201cfull of grace\u201d is also permissible. The great Baptist Greek scholar A.T. Robertson commented on this verse as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cHighly favoured\u201d (kecharitomene<\/i>). Perfect passive participle of\u00a0charitoo<\/i>\u00a0and means endowed with grace (charis<\/i>), enriched with grace as in Ephesians. 1:6, . . . The Vulgate\u00a0gratiae plena<\/i>\u00a0\u201cis right, if it means \u2018full of grace\u00a0which thou hast received<\/i>\u2018; wrong, if it means\u00a0\u2018full of grace which thou hast to bestow<\/i>\u2018\u201d (Plummer).<\/p>\n

(Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/i>, Nashville: Broadman Press, 1930, six volumes; Vol. II, 13;\u00a0see this passage\u00a0<\/a>in the online version)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kecharitomene\u00a0<\/i>has to do with God\u2019s grace, as it is derived from the Greek root,\u00a0charis\u00a0<\/i>(literally, \u201cgrace\u201d). Thus, in the KJV,\u00a0charis<\/i>\u00a0is translated \u201cgrace\u201d 129 out of the 150 times that it appears.<\/p>\n

Greek scholar Marvin Vincent noted that the Catholic John Wycliffe and Protestant William Tyndale (English translators before the KJV) both rendered\u00a0kecharitomene<\/i>\u00a0in Luke 1:28 as \u201cfull of grace\u201d (though he thinks that was \u201cwrong\u201d) and that the literal meaning was \u201cendued with grace\u201d (Word Studies in the New Testament<\/i>, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1946, four volumes, from the 1887 edition [New York: Charles Scribner\u2019s Sons], Vol. I, 259;\u00a0see the passage online<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Likewise, well-known Protestant linguist W.E. Vine, renders\u00a0kecharitomene\u00a0<\/i>as \u201cto endue with Divine favour or grace\u201d (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words<\/i>, Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., four volumes-in-one edition, 1940, Vol. II, 171; see the online version\u00a0for the word \u201cgrace\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nativity (1523), by Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons] *** (12-14-08) *** [for the biblical background (that I\u2019ve taken great pains to closely follow), see: Luke 1:26-56; 2:1-20,35] * * * * * I was just a young, poor girl from Nazareth in Galilee; To Joseph betrothed; descended from King David\u2019s line. Obedient […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":5071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,1005],"tags":[1619,453,1007,2357,2365,1618,1010,46,1624,1622,2356,1620,1008,944],"class_list":["post-5068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blessed-virgin-mary","category-christmas","tag-annunciation","tag-bethlehem","tag-birth-of-jesus","tag-blessed-virgin-mary","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-day","tag-christmas-poems","tag-immaculate-conception","tag-joseph","tag-manger","tag-mariology","tag-mary-of-nazareth","tag-nativity","tag-virgin-birth"],"yoast_head":"\nMary's Carol (Dave Armstrong's 8th Christmas Poem)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Christmas poem about the Blessed virgin Mary that seeks to be meticulously accurate to the scriptural accounts and data.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}