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Hi Sue,
The phrase comes from a couple of places in Scripture.
The primary one is the words of St. Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist's mother, to her:
"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"
(Luke 1:41–42, RSV2CE) |
Then Mary prophesies, giving us what we call the Magnificat prayer (from the Latin word "It magnifies"): "And Mary said,
| "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." (Luke 1:46-49, RSV2CE) |
The words are an echo of Psalm 45 (44), which prophesies to Mary:
| "Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house; and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your Lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will court your favor with gifts, the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. The daughter of the king is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; in many-colored robes, she is led to the king, with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train. With joy and gladness, they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. Instead of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore, the people will praise you forever and ever." (Psalm 45:10-17, RSV2CE) |
First of all, she bore God Himself in the flesh, Jesus. God chose her out of all women to be His Mother, an honor indeed. And He prepared her for that by preserving her from all sin and all stain of sin, something we call the Immaculate Conception (i.e. being conceived without original sin). That's even more blessing. We believe Mary to be the greatest creature ever made, "more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim." (These refer to the highest angels.) She is second only to God Himself. A blessing indeed!
The Hebrews, because they often had polygamous kings (as was the custom in the Near East), honored not the wife of the king as the queen but the mother of the king as the queen. So, we regard Mary as the Queen of all creation, and so she is portrayed in Revelation 12, in heaven with a crown of stars, and in Psalm 45:9.
So that's an additional reason why she is blessed.
Eric
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