Translation of Luke 1: 28 in the Latin Vulgate by St Jerome.

.......et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit have gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus.....

If indeed we are to have a Year of the Bible and indeed praise St Jerome, as indeed he deserves to be praised, for translating the texts approved by the Church into Latin, the language of the Mass, then surely we should check what the Latin says according to St Jerome before we rush into translating into other languages.    In this case translating  from the Gospel of Luke, St Jerome wrote the above, which translates  "..and entering the angel said to her 'Hail full of grace the Lord is with you and blessed are you among women".   Now you do not have to be a scholar to realise that this means much more than 'highly favoured'.   So why I ask myself does the translation we read in our Catholic Church at the gospel read 'highly favoured' rather than 'full of grace'  Why is this important?   Because if she was born 'full of grace' then she was conceived without sin.

But perhaps St Jerome printed something in error.    How do we know the angel said 'full of grace?"   Can we trust St Luke?    Luke was a contemporary of the Apostles and worked with the but he starts his Gospel with these words.    

Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have reached their fulfilment among us as they were handed down to us from those who were eyewitnesses from the outset and ministers of the word, I in my turn have carefully gone over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you.

Notice that he has received the story from eyewitnesses.   So everything he wrote he took from the mouths of people who had heard and witnessed the events.     Now Luke wrote a very detailed account of the Annunciation, which took place after his detailed account of the conception and birth of John the Baptist.    The visit of there shepherds and wise men, the birth where Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes, then the flight into Egypt, and the loss of Jesus and his discovery in the temple.    What eyewitness could have told him this except the Virgin Mary herself.   Luke's account of the Annunciation then would have been accurate - she was 'full of grace'

But then this was already known to his contemporaries  who described her as the New Eve, the one who was born without sin but remained faithful to God and brought life, whereas the old Eve and sinned and brought death.

You do not have to search far for the Latin Vulgate.  Using your search engine you can find it on the computer.    And the two Catholic versions of Scripture, the Douai-Rheims and the Revised Standard version Catholic edition, which certainly says 'full of grace' but then apologises with a note at the bottom with an alternative transalation 'highly favoured'    What nonsense!