“Mary was a mere Palestinian peasant girl, but God chose her as an agent through whom the divine promise would be fulfilled in the person of Jesus, the Son of God… She is blessed, not because she is pregnant, or because of any intrinsic holiness or merit but because God’s salvific purposes are being accomplished through her. Mary thus becomes one in a long line of recipients of God’s grace and mercy in salvation history.” – C.J. Martin, “Mary’s Song” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 525-526.