(bounteous, i.e. “the giver of food”), in Roman mythology, was a surname of several deities, but more especially of Ceres, goddess of food (or of plenty).
(Hebrew: young woman) Word used in the prophecy of Isaias, 7, and interpreted by Saint Matthew, 1, as applying to the Virgin Mother of the Messias.
A Hebrew word signifying a "young woman", unmarried as well as married, and thus distinct from bethulah, "a virgin" (see Hebrew Lexicons). The interest that attaches to this word is due to the famous passage of Isaiah 7:14: "the Alma shall conceive", etc. We can only mention some of the various opinions with regard to the meaning of Alma in this verse. She is said to be the wife of Achaz; the prophetess mentioned in Isaiah 8:3, any young married woman, who on account of the promised victory of Judah, could at some near date call her child Immanuel (God with us), metaphorically, the Chosen People; the Virgin Mother of the Messiah. This last view is the one adopted by St. Matthew 1:23, and after him by Christian tradition. (See EMMANUEL; MESSIAS.) ----------------------------------- CONDAMIN, and other Commentaries on Isaias. R. BUTIN Transcribed by Cloistered Dominican nuns of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Lufkin, Texas Dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York