among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than
them all, O Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark
in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the
flesh in which divinity resides.”
St. Athanasius, Apology Against the Arians 3, 29 (c. 347 AD)
“It was for our sake that Christ became man, taking flesh from the Virgin
Mary, Mother of God.”
St. Ambrose of Milan, The Virgins 2, 2, 6 (377 AD)
“Mary’s life should be for you a pictorial image of virginity. Her life is like
a mirror reflecting the face of chastity and the form of virtue. Therein you
may find a model for your own life...showing what to improve, what to
imitate, what to hold fast to.”
St. Epiphanius of Salamis, The Well-Anchored Man 30 (374 AD)
“Without manly seed, he made himself of a holy body, taking it from the
Theotokos Mary, ‘born of a woman’ according to the Scriptures, after he
had taken our human nature. Then, as man, he could say: ‘My God,’ while,
in his eternal nature as Son, he could say: ‘My Father’.”
 |
 |
 |