Elizabeth conceived a man, and Mary conceived a Man; but Elizabeth a mere man, and Mary God and Man. A wonderful thing is this, that a creature could conceive the Creator. What, then, my Brethren! must we understand but that He made unto Himself flesh from a Mother only, He who made the primal man without either father or mother? That first man was our fall, when the woman conceived the venom of the serpent in her heart, and death came to us through her; for the serpent persuaded unto sin, and his evil persuasion was not rejected. And if that first man was our fall, when the woman conceived the venom of the serpent in her heart, it need not surprise us that our salvation was wrought when a woman conceived in her womb the flesh of the Almighty. Both sexes had fallen; both were to be raised up again. Through a woman we had been thrust into death; through a woman life and health were given us once more.
- Saint Augustine
- from The May-Book of the Breviary, by Father John Fitzpatrick