"In place of the virgin Eve, mediatrix of death, a virgin has been filled with God's grace to be the minister of life; a virgin has been fashioned possessing the nature of a woman, but without part in her fault (malice); a virgin, innocent, without blemish, all-immaculate, inviolate, spotless, holy in soul and body, who has blossomed as a lily from among thorns, unlearned in the evil ways of Eve...When yet unborn she was consecrated to God, and when born was offered to God as a sign of gratitude...Clothed with a divine grace as with a garment, her soul filled with a wisdom divine, in heart wedded to God, she received God in her womb, [she who is] in fact the Mother of God..."