“How much do the members of the Church deserve honor, they who guard even in their flesh the prerogative that she collectively guards in faith, by imitating the Mother of her Spouse and Lord! For the Church also is at once virgin and mother. Whose virginity do we look to if the Church is not a virgin? Whose children do we speak to if she is not a mother?
Augustine of Hippo, De sancta virginitate 2; PL 40, 397; CSEL 41, 236.
Mary gave birth bodily to the Head of this body; the Church gives birth spiritually to the members of the Head. In both, virginity is no impediment to fruitfulness; in both, fruitfulness does not take away virginity.”
If you are interested in more quotes on Virgin Mary, you can find them in Mary and the Fathers of the Church on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback formats.
References:
Gambero, L., 1999. Mary and the Fathers of the Church 1st ed. Translated by Buffer, T., San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
