A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 9
9 Section 9. Who Was Born by (de) The Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary PL 21, 348
9. “Who Was Born by (de) The Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary.” This nativity among men is in the way of dispensation, whereas the former nativity is of the divine substance; the one results from his condescension, the other from his essential nature. He is born by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin. Here a chaste ear and a pure mind is required. For you must understand that now a temple hath been built within the secret recesses of a Virgin’s womb for Him of Whom erewhile you learnt that He was born ineffably of the Father. And just as in the sanctification of the Holy Ghost no thought of imperfection is to be admitted, so in the Virgin-birth no defilement is to be imagined. For this birth was a new birth given to this world, and rightly new. For He Who is the only Son in heaven is by consequence the only Son on earth, and was uniquely born, born as no other ever was or can be.
The words of the Prophets concerning Him, “A Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son,” are known to all, and are cited in the Gospels again and again. The Prophet Ezekiel too had predicted the miraculous manner of that birth, calling Mary figuratively “the Gate of the Lord,” the gate, namely, through which the Lord entered the world. For he saith, “The gate which looks towards the East shall be closed, and shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it, because the Lord God of Israel shall pass through it, and it shall be closed.” What could be said with such evident reference to the inviolate preservation of the Virgin’s condition? That Gate of Virginity was closed; through it the Lord God of Israel entered; through it He came forth from the Virgin’s womb into this world; and the Virgin-state being preserved inviolate, the gate of the Virgin remained closed for ever. Therefore the Holy Ghost is spoken of as the Creator of the Lord’s flesh and of His temple.
QUI NATUS EST DE SPIRITU SANCTO 72 EX MARIA VIRGINE. Haec jam inter homines dispensationis nativitas est, illa divinae substantiae: haec dignationis est, illa naturae. De Spiritu Sancto ex Virgine nascitur: et jam in hoc loco mundior auditus requiritur et purior sensus. Huic enim, quem dudum de Patre natum ineffabiliter didicisti, nunc a Spiritu Sancto templum fabricatum intra secreta uteri virginalis intellige: et sicut in sanctificatione Sancti Spiritus nulla sentienda est fragilitas, ita et in partu Virginis nulla intelligenda est corruptio. Novus enim huic saeculo datus est hic partus, nec immerito. Qui enim in caelis unicus Filius est, consequenter et in terra unicus est, et unice nascitur. Nota sunt omnibus et in Evangeliis decantata de hoc scripta prophetarum, quae dicunt, quod Virgo concipiet, et pariet filium (Esai. 7. 14.). Sed et partus ipsius mirabilem modum Ezechiel Propheta ante formaverat, Mariam figuraliter portam Domini nominans, per quam scilicet Dominus ingressus est mundum. Dicit ergo hoc modo: Porta autem quae respicit ad Orientem clausa erit, et non aperietur, et nemo transibit per eam: quoniam Dominus Deus Israel transibit per eam, et clausa erit . Quid tam evidens de conservatione Virginis dici poterat? Clausa fuit ea virginitatis porta: per ipsam intravit [Al. introivit] Dominus Deus Israel, per ipsam in hunc mundum de utero Virginis processit, et in aeternum porta Virginis clausa, servata virginitate, permansit. Igitur 73 Sanctus Spiritus refertur dominicae carnis, et templi ejus creator. Incipe jam hinc intelligere etiam Spiritus Sancti majestatem. Contestatur enim et Evangelicus sermo de ipso, quod cum loquenti Angelo ad Virginem, et dicenti, Quia paries filium, et vocabis nomen ejus Jesum: hic enim salvum faciet populum a peccatis suis , illa respondisset, Quomodo fiet istud, quoniam virum non cognosco . Et dixerit Angelus ei, Spiritus Sanctus veniet super te, et virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi: et ideo quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. Vide ergo cooperantem sibi invicem Trinitatem. Spiritus Sanctus venire dicitur super Virginem, et virtus altissimi obumbrare ei. Quae est autem virtus altissimi, nisi ipse Christus, qui est Dei [Al. Domini] virtus et Dei sapientia? Cujus autem haec virtus est [Al. tacetur est]? Altissimi inquit. Adest ergo altissimus, adest et virtus altissimi, adest et Spiritus Sanctus. Haec est Trinitas ubique latens, et ubique apparens, vocabulis personisque discreta, inseparabilis vero substantia deitatis: et quamvis solus Filius nascatur ex Virgine, adest tamen [Alias tacetur tamen] et altissimus: adest et Spiritus Sanctus, ut et conceptus Virginis sanctificetur, et partus.