Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Mary Undoing Eve

Just as Eve was led astray by the word of an angel...so did the Virgin Mary by the word of an angel receive the glad tidings that she should bear God, through obedience to his word. If the former disobeyed God, the latter was persuaded to obey God and thus became Eve's advocate. Just as the human race was subjected to death by means of a virgin, so it is rescued by a virgin; the scales were rebalanced when a virginal obedience redressed a virginal disobedience. The coming of the serpent is conquered by the harmlessness of the dove, and the bonds that firmly bound us to death were cut.

ST. IRENAEUS Against Heresies