From a sermon by Saint Bonaventure (+ 1274 A. D.), Franciscan theologian and Doctor of the Church:
The mysteries are these: the blessed fecundity of the undefiled Virgin; the humility, at once sublime and singular, of the superblessed Child; the courteous devotion of Blessed Joseph; the devout credulity of the simple shepherds; the new mirth of the angelic spirits; the beginning of the happiness of the whole human race; the beginning of the radiance of the Christian religion.
Saint Bonaventure, In vigilia nativitatis Domini, sermo 6; Opera omnia, ed. Franciscans of Quaracchi (1882-1902), volume 9, page 95.
Saint Bonaventure: De Assumptione B. V. M. sermo 4; Sancti Bonaventurae opera omnia, vol. 9 (Quaracchi, 1901), 695:
Carissimi, dearly beloved, the excellent sublimity of the glorious Virgin so surpasses human capacity that words do not suffice to unfold it. That is why the Holy Spirit, who filled her with the Gifts and Virtues, speaking through the Prophets and the other Doctors of Sacred Scripture, praises her in many different ways, not only by plain words, but also by figures and metaphors.
