This Virgin mother, giving birth to the Sun God which Christianity has so faithfully preserved, is a reminder of the inscription concerning her Egyptian prototype, Isis, which appeared on the Temple of Sais: "The fruit which I have brought forth is the Sun." While the Virgin was associated with the moon by the early pagans, there is no doubt that they also understood her position as a constellation in the heavens, for nearly all the peoples of antiquity credit her as being the mother of the sun, and they realized that although the moon could not occupy that position, the sign of Virgo could, and did, give birth to the sun out of her side on the 25th day of December. Albertus Magnus states, "We know that the sign of the Celestial Virgin rose over the Horizon at the moment at which we fix the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Adoration to thee, who arisest out of the Golden, and givest light to the earth on the day of thy birth. Thy mother bringeth thee forth upon her...

For out of her went forth the Body, which attracts all Members to it, which are the Children of God in Christ. And therefore her Glance [Luster or Bri...

Therefore we set it down here according to our Knowledge, that the pure chaste Virgin, in which God was born [or generated,] is the chaste Virgin [tha...

I affirm that had the Virgin not first borne God spiritually He would never have been born from her in bodily fashion. A certain woman said to...

John was begotten by the World through a woman, Elizabeth; and Christ was begotten by the world through a virgin, Mary. What is (the meaning of) this...

For some say that, after she brought forth, she was found, when examined, to be a virgin.