“Our Blessed Mother said ‘I know not man.’ Why is there a value in not knowing man? Because she had consecrated her virginity to God. At a moment when every woman sought the privilege of being the Mother of the Messiah, Mary gave up hope and received it. If the condition of becoming the Mother of God was the surrender of her vow, she would not make that surrender, knowing man would have been evil for her, though it would not have been evil in other circumstances. Not knowing man is a kind of ignorance, but here it proves to be such a blessing that in an instant the Holy Spirit overshadows her, making her a living ciborium privileged to bear within herself for nine months the Guest who is the Host of the world.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Seven Words of Jesus and Mary)