[7] It is well, therefore, to pray that virtue may not only bring forth, since she is prolific even without a prayer, but that she also may bring for us; in order that we, receiving a share of her seed and of her offspring, may be happy. For she is accustomed to bring forth children to God alone, restoring with burning gratitude the first fruits of all the blessings which she has received, to him, who, as Moses says, "opened her womb," [3] which was at all times virgin.