The constant faith (paradosis) of the Church
attests to the belief
in the special preparation of the holiness of the
person of Mary
to bear in her body the most holy person of the Son
of God.
Post-Apostolic
Implicitly found in the Fathers of the Church in the
parallelism
between Eve and Mary (Irenaeus, Lyons, 140? -
202?);
Found in the more general terms about Mary:
"holy", "innocent",
"most pure", "intact",
"immaculate" (Irenaeus, Lyons, 140?-202?;
Ephraem, Syria, 306-373; Ambrose, Milan,
373-397);
Explicit language: Mary - free from original sin
(Augustine,
Hippo, 395-430 to Anselm, Normandy, 1033-1109).