Commenting on the Mariology of Ephraem the Syrian, Catholic scholar Michael O’Carroll writes:
He insists so much on Mary’s sinlessness that he is invoked as a supporter of the Immaculate Conception. In the Nisibene Hymns, he writes: “Thou alone and thy Mother are in all things fair; for there is no flaw in thee and no stain in thy Mother. Of these two fair ones, to whom are my children similar?” (Hymn 27, v. 8) There are other texts which call for subtle interpretation in support of the theory. Mary is spoken of one baptized: “And I am a spouse. For thou art chase. I am handmaid and daughter; of blood and water; for thou hast purchased and baptised me. The Son of the heavenly one who came and took up his abode in me and I became his Mother” (Nativity Hymns, 16, 10-11) Again he speaks of the eye as cleansed by the light of the sun, and he goes on: “In Mary, as in the eye, the Light came to dwell and it cleansed her spirit, refined her thoughts, sanctified her mind and purified her virginity.”[4] These texts are no contradiction of Mary’s initial holiness; nor are others found in the Armenian version of the commentary on the Diatessaron which seem to imply fault—doubt for example on the Resurrection. Here E. confused Mary with Mary Magdalene. Again the absence of a doctrine of Original Sin cannot be invoked. (Michael O’Carroll, Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1982], 132-33)
For more, see:
Chapters 2 ("The Immaculate Conception: Does the Bible Teach it?") and 3 ("The Immaculate Conception: Is it found in early Christianity?") in Behold the Mother of My Lord: Towards a Mormon Mariology, pp. 35-81
