Ambrose of Milan (d. 397) had a very high Mariology. Notwithstanding, there is no evidence in his writings of the Immaculate Conception or Bodily Assumption of Mary. As Catholic priest Boniface Ramsey noted:
Ambrose’s views on virginity
lead us quite naturally to the related issue of his Marian theology. In this
regard, too, sheer emphasis played a role: Ambrose spoke of the Virgin Mary
with a frequency and to a degree that were unusual up until then. He insisted
upon Mary’s perpetual virginity and, in particular, upon her virginity in
partu, i.e., in the very act of giving birth. Here, in opposing the monk
Jovinian, whom he condemned at a Milanese council around the year 390 for
holding, among other opinions, that the birth of Jesus had occurred in a
natural way (cf. Letter 42.6–7), Ambrose carried with him other Western
theologians, especially Jerome. He saw in Mary a model for both virgins (cf. On
Virgins 2.2.6–18) and mothers (cf. Letter 63.109–11). She was, in
addition, thanks to her being at once virginal and married, a symbol of the
Church, which was likewise virginal and espoused to Christ (cf. Commentary
on Luke 2.7). We do not yet find the doctrines of Mary’s immaculate
conception and her assumption in Ambrose, but his was the most
comprehensive teaching on Mary produced up to that point, and it would help
create an atmosphere conducive to further developments. (Boniface Ramsey, Ambrose
[Early Church Fathers; London: Routledge, 1997], 50-51, emphasis in bold
added)
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