Editing Proclus of Constantinople (section)

=== Mariology ===
Proclus' chief contribution to Theology belongs to the area of [[Mariology|Marian theology]] and [[Marian devotions|devotion]]. His mentor [[Atticus of Constantinople|Archbishop Atticus]] made important contributions to the development of early Byzantine veneration of the Virgin in the two decades prior to the [[Council of Ephesus]], chiefly through the establishment of the first officially sanctioned Marian feast. Constas argues that through his role as Atticus' secretary Proclus provided literary assistance for his bishop in these endeavours.{{r|constas|page=38}} Proclus' famous Homily 1 delivered in Constantinople in 430 "defined the rhetoric and rationale for the cult of the Virgin Mary throughout the Byzantine period", "attained de facto canonical status" after it was attached to the proceedings of the Ephesine Council, and was the basis of centuries of theological re-imagining and reflection.{{r|constas|pages=128–129}} According to Constas, the sermon together with its associated Marian Feast "mark an important juncture in the development of the cult of the Virgin in Constantinople". The text interweaves resplendent praises of Mary with celebration of female virginity, directly confronting [[Nestorius]]' two-pronged criticisms of local Marian piety and the Empress [[Pulcheria]].{{r|constas|pages=58–59}}

Proclus was a champion of the traditional title Theotokos, defending its usage with intertwined Christological and Mariological explication, and also upheld the doctrine of the [[Perpetual virginity of Mary|perpetual virginity]]. Likewise, he taught the traditional [[Eve]]-Mary parallel that had been current in Christian theology since the second century.<ref name=":0" /> One of the primary texts he cites to support this is [[Ezekiel]] 44:1–2, interpreting the closed gate of the sanctuary typologically, in continuity with 4th-century figures like [[Cappadocian Fathers|the Cappadocians]] who laid the foundation for the rhetorical praise of the sacred womb.{{r|constas|pages=64, 70}} Proclus' Mariology is an extension of his Christology, whereby the mystery of virginal motherhood safeguards the mystery of the incarnation, rendering Mary and her qualities worthy of effulgent praise. His repertoire, drawing upon existing traditions through expansion, became foundational to Byzantine Mariology, drawing liberally on Old Testament stories, some of which were corrolaries of Christological typologies. Among others images, the Virgin is the spiritual [[Garden of Eden]] in which dwells the [[Last Adam|second Adam]], the New Eve who cancels the disobedience of the first, the [[Noah's Ark|Ark]] who carried the spiritual [[Noah]], the [[Jacob's Ladder|ladder of Jacob]] by which God descends and man ascends, the Fleece of [[Gideon]] drenched with the dew of heaven, the [[burning bush]] ablaze but not consumed by divinity, and the throne of the [[Cherub]]im on which rests the glory of God. She is a harbour, a sea, a palace, a bridal chamber, she is more spacious than heaven, a valley blossoming with fruit to feed the world{{r|constas|page=131–133}}<ref name=":0" /> and her womb is wider than the heavens.{{r|constas|page=201}} These images are drawn together in a context of active veneration; in his homily of 430, Proclus associates the calling together of the congregation before him via land and sea with the agency of Mary. Shoemaker identifies word for word correspondence between Proclus' Homily 1 and a Marian hymn contained within the Georgian Chantbook of Jerusalem, compiled prior to the mid-6th century. He argues on the basis of theological content that the hymn was already extant by 430 and that Proclus was quoting it, which indicates pre-existing Marian piety between Jerusalem and Constantinople upon which the bishop drew for his rhetorical purposes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shoemaker |first=Stephen J. |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/F/bo46740709.html |title=The First Christian Hymnal: The Songs of the Ancient Jerusalem Church - Parallel Georgian-English Texts |publisher=[[Brigham Young University]] |pages=xi–xvii, xxviii–xxix |language=en}}</ref>

His sermons also bristle with Marian theology through innovative allegorical interpretation of Old Testament texts such as the prophetic [[Golden lampstand|lampstand]] in Zechariah.{{r|constas|pages=158–159}} According to Proclus, Mary is "the only bridge between God and men" and all women are blessed through her renewal of the female sex.<ref name=":0" />