Homily I on the Blessed Virgin (the book's epigraph) — as quoted by Pitre (p 7); translation: Mary Hansbury, Jacob of Serug: On the Mother of God (St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1998)
It is easier to depict the sun with its light and its heat, Than to tell the story of Mary in its splendor… Love moves me to speak of her.
No freely usable English translation of this passage is online, so the note keeps Pitre's quotation and links to the full text. Translation: Mary Hansbury, Jacob of Serug: On the Mother of God (St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1998), as quoted by Pitre.
In Jewish Roots of Mary
Why it is cited
'It is easier to depict the sun with its light and its heat, than to tell the story of Mary in its splendor… Love moves me to speak of her.' The epigraph of Pitre's book.