The Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary

(August 14, 2010) The Church celebrates the feast of the Assumption celebrated on the 15^th of August. On this day we honour Mary our mother, the sinless one was taken up into heaven body and soul. On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church. For hundreds of years, Catholics observed the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15, celebrating Mary's being taken bodily to Heaven after her death. We have no real knowledge of the day, year, and manner of Our Lady's death. The dates which have been assigned to her death vary between three and fifteen years after Christ's Ascension. Tradition says that when opened the tomb found in Jerusalem, it was empty. This led to the conclusion that Mary’s body had been taken up (assumed) into heaven. Saint Gregory of Tour provided a rationale for the tradition: since Mary has been preserved from original sin, it is inconceivable to think her sinless body, should decay in the grave.
The Assumption is the oldest celebrated feast day of Our Lady, but its origin is lost in those days when Jerusalem was restored as a sacred city, at the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine. It had been a pagan city for two centuries and for 200 years, every memory of Jesus was obliterated from the city, and the sites made holy by His life, death and Resurrection became pagan temples. After the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 336, the sacred sites began to be restored and memories of the life of Our Lord began to be celebrated by the people of Jerusalem. One of the Memories about Mary, Mother of Jesus was revived around the Tomb of Mary, close to Mount Zion, where the early Christian community had lived. Later the Memory of Mary became the feast of the Assumption. The emperor extended this feast to the Eastern Churches and in the seventh century it was celebrated in Rome. What was clear from the beginning was that there were no relics of Mary to be venerated, and that an empty tomb stood on the edge of Jerusalem near the site of her death.
In the church all the feast days of Mary mark the great mysteries of her life and her part in the work of redemption. The central mystery of her life and person is her divine motherhood, celebrated both at Christmas and a week later on the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The Immaculate Conception marks the preparation for that motherhood. The Assumption completes God's work in her since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is God's crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters into eternity. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over. The feast of the Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we too will experience the bliss like Mary.
In our Christian understanding there is an important difference between the ascension of Jesus into Heaven after His Resurrection, and the Assumption of Mary at the end of her life. To ascend is to rise up under one's own power; while to be assumed means something that is done to one. Jesus, being the Second Person of the Trinity, had no need of assistance; whereas Mary did not have this power. But she was the person who had no blemish of sin in her is accepted by Jesus her Son and the Holy Spirit into the heavenly realm because of this merit. Throughout her life, we see that Mary was, so to speak, "at home" with God's word, she lived on God's word, and she was penetrated by God's word. To the extent that she spoke with God's words, she thought with God's words, her thoughts were God's thoughts, her words, and God’s words. She was penetrated by divine light and this is why she was so resplendent, so good, and so radiant with love and goodness. Mary lived on the Word of God; she was imbued with the Word of God. And the fact that she was immersed in the Word of God and was totally familiar with the Word also endowed her later with the inner enlightenment of wisdom.
The Church never considers Mary as equal to Christ in human or spiritual way. Jesus, possessing a complete human nature, is the Eternal Word made flesh. Mary is only a creature of God but she is a unique creature, the highest of all creatures. This is not just because she was born without the handicap of original sin. Eve and Adam were born free of sin as well, but it did not stop them from sinning as soon as they had the chance. Mary instead chose, with the help of God’s grace, to preserve her God-given purity throughout the whole of her life. The bodily corruption of death was not God’s original plan. It came into the world through sin, as St. Paul says in the first letter to the Corinthians: “the sting of death is sin”. So it is fitting that she who knew no sin should know no decay and no delay in enjoying the full fruits of her son’s work. It is fitting that she who stood by Christ under the cross should stand by him bodily at the right hand of the Father.
The Gospel selected for the liturgy of the Assumption, gives the story of Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, when both she and Mary were expecting their first child. The story contains most of the elements which contribute to the status we give to Mary in our Church. It is highly significant that Mary goes to visit Elizabeth who is in need of her support. In Mary we see her true nature to serve and show her concern towards others. The scriptures tell us that at the presence of Jesus and his mother, the child in Elizabeth's womb jumped for joy. Elizabeth, in turn, recognizes the special position of Mary and her Son: filled with the Holy Spirit, she called Mary the "Mother of my Lord." She also says, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Elizabeth is deeply moved by the presence of Mary and child and says "how is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?" Further she praises Mary for she had unconditionally accepted to submit to God's plan in her life. Mary’s response is the Magnificat, the song of thanksgiving.
The Feast of the Assumption has always been loved dearly by the faithful who are children of Mary. It is a sign to us that someday, through God's grace and our efforts, we too may join the Blessed Mother in giving glory to God. The Assumption is a source of great hope for us, too, for it points the way for all followers of Christ who imitate her fidelity and obedience to God's will. Where she now is, we are meant eventually to be, and may hope to be through Divine grace. Mary’s is being taken to heaven after her life on earth was ended is the logical outcome of her immaculate nature, uniquely protected also by God's grace, from personal sin. We seek to imitate her self-sacrificing love, her indestructible faith, her unwavering purity and her perfect obedience.
Mary’s yes to God is a special act of grace. Through her body, Mary said "Yes!" to God; through her body, Mary showed faith in the Angel who spoke in the name of God: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord!" Through her body, Mary was elevated to a place so high that no creature would ever be able to displace her: she thus became the Mother of God and the Mother of Christ, the incarnate Word. But above all, Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit, through the person of Jesus Christ. Lastly, Mary became the favoured daughter of the Father, who had seen her in himself, in his Son, and in his Spirit for all eternity! Long before time began, the Father had loved Mary and had given her the Glory which she now possesses forever, in her body and her soul!
In the teaching of the Church, the death of Mary is accepted by the Fathers and Theologians, and is expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church. However, it seems fitting that Mary's body, which was by nature mortal, should be, in conformity with that of her Divine Son, subject to the general law of death. The point of her bodily death has not been infallibly defined, and many believe that she did not die at all and was assumed directly into Heaven. The papal decree on the doctrine of the Assumption, says clearly that having completed the course of her earthly life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Hence the Assumption of Mary is a source of great hope for us that we too will one day achieve that glory. Mary at the visitation recognised the working of God in her life and praises God with a magnificent hymn. The Gospel tells us: And Mary said, «My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."
Reflecting on this feast of our Lady, Pope Benedict XVI says that the Day of Assumption is a day of great joy. It is a day of Joy because God has won, Love has won, and it has won life. Love has shown that it is stronger than death, that God possesses the true strength and that his strength is goodness and love. Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven: There is even room in God for the body. Heaven is no longer a very remote sphere unknown to us. We have a Mother in heaven, the Mother of God and who is now our Mother. Jesus himself has given us such a protection under her maternal care. He made her our Mother when on the cross he said to the disciple John and to all of us: "Behold, your Mother." Again let us remember how Jesus gave his mother to us: "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near the cross, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son." Mary is given the new role to be mother of the disciples and of every person in the universe. Jesus also points to the disciple that he has Mary as his mother.
The scriptures tell us that from that moment the Disciple took her into his home. Mary accepted her responsibility as the Mother as we see her with the disciples at the time of Pentecost when the Spirit descended on those present there. Long before the time creation, the Father had loved Mary and had given her the Glory of Motherhood, which she lived fully. We believe in the teaching of the Church that Mary is in Heaven interceding for us her children to her Son. However, she is also still among us here on earth, singing the praises of God with us. A mother can never forget her children at any cost. Mary is the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus, but she is also the Mother of us all and she never forgets any of our needs. Mary is still with us, because we are the Body of Christ, but a Mystical Body, a Body of Glory.
Mary was immersed in the Word of God and was totally familiar with the Word also endowed her later with the inner enlightenment of wisdom. She is the one who kept the word of God in her heart and contemplated the word of God in her life. Whoever thinks with God thinks well, and whoever speaks to God speaks well. They have valid criteria to judge all the things of the world. They become prudent, wise, and at the same time good; they also become strong and courageous with the strength of God, who resists evil and fosters good in the world. Thus, Mary speaks with us, and invites us to know the Word of God, to love the Word of God, to live with the Word of God, to think with the Word of God. And we can do so in many different ways: by reading sacred Scripture, by participating especially in the liturgy, in which Holy Church throughout the year opens the entire book of sacred Scripture to us. She opens it to our lives and makes it present in our lives.
In his homily on the feast of the Assumption Pope Benedict XVI explains that Mary is taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, and with God and in God she is Queen of heaven and earth. Precisely because she is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us. While she lived on this earth she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is close to us, actually, "within" all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God. Being in God and with God, she is close to each one of us, knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness and has been given to us, as the Lord said, precisely as a "mother" to whom we can turn at every moment. She always listens to us, she is always close to us, and being Mother of the Son, participates in the power of the Son and in his goodness. We can always entrust the whole of our lives to this Mother, who is not far from any one of us. On this feast day, let us thank the Lord for the gift of the Mother, and let us pray to Mary to help us find the right path every day. Amen.
Pope John Paul II says that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin has always been part of the faith of the Christian people who, by affirming Mary's entrance into heavenly glory, have meant to proclaim the glorification of her body. The dogma of the Assumption affirms that Mary's body was glorified after her death. In fact, while for other human beings the resurrection of the body will take place at the end of the world, for Mary the glorification of her body was anticipated by a special privilege. The Assumption is therefore the culmination of the struggle which involved Mary's generous love in the redemption of humanity and is the fruit of her unique sharing in the victory of the Cross. This feast has come to us from the early days of the church and it teaches us of the redemptive work of Jesus taking place in and through Mary. The church doctrine teaches us that she was assumed into heaven and it gives us the hope that one day we too will achieve it in Jesus.