DORMITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
The Feast of the Assumption is the oldest Marian feast of the Catholic Church, celebrated universally by the sixth century. The feast was originally celebrated in the East, where it was known as the Feast of the Dormition, a word which means “the falling asleep.”
For two centuries after the death of Christ, under pagan rule, every memory of Jesus was obliterated from the city of Jerusalem. The sites made holy by His life, death and Resurrection became pagan temples. It wasn’t until the time of Roman Emperor Constantine (c. 285-337) that Jerusalem began to be restored as a sacred city.
One of the memories about his Mother Mary centered around the “Tomb of Mary,” where she was buried, close to Mount Zion, the highest point in ancient Jerusalem. Also on the Mount was the “Place of Dormition,” the spot of Mary’s “falling asleep,” where she had “died.” These two sites do suggest in tradition that Mary apparently died and was buried,
| At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem that “Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven.”
Did Mary actually die or was she assumed into heaven alive? We don’t have a definitive answer to that question but as Catholics we are free to believe either. What we must believe according to the teaching authority of the Church (Magisterium) is: Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven, without seeing corruption. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we celebrate on August 15, is a defined Church dogma. In 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption by an ex cathedra pronouncement—that is, an authoritative teaching “from the chair” of Peter. Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption of Mary a dogma in these words, “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven, without seeing corruption. Pope Pius XII went on to say, “Immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, ….finally obtained, the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.” Mary’s role is well described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “By her complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of faith and charity… CCC 967 |
COMMENTARY
Feast days are not just a commemoration of historical events. They are confirmation of what we profess in the Creed. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” The Feast of the Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended.
On this feast of Assumption we celebrate Mary’s entrance into heaven, body and soul. Mary precedes us, who also will one day be reunited with our bodies. Our bodies, created by God, are sacred and are essential to our human nature. “….At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:9-13
REFLECTION
Today we join Mary in her happiness. We look forward to the day when we too can share it with her. We ask Mary to remember us as we continue our journey here and to intercede with her Son that we may remain faithful to our call as faithful disciples. May we know God’s will for us at all times. Like Mary, we must with profound trust say daily: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” In other words, as humble and faithful disciples our souls must magnify—the Lord, the Son of God, the Son of Mary.
Mary did not ascend into heaven like her Son did under His own power, but was taken up to heaven by God. The Assumption completes God’s work in Mary since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption.
God told the woman (Eve) of the consequence of her sin, one of which is bodily corruption: for dust you are and to dust you will return” Genesis 3:1-24. God exquisitely distinguishes Mary (The New Eve) by exempting her from bodily corruption.
As hard as life in this world is, Mary’s Assumption into heaven is confirmation that our struggles are not in vain. Whenever we help lift people up in our sphere of influence we are also sharing in the grace of the Assumption. Wherever there is an out stretched hand in labor for others we are participating in the grace and mystery of Mary’s Assumption. God awaits those we lift and we, the lifters! Our heavenly home awaits!
The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended.
Mary’s assumption is proof of how profitable it is to make sacrifices here and now. Not the least of these sacrifices is the surrender of our bodily pleasures that are contrary to the will of God.
The eternal reward is certainly worth the temporal price that we pay in self-control. By giving up now on earth what we like but what is sinful, and enduring what is painful to us but pleasing to God, we shall enjoy Heaven with Jesus and Mary – in body and soul – in the world to come.
PRAYER
“All-powerful and ever-living God:
You raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son,
body and soul,
to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory.”
In Jesus’ name we pray.
ASSUMPTION OF MARY INTO HEAVEN