With great and immense joy, the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary on 15th August. The solemnity commemorates Mary’s bodily resurrection and glorification of our Lord at the end of her life.
The word Assumption comes from the Latin verb assumere, meaning “to take to oneself”. Our Lord, Jesus Christ took Mary home to Himself where He exists. Assumption of Mary is the dogma which was proclaimed by Pius XII in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, in which this perennial truth was solemnly defined: “By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, 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 into heavenly glory”.
There is a huge difference in the Church’s teaching about Jesus’ Ascension and Mary’s Assumption. The biggest difference is that Jesus raised Himself up to Heaven whereas the Assumption of Mary was carried out by Jesus. Mary was lifted up by Jesus. Jesus was her personal Saviour. The dogma of Mary’s Assumption states that Mary:” having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This clearly shows that Mary did not raise herself up. Yes, she needed a Saviour.
The dogma of her Immaculate Conception and the dogma of the Assumption isn’t explicitly stated in the Scripture. In the encyclical, Pope Pius XII pointed to several Scripture passages that he believed, illustrated the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary. Some of them include:
- a) Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified. (Psalm 131:8)
b)The Woman clothed with the Sun (Revelation 12)
c)I will glorify the place of my feet (Isaiah 61:13), etc.
There are a number of passages that mention Mary directly, and could be used as Scripture-based defenses of her Assumption. For example,in Luke 1:28, Mary is described as “full of grace” which would imply that she was exempt from the fourfold curse that had been laid upon Eve in Genesis 3:15. The fourth commandment to honor one’s father and mother (Exodus 20:11) could also apply our Lord’s care for His holy mother, including her body and soul after death. And let’s not forget that the bodily resurrection won by Jesus’ Resurrection mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:54 applies to all believers, including Mary. Both Scripture and Tradition demonstrate Jesus’ closeness to Mary and from this can be surmised that Mary’s share in Jesus’ Resurrection would be equally as close. Based on all of this and more, the Church considers the dogma of Mary’s Assumption to be in accordance with the divine truths contained in the Scripture.
The solemnity of the Assumption of Mary calls each one of us:
Firstly, to live a holy life because at the end of this earthly pilgrimage we have to return to our heavenly father and to do so we have to live a life willed by God.
Secondly,Mary had a perfect faith and trust in God throughout her life, which led her to say, “Be it done to me according to Thy word”. The same perfect faith and trust of Mary encourages each one of us to live the same.
Thirdly, let us hope that belief in Mary’s bodily Assumption into heaven, makes our belief in our own resurrection stronger and more effective.
May our loving mother continue to pour upon us the heavenly blessings. Wish you all a happy feast of the Assumption of Mary.
Fr. Leslie Gomes