Real Catholic Blog

Women for Faith & Family has a great page on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, complete with Church teaching and theology, history, art, devotions, song lyrics, Scripture Readings, meditations, prayers and more. The art on this post comes from that page. 

Two of the Scripture Readings for the Holy Day:

SECOND READING: I Corinthians 15:20-27

Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order:

Christ the firstfruits; then, at His coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to His God and Father, when He has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “He subjected everything under His feet.”

Assumption of Mary

Mateo Cerezo,  oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid

GOSPEL READING: Luke 1:39-56

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 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.” And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.

The Assumption 

Lorenzo Lotto (ca. 1512), Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera

Rejoice in the Lord for the gift of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here are the lyrics to the beautiful Holy, Holy Queen Enthroned Above:

Hail, holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria. Hail, Queen of mercy and of love, O Maria.

Triumph, all ye cherubim, Sing with us, ye seraphim, Heaven and earth resound the hymn:

Salve, salve, salve Regina!

Our life, our sweetness, here below, O Maria! Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria!

Triumph, all ye cherubim, Sing with us, ye seraphim, Heaven and earth resound the hymn:

Salve, salve, salve Regina!

To thee we cry, poor sons of Eve, O Maria! To thee we sigh, we mourn, we grieve, O Maria!

Triumph, all ye cherubim, Sing with us, ye seraphim, Heaven and earth resound the hymn:

Salve, salve, salve Regina!

Turn then most gracious Advocate, O Maria! Toward us thine eyes compassionate, O Maria!

Triumph, all ye cherubim, Sing with us, ye seraphim, Heaven and earth resound the hymn:

Salve, salve, salve Regina!

The cause of joy to men below, O Maria! The spring through which all graces flow, O Maria!

Angels, all your praises bring, Earth and heaven, with us sing, All creation echoing:

Salve, salve, salve Regina!

Tomorrow is The Feast of the Assumption, a Holy Day of Obligation — except in most dioceses, when a Holy Day falls on a weekend, it’s not obligatory. Be sure you know what your diocese says about this. However, in the Maronite Rite and other Eastern Rites that are part of the Universal Church, it remains a Holy Day of Obligation, and Mass attendance is required at a vigil Mass today or tomorrow before the Sunday vigil Mass.

The Feast of the Assumption may be the most mysterious of all the Holy Days. Many non-Catholics have an interesting take on it and even some Catholics do not fully understand it. 

We believe that the Blessed Virgin Mother, Mary, the mother of the Son of Man, was taken up whole after her death. Of course, there is no physical evidence of this. How could there be? But there is one very curious bit of circumstantial evidence: During the early years and decades of the Church, faith communities exclaimed the importance of their villages or landmarks as shrines to encourage pilgrimages, devotion and even tourism. An Apostle preached here, a disciple was baptised there, etc.  

Why wouldn’t someone, some group have claimed Mary, the Mother of The Christ, was buried in their village or city? No faith community, not even the most cynical political leadership or commercial interests ever did, not at the beginning of the Christianity and not in modern times with hundreds of years of archeological and historical scholarship available.

Unfortunately, that is not good enough for Evangelical Christians or other Protestants who believe that if it’s not specifically in Scripture, then it is not Biblically based. But is it not Biblically based?

Mary, to be the Mother of Christ, had to be spiritually uncorrupt, thus, she was born without original sin (which leads to another misconception, even among Catholics: the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the Feast of Mary’s conception into life; immaculate because she was born without original sin). So, why, at her death, would God let her suffer bodily corruption?

Still, skeptics claim, a man, Pope or not, cannot claim to be true what’s not in the Bible. But that’s not what Popes do in those rare occasions when they proclaim a dogma of faith. They only promulgate teachings established from the earliest days of the Church based on the witness of early Church fathers. This is done to clarify the understanding of Church teachings, all Biblicaly based, that have been misinterpreted, either through legitimate misunderstanding or through the intentional misleading of the faithful.

As Father Matthew R. Mauriello writes about the establishment of The Assumption:

. . . assuring himself of the “universal, certain and firm consent of the Church’s ordinary Magisterium” and by the Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus, on November 1, 1950, Pius XII solemnly defined the Assumption as a dogma of faith, stating that: “the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

This gave doctrinal substance to an idea which recurred frequently in biblical foundations, church teaching and testimony of the Fathers, popular devotion and iconography. References beginning from the Council of Ephesus in 431 were mentioned to testify to the royal dignity of Mary.

So whether it falls on a weekend or not, The Feast of the Assumption, and any Holy Day which may fall on a weekend, have a special place in the heart of Jesus, and are no less significant than Sunday worship, and deserve our devotion.