On the 15th of August we celebrate The Assumption of Mary. The Assumption commemorates the belief that when Mary died, rather than going through the natural process of physical decay on Earth, both her soul and body were taken to Heaven, to be with her Son, Jesus.
It’s speculated that this could have been possible because she didn’t suffer from Original Sin, as stated in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This can be further confirmed as there is no relic of Mary’s body in existence, and no one has ever claimed to have found one.
“There Mary is surprisingly portrayed as falling, as if she were definitively letting go of all the trials and sufferings of this life and allowing herself to fall asleep. Indeed, she is letting go of life itself as she passes from this world to the next. It is just at this moment of abandoning herself into the Father’s hands that the angels rush down to catch her and bring her up to Heaven.” – Depiction of the end of Mary’s life, found on one of the main doors of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
The Assumption was formally seen as a defined dogma of the Catholic Church in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. “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.´
In Revelation 12:1 it says, “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” This is the image depicted on the Miraculous Medal of Mary.
The daily readings for the Assumption of the Mary:
First Reading – Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a: 10ab
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 45: 10, 11, 12, 16
Second Reading: First Corinthians 15: 20-27
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56
Looking for resources about Mary in our product? Have a look in primary for title 36 ‘Mary and the Saints’, and in secondary for title 39 part 7 ‘Teachings about Mary’ and title 59 part 3 ‘The Arts as an Expression of Faith in Renaissance Christianity’.
