Assumption Of Mary

The Assumption of Mary is the dogma in the Catholic Church that Mary was "assumed" or taken up into Heaven both soul and body, but that she did not "ascend" into Heaven. Thus, in Catholic belief, there is a fundamental distinction: Jesus rose bodily into Heaven, whereas Mary was taken, bodily, to Heaven by God. The first is therefore termed an "Ascension" and the second an "Assumption."

The Old Testament figures Enoch and Elijah were taken up into Heaven as well.^[1]

In 1950, Pope Pius XII formally declared the Assumption of Mary to be dogma in an Apostolic Constitution: Munificentissimus Deus. Though only declared a dogma in modern times, the belief has existed in the Catholic Church for hundreds of years. The dogmatic Apostolic Constitution definitively closed henceforth all debate regarding the doctrine, finally declaring it to be an official certainty beyond all possible doubting by the Christian faithful, all uncertainty of speculative theological debate and doubt about it henceforth illicit and heretical. The Assumption of Mary is celebrated as the Feast of the Assumption on August 15.

The Assumption of Mary is also a teaching in the Eastern Orthodox Church (Called the "Dormition" in that Church) and several other churches, but it is not part of those denominations' dogma.

One of the Mysteries of the Rosary is a meditation on The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Fourth Glorious Mystery, the Fourteenth Mystery of the whole Fifteen Decade Rosary.^[2] This meditation precedes the final Mystery of the Rosary: The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as Queen of Heaven.

Tradition and probable date[edit]

Sometime during A.D. 40 to 48, according to a tradition preserved in the east and the west, Mary the mother of Jesus completed the course of her life on earth, and fell asleep; and she was laid in a tomb by John.^[3] Then according to ancient tradition, the Lord Jesus took her, body and soul, out of the tomb and assumed her into heaven. Her body has never been found. Two tombs are claimed: one in Jerusalem, at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Church of the Assumption; and one in Ephesus, the final home of John the Apostle, a claim which has been disputed.^[4]

Since the 3rd century (the 200's) Orthodoxy has observed this event as the Dormition and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.^[5] The tradition is an established matter of ancient record.^{[6] [7]}

The fact of the assumption of Mary was clarified at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 (mid-5th century), when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople. Emperor Marcian requested that the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Juvenal,^[8] bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople so that they could be enshrined in the capitol. But there were no relics. 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.”

There has been no universal agreement on whether she actually died.^[9] The dogma proclaimed by Pope Pius XIII in 1950 in accordance with the ancient apostolic Christian tradition in the East and the West holds that Mary the mother of Jesus "having completed the course of her life on earth" was taken body and soul into heaven by her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The dogma does not state that she died, it does not state that she did not die, only that she was assumed body and soul into heaven when she had completed the course of her life on earth.

See also[edit]

Theotokos

Orthodox Mysteries

Mysticism

Rosary

Harmony of the Gospel (Conservative Version) longer form: Chapter Thirty-seven

Pentarchy

Petrine Primacy

Papal Infallibility

Old Catholic Church

Queen of the Universe

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII, MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS, Defining the Dogma of the Assumption, November 1, 1950 (vatican.va) — Full Text

Feast of the Assumption - Catholic Encyclopedia (neradvent.org)

Why Are There No First Class Relics of Mary? published by Marge Fenelon (margefenelon.com)

The Assumption of Mary, Mother of God (beautysoancient.com)

The Death and Burial of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Father Mark Nichols (fathermarknichols.wordpress.com)

The Transition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, By Robert J. Siscoe (Published in the August 2012 issue of Catholic Family News) (thecatholicfaith.blogspot.com)

Feast of the Relics of Our Lady (roman-catholic-saints.com)