Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 15th is the Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a Holy Day of obligation. Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, explainsand proclaims this Marian Doctrine. Christ overcame sin and death by His own death, and we through Baptism have been born again in a supernatural way and have conquered sin and death through the same Christ. Yet, according to the general rule, God does not will to grant to the just the full effect of the victory over death, that the bodies of even the just are corrupted after death, and only on the last day will they be joined, each to its own glorious soul (para. 4). Now God has willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be exempted from this general rule. She, by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conception, and as a result, she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have to wait until the end, for the redemption of her body (para. 5). 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 (para. 44).
The blessed Virgin Mary, through her Immaculate Conception, is free from sin and, therefore, didn’t suffer the consequence of sin, which is death and corruption of her body, and so was assumed body and soul into heaven. She is also hope for our redemption that we too will be resurrected from death and be eternally in heaven with Jesus and Mary. Therefore, the feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother is a great feast for us to celebrate.
Prayer to the Blessed Mother Mary, Assumed into Heaven by Saint Paul VI
O Immaculate Mary, Assumed into heaven, you who are most blessed in the vision of God:
of God the Father who exalted you among all creatures, of God the Son who willed that you bear Him as your Son and that you should be His Mother, of God the Holy Spirit who accomplished the human conception of the Savior in you.
O Mary, most pure
O Mary, most sweet and beautiful
O Mary, strong and thoughtful woman
O Mary, poor and sorrowful
O Mary, virgin and mother, woman very human like Eve, more than Eve.
You are near to God by your grace and by your privileges, in your mysteries, in your mission, in your glory. O Mary, assumed into the glory of Christ in the complete and transfigured perfection of our human nature. O Mary, gate of heaven, mirror of divine light, ark of the Covenant between God and mankind, let our souls fly after you. Let them fly long your radiant path, transported by a hope that the world does not contain eternal beatitude. Comfort us from heaven, O merciful Mother, and guide us along your ways of purity and hope, till the day of that blessed meeting with you and with your divine Son our Savior, Jesus. Amen!
