By Roy Rasmussen | For On Mission
Every August 15, Catholics celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of only three Marian feasts that are holy days of obligation. Why is this day so important? In preparation for this annual celebration, we’ll consider how the Assumption became a holy day of obligation, what it means for Catholic faith and practice and how we can honor Mary and her Son on this special day.
How the Assumption of Mary became a holy day of obligation
John’s Gospel records that as Jesus was dying, he entrusted his mother to the beloved disciple (19:26-27). Luke mentions Mary praying at Pentecost (Acts 1:14). John’s Revelation describes a vision of a woman clothed with the sun who gives birth to a boy and is attacked unsuccessfully by Satan (12:1-17). Beyond this, Scripture doesn’t disclose what happened to Mary between the birth of the Church and the end of her earthly life.
Extra-biblical accounts and artistic depictions of Mary’s biography began appearing as early as the second and third centuries. Meanwhile, Christians began honoring deceased saints on the days of their deaths. By the fifth century, Christians in Jerusalem were honoring Mary on August 15 at a Marian shrine about five miles from the Tomb of Mary. Another Marian shrine thrived at Ephesus, where John lived in his later years, though history does not record whether Mary joined him there.
In 431, Ephesus hosted the third ecumenical council, which formally affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God (Theotokos). The pious Byzantine Empress St. Pulcheria promoted the council’s decree by seeking Mary’s relics. Jerusalem’s bishop, St. Juvenal, told her there was no body because Mary had been assumed into heaven. He instead provided several of Mary’s garments, including a veil sometimes known as Mary’s mantle.
From this time on, Christians increasingly popularized biographies and feasts devoted to Mary. At the end of the sixth century, the Byzantine emperor Maurice declared the Eastern Roman Empire would celebrate August 15 as the Kimisis Theotokou (Greek for “Falling-asleep of the Mother of God”). A century later, Pope Sergius I officially adopted this feast as part of the Roman Catholic calendar, naming it the Dormitio Beatae Virginis or “Dormition” (from the Latin for “sleep”).
In 813, the Council of Mainz, convened by Emperor Charlemagne, declared the feast a public holiday. Ever since, it has consistently been listed among holy days of obligation, and today, it ranks as a solemnity, the highest category of feast days. Since 1642, the Catholic Church has favored the term “Assumption” (“taken up”) rather than “Dormition” to emphasize Mary’s glorification, alluding to John’s vision of the woman clothed with the sun.
What the Church teaches about the Assumption of Mary
On All Saints’ Day, 1950, Venerable Pope Pius XII formally defined traditional belief in Mary’s Assumption as a dogma in his apostolic constitution, “Munificentissimus Deus” (“Most bountiful God”). The dogma states 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.”
This dogma requires Catholics to believe that at the end of Mary’s earthly life, both her body and soul entered heavenly glory. It does not specify what Catholics must believe about how this happened, whether Mary died or the nature of her heavenly state.
This minimal detail reflects ancient uncertainty and diversity of opinion. St. Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in the fourth century, recorded in his “Panarion” that Christians then held to three competing opinions about Mary’s fate: she died naturally in perpetual virginity; she was martyred; or God preserved her from death. He humbly declined to pronounce judgment, saying, “No one knows her end.” But he hinted at his own private opinion, observing that Mary is honored “like Elijah, who was virgin from his mother’s womb, always remained so, and was taken up and has not seen death.”
However, St. John Paul II pointed out that Pope Pius XII did not deny Mary’s death and noted that Church tradition generally affirmed Mary’s death until the 17th century. The dogma of the Assumption does not require Catholics to affirm any particular belief about Mary’s death, only to affirm that at the end of her earthly life, both her body and soul were assumed into heavenly glory.
Why Mary’s Assumption matters to our spiritual life
“Munificentissimus Deus” emphasizes the connection between Mary’s Assumption and our hope in the resurrection and heavenly glory of our own bodies and souls. In this connection, Pope Pius XII mentions the fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, which St. Louis de Montfort saw as a key to gaining true devotion to Mary and the grace of a holy, happy death.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary’s Assumption anticipates the resurrection of all members of Christ’s body (CCC, 974). When we affirm Mary’s Assumption and meditate on her glory, we’re nurturing our belief and hope in our own resurrection.
In this way, through the Assumption, Mary brings us closer to her Son, who preceded her into glory. Mary’s Assumption reflects the Ascension of Jesus, foreshadowing our own union with the other members of the Body of Christ in heaven. When we celebrate the feast of the Assumption, we’re foretasting our heavenly banquet.
How to honor Mary’s Assumption
To fully participate in Mary’s Assumption on August 15 and throughout the year, Catholics can express devotion to the Assumption in various ways:
- Above all, fulfill your annual obligation to attend Mass on August 15, making a good confession beforehand if you are conscious of mortal sin
- Attend adoration and accompany Mary in adoring Jesus
- Pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, reflecting on the Assumption and its relationship to the other mysteries, including the Annunciation and Ascension
- Spend time in lectio divina meditation on Marian scriptures
- Make or renew your total consecration to Mary
- Aspire to Marian virtues when doing your daily examination of conscience
- Perform works of mercy in honor of Mary
- Make pilgrimages to Marian shrines, such as participating in the Wisconsin shrine pilgrim passport program or joining Bishop David Ricken and Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob for the Assumption Mass and Eucharistic procession at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion near Green Bay
However you choose to celebrate the Assumption, start preparing now to honor Mary in your own special way this year.