THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

[cappie]

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaims that at the end of her earthly life Our Lady was taken to the glory of heaven. What is the evidence for this doctrine and why does the Church teach it?

Although there is no direct description of the end of Mary’s life in the New Testament, it is significant that no early tradition sprang up or remain to us reverencing a grave or the location of her physical relics.  Unlike every other major figure in the Apostolic period. There must, therefore, have been something particular about the end of Our Lady’s life that meant this didn’t happen.

Traditions circulated as early as the 2nd and 3rd centuries that Mary was taken to God at the end of her earthly life.  This means it is perfectly reasonable to assume  the community memory there was that she was neither buried nor dead like other Christians, but rather was graced with some sort of immediate experience of heaven.

From the 4th century onwards a number of written texts mention Mary’s Assumption, such as the Dormition of Mary (attributed to the Apostle John). The one thing that seems to characterise all evidence concerning early speculation about Mary is an unanimity from the very earliest times, in both written, and oral  evidence that Mary was not to be found buried anywhere, that no place claims her remains or a story of her death and permanent burial. The idea that Mary had been taken into heaven clearly had wide early Christian credence even if it had not been crystallised as a universally defined doctrine.

It is important to remember that although the New Testament contains no direct description of the end of Mary’s life, there is much scriptural evidence of a figurative nature that points to the truth of this doctrine.

The most important evidence of this kind comes from the Book of Revelation. The Heavenly Woman described in Chapter 12 of that book clearly has a representative significance. She is described as in heaven, “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Through her childbearing, she defeats the dragon representing evil, and gives birth to a son “who was to rule the nations.”

 It is very difficult indeed to imagine some reference to Mary is not intended by John of Patmos in his description of this heavenly woman and her kingly son. This Mary figure in Rev 12 is both exalted in heaven and taken to a place of safety because of her role in our salvation. It is easy to see how Christians from the earliest times saw this passage as evidence Mary was assumed into heaven.

It is also important to consider why the Assumption is important and what it teaches us both about Our Lady and our salvation.

The Assumption is both a natural outworking of truths at the heart of the Gospel and a logical consequence of what the church has always taught about Mary’s role. It is a rational and coherent assertion to make about Our Lady.

Our Lady was both the source and location of our salvation’s dawn, but also the first amongst the redeemed. Because God had taken flesh in her, he would not let her know decay and death, and so brought her body and soul into the glory of heaven.

In other words, though exalted as the Mother of God, she is saved just as much through her Son’s death and resurrection as we are. She shares now in the same glory we hope to be clothed with when we die.

 From ancient times the Church has proclaimed lex orendi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief). The feast of the Assumption, in its evolution from the common belief of the faithful, as represented by the proliferation of apocryphal literature to a dogma of the Church, is a manifestation of this time-honoured dictum. Mary’s role as the Mother of God and the dignity of her life make the Assumption her privilege as she continues to serve as the perfect model of discipleship for all the faithful.

[BarbTherese]

 

 

 

[little2add]

11 hours ago, BarbTherese said:

 

 

 

long time no see...  

how are you doing?  hope everything is well.