Assumption of Mary

"Live in hope. And in hope, we are guided to put ourselves on the path which leads us to the goal of following in the footsteps of the Lord and his mother Mary, who is our mother."

"Faith in Mary's Assumption is not an exaltation, with impossible images, of a glorious body that we do not know where to place: everything is in the mystery of God, which we cannot enter because he is beyond the veil of the sanctuary that will not open to our eyes until it is torn apart. What matters, instead, is to be able to live in the world a story that repeats the wonders that Mary sings here and which are wonders of salvation in time."

"4 Q. Why is it said of Jesus Christ that He ascended, and of His Most Holy Mother that she was assumed, into heaven?"

"There are two methods by which Catholics may know that a teaching of the Church is infallible and therefore must be obeyed by all Catholics in order to remain Catholic. The first of these, of course, is an ex cathedra pronouncement. Popes use this mechanism very infrequently, and then only to address the very fundamentals of Catholic faith. Only once since 1870 has the Pope spoken ex cathedra; on November 1, 1950, when Pope Pius XII declared the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many pro-life theologians have debated the wisdom of having the Church's teachings on birth control and abortion be formally declared infallible, and have decided that this would not be wise in the larger scheme of things. The reason is that such a pronouncement in an area of morals (as opposed to fundamental beliefs) would give the impression that all other moral teachings of the Church were optional. This might lead to a situation where disbelief would run rampant in the areas not specifically addressed ex cathedra, and would lead to more and more demands for such pronouncements in almost every area of Church teaching."

"She who was conceived without spot and borne without pain, who became mother without loss of virginity, who placed God in the world, who died without suffering, was also preserved from corruption ; and we believe she lives in heaven with her body. It is piously believed."

"Since Hw who humbled himself in her was God from the beginning and was life before all ages, it was right that the 'Mother of Life' be associated with Life; her death should be only a sleep, and her removal an awakening."

"Death will not boast of you, because you have carried Life in your womb; [and the vessel which held It] will not be broken by death, nor will it be enshrouded by the somber folds of darkness."

"The ark which was made of incorruptible timber (Ex. 15:10) was the Savior. The ark symbolized the tabernacle of His body, which was impervious to decay and engendered no sinful corruption...The Lord was sinless, because, in His humanity, He was fashioned out of incorruptible wood, that is, out of the Virgin and the Holy Ghost, lined within and without as with the purest gold of the Word of God."

"How shall corruption be able to touch her who has given us Life?"

"Since she is the Mother of the living God, it is right that living she ascend towards Him."

"It was necessary that she, who with fixed eyes on her Son hanging on the crosshad her heart transpierced by a sword, gaze upon Him at the right hand of the Father."

"Let us enter then into this sepulchre in order to adore; let us acknowledge the new mystery. Raised, carried up to heaven above all the choirs of angels, Mary holds her place beside her Son; for between the Son and the Mother there is no distance."

"Will death take possession of the first fruits of life, and the tomb hold her who by her lifegiving childbirth ought to empty the tombs? Certainly not!"

"A striking image, suggested by a verse from the Canticle of Canticles, evokes the triumph of the risen Mother of God. "Who is that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved" (Canticles 8,5). Fathers, exegetes and preachers (cf. Pseudo-Damien, Serm. 40, In Assumpt. B.V.M.; St Bernard, Serm. IV, In Assumpt.; Pierre de Blois, Serm. 33, In Assumpt. B.M.; Cornelius a Lapide, Comment. in Cant., VIII), and with them the liturgy in its most expressive language (cf. J. Linden, Die leibliche Aufnahme Maria in der Himmel", Zeithscr. f. kath. Theologie, t. XXX (1906), pp. 215-221), recognize in this beloved Spouse the Mother of the Son of God mounting to heaven thanks to the omnipotence of her divine Son and Spouse-"She ascends to her Son but only through her Son", says an old writer-shining with glory and completely filled with happiness"."

"The Marian dogmas are, as we know, four in all: perpetual virginity and divine motherhood; then, after almost fifteen centuries of debate and exploration of the mystery, here is the conception without the stain of original sin and the assumption into heaven. Well, these truths have been codified and solemnly protected as dogmas, that is, as basic and indisputable truths of the faith, not so much out of devotion to Mary, but as a defense of faith in Jesus. In fact, if we reflect on their content , we realize that they reaffirm the authentic faith in Christ as true God and true man: two natures in one Person. They then reiterate the fundamental eschatological expectation, indicating in Mary the immortal destiny that awaits us all. And, finally, they secure the faith, now threatened, in a creator God (it is one of the meanings of the more misunderstood truth about Mary's perpetual virginity), a God who can freely intervene even on matter."

"The Saviour arose into heaven through His own power as Lord and Creator...Mary arose into heaven lifted up by grace, not through her own power. This is why one is called Ascension and the other Assumption."

"Despite what many think, the Vatican may not impose teachings on an unwilling faithful. Through the concept of reception, Catholics have a role to play in the establishment of church law. The popular notion that whatever the pope says on a serious topic is infallible is an exaggeration of the principle of infallibility. While some ultra-conservative groups claim that the teaching on abortion is infallible, it does not in fact meet the definition of an infallible teaching. Since the doctrine of papal infallibility was first declared in 1870, only three teachings have been declared infallible: the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Assumption of Mary, and the declaration on infallibility itself."

"The opinions and hesitations of some do not stop us from now believing in the bodily Assumption of Mary more resolutely, from affirming it more plainly and from professing it more openly-together with the Church than was done in the first centuries of Christianity. For the Church acquires wisdom through the ages, and she receives and manifests ever increasingly the light of truth, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Who rules and teaches her."

"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."

"It seems than that Mary rightly enjoys ineffable happiness in both body and soul, in her own Son and with Him and through Him...She ought to live in her entirety, who has given birth to the complete and perfect Life of all. She ought to be with Him Whom she carried in her womb, Whom she bore, warmed and nourished: Mary, the Mother of God, the nurse of God, the servant and the follower of God."