Mary was raised up, body and soul
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, is a Holy Day of Obligation.
The Assumption is the oldest feast day of Our Lady, but we don't know how it first came to be celebrated. On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption. Thus he solemnly proclaimed that the belief whereby the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the close of her earthly life, was taken up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven, definitively forms part of the deposit of faith, received from the Apostles. Now toward the end of the summer season, at a time when fruits are ripe in the gardens and fields, the Church celebrates the most glorious “harvest festival” in the Communion of Saints, Mary, the supremely blessed one among women, Mary the most precious fruit which has ripened in the fields of God’s kingdom, is today taken into the granary of heaven. The Assumption completes God’s work in her since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is God’s crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters eternity. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over.
Here are some videos to help reflect on this momentous occasion.
