Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 9, 2026
This Saturday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. The Assumption of Mary is the oldest feast of Mary. Belief in the Assumption of Mary originated in the eastern church (Middle East, North Africa, Greece and Turkey), where it was called the Feast of the Dormition of Mary, the "falling asleep" of Mary. Ancient texts from the 4th and 5th centuries, tell us that Mary, at the end of her life, died and was buried. But when the disciples opened the tomb shortly after, the tomb was empty; the body was gone. The belief developed that Mary was resurrected like Jesus and taken into heaven. In Jerusalem, there is a church cared for by Benedictine monks where the tomb of Mary is preserved. Some visitors are troubled by this shrine, since they never heard of the ancient eastern Christian tradition of Mary's dormition and resurrection before her assumption into heaven.
Later a tradition developed in the West, notably Rome, that Mary never died at all, that she was taken to heaven body and soul by angels. This carrying away of the living Mary has been likened to the story of how Elijah was taken to heaven without dying by a fiery chariot in the Old Testament story.
As early as the later 4th century, Epiphanius of Salamis, cites both church traditions, one that Mary died, rose and was taken to heaven and the other that she remained immortal, taken to heaven without ever dying. Epiphanius was a teacher in the eastern church, thus indicating that even in the east, both traditions were known.
So belief in Mary's Assumption is an ancient teaching of the Church. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared as an infallible teaching that Mary was assumed into heaven, body and soul. Pope Pius was careful not to say whether Mary died first or whether she was taken to heaven without dying. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular participation in her Son's resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians".
The theology of Mary is the theology of grace. We Catholics believe that Mary was preserved from all sin, actual and original, by grace. She cooperated with God's grace, but her sinlessness is God's doing, not hers. And at the end of her life, she was taken to heaven body and soul, thus prefiguring the heavenly destiny of all Christians.
So what happened to Mary through grace is also our destiny through grace. By God's grace alone, Mary was sinless. She never sinned. By grace we are made sinless by the grace of forgiveness, though after sinning. Mary was assumed body and soul at the end of her life by God's grace. And on the last day, all the tombs of God's faithful will open and we will also enjoy heaven, body and soul, again through grace alone.
