On The Assumption Of The Bl. Virgin Mary
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The Vatican City news paper "Osservatore Romano" carried an announcement on
August 14, 1950, that brought joy to the Catholic world. The prayer of
centuries is answered. The ancient traditional teaching of the Catholic
Faith that Mary was assumed, soul and body, into heaven will be formally
defined by Pope Pius XII as a matter of Divine and Catholic Faith.

Reprinted in various papers, the item read: "We have been informed that His
Holiness has in mind the holding of a secret consistory next October 30 to
announce his intention to proclaim on the following Wednesday, the dogma of
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven."

This solemn Act of Faith by the Church Universal will be the high point of
the Holy Year of 1950. The 400 million Catholics in the world today and the
legions of souls who have gone to their reward will be united in the Voice
of Peter to give homage to the Virgin-Mother of Christ.

If the definition of Mary's Immaculate Conception by Pius XI in 1854
ushered in the Age of Mary and drew her spectacular response at Lourdes in
1858, still greater things may be expected from this benign Queen after
1950.


OUR LADY'S ASSUMPTION

Our Lady's Assumption-- The Holy Year will be climaxed on All Saints' Day
as the Holy Father, Supreme Pastor of all Christians, proclaims the 
doctrine of Mary's Assumption into heaven an article of Catholic Faith . .

G. J. CORBETT

This act of love for her. The Age of Mary is approaching high noon! God
grant the blinded children of men the light to see the grandeur of this Act
for the light by which they shall see is the light of FAITH, the one last
hope of this tired, beaten, blood-soaked world of ours!


Reasons for the Definition

Commenting on the reasons in the Holy Father's mind for choosing this
particular time to define this teaching, the Osservatore Romano said:
"Filled with fear of new and more tremendous catastrophies and while the
world denies us every hope, once again we raise our eyes to heaven,
imploring Our Lady, Mother of Mercy, with those words which Pius XII gave
us: 'that the Virgin, moved to pity by the massacres of her children, by so
many wounds and so many anxieties, may strengthen souls, extinguish hatreds
and rancor, obtain concord and may cause to shine that Christian peace
under which alone all nations, both victors and vanquished, united not in
violence but in justice and equity, can enjoy lasting and fruitful
tranquility'."

This solemn Act, under the present conditions, is undoubtedly a prayer
ofthe Universal Church to the Mother of God for a JUST AND LASTING PEACE
NOW!


What This Definition Means

The teaching that will be formally defined is the theological fact that
"after her death, the body of the Blessed Virgin, reunited with her soul,
was miraculously taken up into heaven."

This is not a new teaching for Catholics. We have certain evidence that the
Assumption feast-day has been celebrated since the Sixth Century, probable
record of earlier celebration. The penny catechism has acquainted converts
to the Faith and the children with the fact of Mary's presence, body and
soul, in heaven. The fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary commemorates
this teaching in the devotional lives of Catholics. It has been taken f or
granted as Catholic doctrine by the faithful for years.

Nothing new is added to Catholic Faith by this declaration—except the
external form of a clear-cut, precise definition of the meaning of Mary's
Assumption. The revelation of truths of Faith by Christ to the Apostles—
the "deposit of Christian revelation" as it is called—closed forever with
the death of the last Apostle, St. John, near the end of the First Century
after Christ. These revealed truths are preserved for us of a later
generation in the written word of God ( the Bible ) and in the
word-of-mouth tradition of the Catholic Church. The Holy Father, as Vicar
of Christ and visible head of the Church, holds fast to these truths of
faith and morals without danger of error, and can infallibly define and
interpret them (as he will do on Nov. I ) so that there will be no
mistaking their meaning. This infallibility of the Supreme Teacher of
Christendom is necessary in order that the Church remain till the end of
time the same Church that Christ founded.Thus, this Papal definition is
notonly an act of positive faith, homage,and love, but it is also an act of
discipline and authority. From now on, todeny the proposition set forth by
PiusXII is to deny the Catholic Faith—an act of heresy, depriving the
culpritof his membership in the Churchwhich Christ founded.


Source of This Teaching

The Holy Scripturcs contain very little about the Mother of God. This is
not surprising since the Bible centers around the figure of Christ the
Redeemer, her Son. And it is a very sketchy account even of Him, hardly a
complete and adequate record of all Christian truth. St. John himself felt
this as he concluded his life of Christ (xxi. 25): "There are, however,
many other things that Jesus did; but if every one of these should be
written, not even the world itself, I think, could hold the books that
would have to be written. Amen."

Oral tradition is an equally important source of the truths that Christ
revealed to the world. The Church with the Holy Father at its head cannot
make a mistake in interpreting this source of revealed truth. Christ
guaranteed this (Matt. xxviii. 18): "All power in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold,
I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world."

The teaching about Our Lady's Assumption into heaven has been handed down
to us principally in the tradition of the Church. However, some texts of
Scripture hint at this unique privilege of the Mother of God. Many writers,
for example, see this truth implied in St. John's account of his famous
vision (Apoc. xii. 1): "And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars." This woman, they say, is the Second Eve, Mary the
Virgin-Mother of God.


Prayer of Centuries

Lovers of Our Lady have been asking the Holy Father for centuries to define
this teaching formally as a matter of Catholic Faith. After Pius IX defined
the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception in 1354, the wave of petitions
assumed the proportions of a flood-tide. In 1 8G9, the Holy Office created
a special De Assumptione archives to preserve them. They totalled 3,019 at
the time of the publication of the record in 1942, and represented the
desires of millions of people throughout the world. An AP dispatch recently
reported Vatican sources as saying that in recent years 113 Cardinals, 2523
Patriarchs, Archbishops, and Bishops, 82,000 priests, and 8,000,000 other
Catholics had asked for the proclamation !

It became evident in 1946 that the prayer of centuries would soon be
answered. The Holy Father polled the Bishops of the world on these two
questions: Can the Assumption be declared dogma? and is it advisable to do
so?

The reply was electrifying, revealing ardent approval and remarkable
unanimity of opinion. Only 22 residential Bishops out of the 1191 who
answered expressed any doubt: 16 were doubtful about the advisibility of
defining; only 6 questioned the possibility of defining the teaching as
"revealed" truth. The scholarly priest who gathered these opinions
remarked: "Such a consensus before the formal definition has almost never
before been verified in the history of the Ghurch!"
What Mary's Assumption Means

Every Catholic, in view of the events about to take place, should
appreciate the meaning of Mary's Assumption and be able to explain this
point of belief to anyone who asks. Many a non-Catholic, reading the notice
in the newspapers, will be wondering what all the commotion is about. Again
he will be asking questions. And if Catholics run true-:to form, they will
be slinking ofT into quiet corners afraid to venture an answer.

The Assumption of Our Lady is not to be confused with the other truths
about Mary that have already been defined by the Church. For example, the
Immaculate Conception of Mary (defined in 1854) means that she was
preserved free from original sin at the moment of her conception in the
womb of her mother St. Anne. The Divine Maternity of Mary (defined in 431)
means that she is truly the Mother of God, since she is the mother of the
Person Jesus Christ, Who is God and Man. The Perpetual Virginity of Mary
(defined 649) means that she was always a virgin before, during and after
the birth of Christ (the "Virgin-Birth") because she never "knew man" in
the carnal rights of marriage, nor was the virginal seal upon her body
broken by the miraculous birth of Our Lord.

Mary's Assumption into heaven means that after her death (the separation of
soul and body ) her soul was by the power of God reunited with her body,
and both were taken to heaven. Thus, Mary became the first pure creature of
God to enjoy the fullness of her Son's redemption by her resurrection from
the dead and her assumption, body and soul, to Paradise. This is the fact
that is a matter of Faith. The narrative details surrounding this fact are
not necessarily a matter of faith. There exist descriptive accounts of how
Mary died and went to heaven. Whether these accounts be  true or not, the
fact of Mary's Assumption can no longer be questioned.
true or not, the fact of Mary's Assumption can no longer be questioned.


The Assumption Story

The most ancient legendary account of Mary's Assumption is an apocryphal
gospel traced back to the Fourth Century and called the "Account of St.
John the Theologian of the Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God." If
nothing else, it witnessed the common belief in Our Lady's Assumption even
at that early age.

Most authentic among these ancient accounts is that attributed to St.
Juvenal, the Bishop of Jerusalem, and recorded by St. John Damascene, a
Father of the Church. The Roman Emperor Marcion, at the close of the
Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D., wished to erect a mighty basilica over
the remains of Mary, the Mother of God. "St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem,
at the Council of Chalcedon made known to the Emperor and Pulcheria, who
wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the
presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the
request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded
that the body was taken up to heaven."


Lady Day in the Harvest

The Feast of the Assumption, or as our ancestors called it "Lady-Day in the
Harvest," is one of the first and greatest Feasts of the Blessed Mother. It
is believed that the festival was introduced to Rome by Pope St. Damasus,
who reigned from 336 to 384 A. D. It was always preceded by a vigil and a
strict fast as are all great festivals of the Church. This devotion spread
to other Catholics countries, and became known in many as the Harvest
festival.

In Germany, for example, to supplant a pagan harvest feast the Bishops
introduced the annual Christian ceremony of invoking God's blessings on the
crops on Assumption Day. The people assembled carrying some vegetable or
plant from their farms. A blessing was conferred by the priest, and all
prayed together "that all who should partake of these fruits of the earth
might receive profit to soul and body, and by virtue of Mary's
intercession, might be enabled to bring forth such spiritual fruits of
sanctity that they might be found worthy to approach the gates of heaven,
surrounded by the sweet fragrance of their virtue." The people then carried
these blessed fruits to their homes.

The Epistle read at Mass on the Feast is singularly appropriate for
"Lady-Day in the Harvest." Mary because of her "fullness of grace" is
likened to the stately cedars of Libanus, the cypress trees on Mount Sion,
the palm trees in the desert, the olive trees in the cities, the rose
plants around Jericho. She is as pleasing as the sweet scent of cinnamon
and balm and myrrh. Legend has it that the Apostles found sweet-smelling
flowers in Mary's tomb after the miraculous Assumption of her body to
heaven.


Protestant Reaction

The reaction of Protestant churchmen to the Papal announcement of the
definition of Mary's Assumption was as might have been expected. Dr.
Geoffrey Fisher and Dr. Cyril Garbett, of the Anglican church, said: "The
Church of England renders honor and reverence to the mother of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. But there is not the smallest evidence in the Scriptures or
in the teaching of the early Church of belief in the doctrine of her bodily
Assumption." American P r o t e s t a n t writers lamented the proposed
definition saying that it "deepens the chasm" between Rome and the
Christian sects. One can only smile at this simplicity. As the separation
between Rome and the dissident Christian sects stands now, j nothing the
Church says about the Blessed Mother or anything else will ever bridge that
chasm. The point at issue between all non-Catholic "Christians" is much
more basic. It is, to be precise, the infallibility of the Catholic Church
(its preservation by the power of God and the promise of Christ from error
in matters of faith and morals). The sects will never cross that chasm
until the Catholic Church says in effect: "Of course you were right all
along. We were wrong. We're sorry. We'll twist truth to accommodate you.
Come back into the fold!" The sects will wait till the Day of Doom for such
blasphemy of the God of Truth in the mouth of the Catholic Church.

Our prayer to Mary on her day of glory for the separated churches is:
"Blessed Mother, grant these motherless souls, who need you so badly,
humility and courage—such as you had —that they may be one with us in the
bosom of the Church which Christ founded and their ancestors left. Their
blindness is not completely their own fault. Give them light to see. Grant
them the light of true faith!"


The Assumption and You

The magnificent spectacle that took place 96 years ago when Mary's
Immaculate Conception was proclaimed will be repeated in our lifetime. What
a grand blessing! We shall see the church throughout the world united with
the crowds that will be present in Rome in a supreme and universal Act of
Faith. Let the enemies of God's Church take note ! Here are millions of men
banded together not because someone is threatening them with a bayonet, not
for motives of worldly profit, but in the moral unanimity of the true Faith
to declare publicly their allegiance to that Faith and their love for the
Mother of God. It is said that Stalin once asked: "How many divisions has
the Pope?" He shall have his answer on November 1.

Mary's Assumption has personal reassurance for every Catholic. Today Mary
dwells body and soul in heaven. The same body in which she suffered her
bloodless martyrdom on earth, the same body that knew poverty, privation,
weariness, pain, and was the tabernacle of her soul in its exile on earth
is exalted now in the happiness of heaven. She is the first of God's
creatures to enjoy what is promised to all of us for doing the Will of God
here below, for carrying our cross gracefully to the end. Her presence in
heaven gives meaning to the trials and sufferings of life.

A picture of our future reward for faithful service, Mary is also in heaven
as the Mother of Perpetual Help. She is commissioned by God to spend her
heaven helping her spiritual children on earth. And no true child of hers
can ever be abandoned. St. Bernard said: "No one ever called upon her and
was not heard and helped by her."

How we need this message of encouragement, of confidence, of hope now !
Reports of secret weapons of war, new and more terrible methods of wreaking
havoc on the earth, despair among our fellow countrymen who have not the
gift of faith—all these things portend the greatest catastrophe the world
has known since the Deluge. If you had not your Catholic Faith, in what
could you see any possible hope for the future?

Amid the turmoil of a disillusioned world, look up to "the Woman, clothed
with the sun"—Mary, Queen of the Assumption. With her in heaven, there is
still hope for her children on earth. Days of UNIVERSAL PEACE under God and
Our Lady will come: "in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph . . . and
an era of peace will be granted to humanity." May we be privileged to see
that day!

SANCTA MARIAE, Say not, O holy Virgin, that thour canst not assist us on
account of the number of our sins, for thy power and thy compassion are 
such that no number of sins,  however great, can outweigh them, Nothing 
resists thy power; 

for our comon Creator, honoring thee as His Mother, considers thy glory 
as His own, and the Son, rejoicing in it, fulfills thy petitions as if 
He were paying a debt.

-St. George of Nicomedia 


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