Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church in the order of grace because she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, the Head of the body which is the Church.  St Augustine stated:

"Before conceiving the Lord in her body, Mary had already conceived him in her soul.  Mary had made room for the Lord in her soul and consequently became the true temple where God made Himself incarnate, where He became present to the world".

The Compendium of the Catholic Church states:
'After the Ascension of her Son, Mary aided the beginnings of the Church with her prayers.  Even after her Assumption into heaven, she continues to intercede for us as her children, to be a model of faith and charity for all, and to exercise over them a salutary influence deriving from the superabundant merits of Christ'. (197)
  

Pope Benedict XV1 in his homily for 15th August 2006 said:
"Being God's dwelling place on earth, in her the eternal dwelling place has already been prepared; it has already been prepared for forever.  And this constitutes the whole content of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, body, and soul, into Heavenly glory expressed here in these words.  Mary is 'blessed" because- totally, in body and soul and forever- she became the Lord's dwelling place.

The great consolation of this feast is tied up in the words 'All generations will you blessed".  This means that the future, what is to come, belongs to God.  It is in God's hands, and that it is God who conquers.  However, God is also vulnerable in the world, because He is love and love is vulnerable.  Yet he holds the future in His hands.  It is love, not hatred, that triumphs.  It is peace that is victorious in the end."

WHY IS THIS FEAST IMPORTANT TO OUR FAITH.

This feast is important to us as Catholics because we see in Mary an image and an anticipation of the resurrection that awaits us. We invoke her as advocate, helper, benefactress and mediatrix. 

We may not have the honour to conceive physically the Lord in our body like our Blessed Mother, but we can like her conceive and bring birth to Him in our souls by receiving Jesus in Holy Communion and the way we live our lives. 

Let us rejoice in this feast since it is a feast of faith, hope and love. Let us live in faith and hope that we too will be raised to eternal life when God calls us to His eternal dwelling place.