2023-08-12 11:00:09
The next Tuesday the solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven is celebrated. In countries like Colombia, this date of August 15 is a national holiday.
Every August 15 we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Mary has always been venerated by the Church for having a very important place in the History of Salvation: she was chosen as the Mother of the Savior. Paul VI in Marialis Cultus said: “The mercy of the Church towards Mary is an intrinsic element of Christian worship.”
At this party we ask ourselves about the final destiny of Mary: How did her life end here on earth? What happened after Jesus went up to heaven? How were his links with the apostles? would he have known the sepulchre?
Both in the so-called synoptic gospels and in the tradition of the Gospel of John, the figure of Mary appears scattered throughout the narrative in different public episodes of the life of Jesus, but nothing is said about her final destiny. We don’t know what happened to Ella.
two trends
There are two tendencies among theologians: some maintain that Mary would have participated in death and that she was immediately resurrected by God. Because she had to participate in the universal destiny of all men. If Jesus, being the Son of God, died while still God, Mary would have participated in this destiny but immediately resurrected. Others maintain that Mary never knew the sepulcher because when she was chosen to be Mother of the Redeemer she had a privilege of grace from her Son Jesus Christ of hers and she was preserved from death.
What does the tradition of the Church tell us?
We cite some important witnesses: Saint Epiphanius is one of the first Fathers who tells us: “writing has kept absolute silence because of the prodigy given, I dare not speak”, Saint German of Constantinople: “it is impossible that the dwelling place of God has suffered corruption”, and Saint Andrew of Crete: “Mary’s body could not be corrupted in the tomb because it would not coincide with divine motherhood, nor her holiness, nor her perpetual virginity”.
The first official reference to the Assumption is found in the Eastern liturgy; In the fourth century, the feast of El Remembrance of Mary was celebrated, which commemorated the entrance to Heaven of the Virgin Mary and where reference was made to her assumption. This party in the sixth century was called the Dormitio or Dormition of Mary, where the end of earthly life and the assumption of Mary into Heaven were celebrated. In the 7th century the name changed from “Dormition” to “Assumption”.
Dogma of fear
In 1849 the first petitions arrived at the Holy See from the bishops for the Assumption to be declared as a doctrine of faith; these requests increased as the years passed. When Pope Pius XII consulted the episcopate in 1946 through the letter Deiparae Virginis Mariae, the affirmation that it was declared a dogma was almost unanimous. On November 1, 1950, the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus was published in which the pope, based on the tradition of the Catholic Church, taking into account the testimonies of the liturgy, the belief of the faithful guided by their pastors, the testimonies of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church and with the consensus of the bishops of the world, declared the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith: “we pronounce, declare and define to be a divinely revealed dogma that The Immaculate Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, When the course of her earthly life was over, she was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven”.
To celebrate one more feast of the Assumption is to celebrate the final hope of our life, which is to go to heaven and live resurrected in the new humanity inaugurated by Jesus.
By P. Fabricio Pons
Parish Santa Barbara de Pocito
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