2023-08-15 01:00:00
The Assumption, celebrated on August 15, is one of the four Christian holidays legally celebrated in France. A decision that dates back to Napoleon Bonaparte.
By Isabelle Missiaen for Le Point A Virgin Mary in the church of Long, in the Somme. © HELENE DECAESTECKER / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/VOIX DU NORD/MAXPPP Published on 08/15/2023 at 01:00
Tuesday, August 15 is a legal holiday in France. It corresponds to the Catholic feast of the Assumption, which celebrates the Virgin Mary. The Assumption, from the Latin “take away”, designates the episode of the ascent to heaven of the mother of Jesus. If this episode does not appear in any biblical text, we find traces of its celebration from the 6th century in the East. And it is to Napoleon that we owe the establishment of a public holiday in our country.
The Orthodox Church celebrates the ascent to heaven of the Virgin under the term “Dormition”. A reference to a post-biblical account according to which an angel announces to Mary that her death will be like a “falling asleep”.
An official dogma of the Catholic Church since 1950
In France, the celebrations of the Assumption take on importance from 1638, under the reign of Louis XIII, who signs an edict consecrating his kingdom to the Virgin Mary. The sovereign then organizes processions on August 15th. It was under Napoleon Bonaparte that August 15 became a public holiday, on the occasion of a Concordat signed with Pope Pius VII in 1801.
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But it was only in 1950 that the Assumption became an official dogma of the Catholic Church, consecrated by Pius XII: according to this dogma, “the Immaculate Virgin, preserved by God from any attack of original sin, having completed the course of her earthly life, was raised body and soul to the glory of heaven, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, to be thus more fully conformed to her Son, Lord of lords, victorious over sin and death . »
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The Assumption, celebration of Mary’s ascent to heaven, should not be confused with the Ascension, which appears in the biblical texts, and refers to Jesus’ ascent to heaven, celebrated 40 days after Easter.
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