2023-08-14 09:03:53
On August 15, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is celebrated primarily in Saarland and Bavaria.
The so-called “Great Women’s Day” has been associated with numerous traditions since the 14th century. Read here who Mary was and why this holiday was dedicated to her.
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The history of the holiday
Celebrated is the Assumption of Mary celebrated? On August 15 of each year, the Assumption of Mary is celebrated. Unlike Christ’s ascension, this is not mentioned in the New Testament, but Revelation speaks of a sign in heaven:
“…a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet.”
According to the medieval text collection Legenda aurea (Golden Legend, written between 1263 and 1267), Jesus appeared after the death of his mother to accompany her on her way to heaven. So this belief is very old and has been celebrated for centuries.
The reformer Martin Luther also valued Mary as a witness of faith and an example of human humility. However, the Protestant Church rejects the veneration of saints. Today, feminist theology sees the figure of Mary as a symbol of the feminine part of God that contributes to the “wholeness” of man.
Is Assumption Day a public holiday in Germany?
Where is Assumption Day a public holiday? In Germany, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a public holiday only in the Saarland and in Catholic communities in Bavaria. In Belgium, France, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Portugal and Spain there will also be no work on August 15th, as well as in Austria and in some Swiss cantons.
Why isn’t that uniform in Germany? According to the public holiday law of the individual federal states, whether celebrations are allowed in a municipality or whether one has to work depends on the beliefs of the majority of the inhabitants. Companies and shops only remain closed where the number of Catholics predominates – not elsewhere.
Incidentally, predominantly does not refer to the entire population, but to the number of members of the Catholic and Protestant churches. The figures are determined by the Federal Statistical Office.
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How is the Assumption of Mary celebrated?
For the “Marienfest” or, as it is called in Bavaria, for the “big women’s day”, bouquets of medicinal plants, herbs and grain ears are traditionally collected and blessed. The consecrated herbs are then hung up at home. They are intended to protect people and livestock from dangers such as illness, thunderstorms or fire.
One of the most important processions is the Fatima ship procession in Lindau on Lake Constance. It is traditionally celebrated with seven ships, devotions, Marian songs and fireworks.
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