The national holiday on August 15th celebrates the “Assumption of the Virgin Mary,” that is, the celebration of the ascension of the body and soul of Our Lady to Heaven at the moment of her death.
The holiday of “Assumption of Our Lady” is one of several religious holidays that have not been eliminated by the Government, having always remained an important day for the Catholic Church.
The “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” has been celebrated since the mid-7th century, but it was on November 1, 1950, that Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of faith regarding the Assumption of Mary.
Pius XII officialized the ascension of Our Lady to Heaven as an absolute truth for Catholicism, which contributed to the creation and officialization of this religious holiday.
“Therefore, after we have directed repeated supplications to God, and invoked the peace of the Spirit of truth, for the glory of Almighty God who granted the Virgin Mary His special benevolence, for the honor of His Son, the immortal King of the ages and conqueror of sin and death, for the increase of the glory of His august mother, and for the joy and jubilation of the whole Church, with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and with our own, we pronounce, declare and define as a divinely revealed dogma that: the immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” These were the words written by the Pope at the time of the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary.
August 15 is not an exclusively Portuguese holiday; it is a day of rest in other countries with a strong Catholic tradition, such as Spain, France, Croatia, and Italy.