The Assumption of Mary
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, when God took Mary, soul and body into heaven at the end of her earthly life.
The bodily Assumption of Mary is a truth handed down by the Apostles who were witnesses of this event. After the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Upper Room or the place of the Last Supper became the first Catholic Church. An ancient document called The Transitus Mariae based on the writing of Lucius Carinus, a disciple of John the Apostle, relates that Mary lived next to this Church of the Last Supper on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem for the rest of her life so that she might be close to her Son in the Eucharist. The Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem is now over what was her home.
This document relates that toward the end of her earthly life, the Angel Gabriel made known that her time on earth was short. She prayed for the Apostles to return, for all but James the Less, the Bishop of Jerusalem had been sent on mission throughout the world. Mary then visited all the Holy Sites in Jerusalem one last time. Then all the living Apostles returned. Except for Thomas, he was late.
The Apostles were with Mary in her home as she fell asleep or died, the Church has never declared which. With great reverence the Christian community took Our Lady in a procession through the streets of Jerusalem from Mt Zion to the foot of the Mount of Olives where they placed her in the tomb near Gethsemane. They all gave her a last kiss and sealed the tomb with a stone, and kept a vigil there in prayer where they witnessed her bodily Assumption.
The Apostles, therefore, are the official witnesses of the bodily Assumption of Mary, the truth which they hand down by the authority given them by Christ.
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Finally the Apostle Thomas arrived in Jerusalem, probably from the eastern edge of Persia. He was distraught that he was too late to see Mary once last time. But to console him, she appeared to Thomas and gave him her cloak, her mantle as a sign of her love and protection.
Before he left for India, he entrusted her cloak to the Church in Jerusalem for safe keeping. In the 5th century it was brought to Constantinople and the Church of Blacherne was built to house this special relic. By 638 A.D. Islam had become master of the middle east. In 718, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine-Catholic world, was surrounded by Muslim forces bent on conquering the city and destroying Christianity.
Recall that in the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant gave the Israelites protection and victory in battle. When the Israelites were outmanned and outgunned at Jericho (I realize they didn’t have guns back then but it’s a good phrase) they marched around the outside of the walls of Jericho seven times carrying in the Ark of the Covenant. The walls fell down and the Israelites gained the victory and the Promised Land by the power of the Ark of the Covenant.
Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant, and her mantle offered Constantinople the same kind of protection. On August 15, 718, The Patriarch of Constantinople and the people marched around the inside of the city walls carrying the Mantle of Mary, the New Ark of the Covenant, while they chanted the Akathist hymn to Mary. With no explanation, the Muslim invaders fled and were destroyed by natural disasters in their retreat.
This victory of Mary prevented the Muslim forces from advancing in the East for more than 700 years. This Victory of Mary is celebrated each year on the first day of October. It’s called the Feast of Pokrov – The Protection of the Mother of God.
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We are still under the Protection of the Mother of God
When Mary appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico in 1531, she said to him:
“Hear and let it penetrate into your heart, my dear little son; let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you need?
Throughout this Feast of the Assumption of Mary, remind yourself of these words, for you are still under the protection of Mary. So, entrust to her everything that is out of your control, or seems impossible, or hopeless and do not worry.
Your Mother has you under her protection.
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The Feast of the Assumption reminds us that like Jesus, Mary has a glorified body in Heaven.
Now, recall that Hope is the virtue whereby we strive for Heaven as something which is possible, but not guaranteed. And heaven will include the resurrection of our bodies.
So, the bodily Assumption of Mary should inspire us to hope for our own bodily resurrection.
I can tell you, the way I feel today after hiking a very arduous mountain peak yesterday – I can’t wait to have a resurrected glorified body!
Through His own Resurrected body Jesus gives us a glimpse of what our bodies will be like. His body was not bound by time or space
· He could go wherever and whenever he willed by a simple choice
· He could pass through locked doors
· He could change forms and not be recognized
· Yet he could still eat and drink with the Apostles
Like the Risen Body of Jesus and Mary our new body will be immortal
· We will no longer be subject to sickness, injury, death or decay
· We will have indestructible life
In this life we were subject to the laws of nature. In Heaven, in our resurrected gloried bodies, the laws nature will be subject to us. We will not need to breathe, or eat, or drink or sleep; yet we will be able if we want to. We will be truly super-human in heaven b/c we will share in the very nature of God! Now that is something to hope for.
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The Bodily Assumption of Mary should also remind us that the whole universe will be raised up and transformed. There will be a “New Heavens and a New Earth” as the Bible tells us. (2 Pet. 3:13)
I was thinking of the New Heavens and the New Earth as I was hiking with my daughter Grace through a pristine pine tree forest, crystal clear mountain streams and waterfalls, stunning vistas and even a couple of Moose grazing by the trail. But the best of all was to spend so much time with my daughter. It was pure delight – plus a lot of physical torture of course.
When Scripture speaks of a “New Heavens and a New Earth” it means everything good from this life will be in heaven, but none of the bad.
Imagine the greatest good thing you like to do here. Now imagine what it will be like in heaven when it is perfected, and it will never ever end.
Heaven will be supreme unending delight.
So, on this Feast of the Assumption of Mary, as a resolution, ask Mary to replace your thoughts with her thoughts, your feelings and desires with hers and your choices with her choices.
In this way She will lead you to Heaven.