On November 1, 1950 Pope Pius XII announced that the Roman Catholic Church was adopting as dogma the Assumption of Mary.His address, "Munificentissimus Deus", was delivered before 50,000 faithful in St. Peter’s Square.
The dogma states that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is more than just a saint of the Church or a hero of faith.
The Assumption is a declaration of faith in the assumption of Mary, body and soul, into Heaven.
The Assumption became a feast day celebrated by the Church every year. What it brings to mind is the height to which the Church has elevated this special woman. This revelation did not just occur to Pope Pius XII in 1950. Rather, his announcement made formal what had been believed for centuries.
The beliefs about Mary go beyond assumption and include doctrines about her Immaculate Conception; she was born free from sin, her perpetual virginity and her action as co-redeemer with Christ.
Whereas non-Catholic Christianity tends to view the Bible as God’s last revelation to mankind, the Roman Catholic Church sees itself as an instrument of God receiving new revelations from the Holy Spirit.
So this new revelation about Mary was confirmed in 1950 without a visible ripple. The doctrine of the Assumption fits right in to orthodox Catholic thinking.
The term “assumption” does not appear in the Bible but Enoch and Elijah went to be with God without experiencing death. Bishop Theoteknos of Livias (c. 550-650) was one Catholic theologian who believed that Mary, above all, deserved at least the same treatment. In his sermon he states:
"For Christ took His immaculate flesh from the immaculate flesh of Mary; and if He had prepared a place in heaven for the Apostles, how much more for His mother. If Enoch had been translated and Elijah had gone to heaven, how much more Mary, who like the moon in the midst of the stars shines forth and excels among the prophets and Apostles? For even though her God-bearing body tasted death, it did not undergo corruption, but was preserved incorrupt and undefiled and taken up into heaven with its pure and spotless soul."
So Mary is above and beyond anyone who ever lived with the exception of her son, Jesus. It is a firm belief among Catholics that from her conception, Mary was free of original sin, the sin that we all inherit from Adam.
The angel Gabriel, in announcing to Mary her imminent pregnancy, called her “highly favored one” “the Lord is with you” and “blessed are you among women”. So Mary is chosen to be the mother of God incarnate, through a virgin birth by the power of the Holy Spirit.
No one knows exactly where, when or how Mary died. Apostolic Tradition Points to a time between three and fifteen years after the Ascension of Jesus. There are conflicting claims as to her place of death, either Jerusalem or Ephesus.
There is a tomb of Mary in Jerusalem but it only became known after the sixth century AD. St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem let it be known in 451 that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles. Her tomb was opened at the request of St. Thomas (did he doubt that she was there?) and found to be empty.
The Apostles concluded that she had been taken up to Heaven, body and soul.
There are some apocryphal writings from the early church that mention the Assumption of Mary but most of these documents are flawed and suspect. There is a letter bearing the name of St. John which mentions Mary’s bodily assumption into Heaven but it has been dated to the fourth or fifth century AD.
“De Transitu Virginis”, a letter falsely ascribed to St. Denis the Areopagite, also mentions it. Genuine writings from St. Andrew of Crete, St. John of Damascene and others also make mention of Mary’s bodily assumption. Sermons previously attributed to St. Jerome and St. Augustine that support the Assumption have been shown to be counterfeit.
The belief in Mary’s bodily assumption is universal in eastern and western Catholic Churches of today. Why wasn’t the Assumption a part of Catholic doctrine long ago? Why was it adopted so long after the fact? Catholic apologists say that the early Church had too many questions to resolve surrounding who Christ was and what He meant to us and did not have a particular set of doctrines to deal with Mary until many of the other questions were dealt with.
The Church evolved an entire theology surrounding Mary. She got new names: Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, Immaculate Mother, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, among many others.
The doctrine of The Immaculate Conception defines Mary as conceived without original sin and having lived a sinless life. She is the New Eve, perpetually a virgin. Through the Rosary, she is prayed to and Mary is sought as the intercessor between the faithful and Jesus. Would Jesus say no to his mother? At the wedding at Cana (John 2), Jesus obeyed his mother when she asked him to make wine.
All of these beliefs about Mary form the basis from which belief in the Assumption grew. Mary stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross when all of the disciples, save John, had fled. She was with the Apostles at Pentecost when the gift of the Holy Spirit was given. Mary shared in the most intimate details of Jesus life: His birth, life, death and resurrection.
Catholics generally believe, those that take the trouble to investigate it, that the promises of Christ as far as eternal life and resurrection of the body were fulfilled in Mary. If Mary was free of original sin, then she should not have had to suffer the consequences of that sin, namely, death. There is ongoing debate as to whether Mary ever died or was just “assumed” into God’s presence. If she died was that unjust? Did she share in Jesus bodily resurrection and glorification at her death?
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops said in their 1973 letter: "Behold Your Mother," "Christ has risen from the dead, we need no further assurance of our faith. Mary assumed into heaven serves rather as a gracious reminder to the Church that our Lord wishes all whom the Father has given Him to be raised with Him. In Mary taken to glory, to union with Christ, the Church sees herself answering the invitation of the heavenly Bridegroom."
At the heart of the belief in the Assumption is a deep unconditional love and devotion for Mary. Devotees have trouble accepting the fact that at her death her body would have suffered corruption in a grave. The reward for what she did and the role she played must be higher than the rest of us get and so, the Assumption is her reward as well as life everlasting with her Son, the Savior.
The Feast of the Assumption, celebrated August 15, every year is a reminder of the faith and obedience of Mary in saying “yes” to God. She and Joseph faithfully raised the young man Jesus so as to prepare him for ministry. She stood by him throughout his life and death and is receiving a just reward.