Today, Catholics and many other Christians celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This significant feast day recalls the spiritual and physical departure of the mother of Jesus Christ from the earth, when both her soul and her body were taken into the presence of God.

Venerable Pius XII confirmed this belief about the Virgin Mary as the perennial teaching of the Church when he defined it formally as a dogma of Catholic faith in 1950, invoking to proclaim, “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.”

His Apostolic Constitution “” (Most Bountiful God), which defined the dogma, contained the Pontiff's accounts of many longstanding traditions by which the Church has celebrated the Assumption throughout its history.

The constitution also cited testimonies from the early on the subject, and described the history of theological reflection on many Biblical passages which are seen as indicating that Mary was assumed into heaven following her death.

Although the bodily is not explicitly recorded in Scripture, Catholic tradition identifies her with the “woman clothed with the sun” who is described in the 12th chapter of the . The passage calls that woman's appearance “a great sign” which “appeared in heaven,” indicating that she is the mother of the Jewish Messiah and has “the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Accordingly, Catholic iconography of the Western tradition often depicts the Virgin Mary's assumption into heaven in this manner.

“It was fitting,” St. John of Damascus wrote in a sermon on the assumption, “that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death,” and “that she, who had carried the creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles.”

Did Mary Actually Die?

But that brings up another point. What is death? We see it as the end of a person’s life when the body disintegrates into dust later to be resurrected at the Last Judgment. But death is also a passage from one state of life (on earth) to another state of existence (in eternity). The Church has not said whether Mary died or not. It says only that Mary made the transition from this temporal life into eternity with God. The fact that Jesus himself died on the cross would not exclude Mary’s dying, and, in fact, is an argument for some that Mary experienced death herself in imitation of her son. We just don’t know. The significant issue is that, like Jesus, her body did not suffer corruption.

Almighty ever-living God, who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of your Son, body and soul into heavenly glory, grant we pray, that, always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers of her glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

THE MISSIONARIES OF OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE WILL PREACH THE ANNUAL PARISH MISSION APPEAL AT OUR PARISH NEXT WEEKEND --- AUGUST 21-22

Having brought the fullness of Life to our world when He rose from the dead, Jesus sent his disciples to share this life with all of creation. “

They went forth and preached everywhere” (Mk 16:20). The Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette minister to people of every race, language, culture and way of life – beginning at the La Salette Shrine in where our Blessed Mother appeared in 1846. Her final words, “Well, my children, you will make this known to all my people, “echo Jesus’ mandate. It is little wonder that the La Salette Congregation has always been mission orientated.

When called upon by the Vatican to preach the Gospel in foreign lands, they eagerly responded. This spirit brought them to mission in 27 countries, especially among the poor in Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Haiti, India, Madagascar, Myanmar and the Philippines. With your cooperation, the Missionaries of La Salette can continue to provide spiritual and financial assistance to these mission countries as they bring God’s reconciling message to the poor.

Fr. John Higgins, is a La Salette priest who has ministered in Argentina for over 21 years and 11 years in Bolivia. As a native of the Boston area, he currently is in active ministry as Senior Priest now serving at the Parish of in Hartford, Connecticut. Fr. Higgins finds great joy in sharing his missionary experiences with the parish families as he gives the Mission Appeals.