Picture Source
by Brother
John M. Samaha, S.M.
The Solemnity of the Assumption of
Mary is a feast that traces its origin to the earliest ages of the Church. Tied
to this feast are themes of Mary as Mother of the Church and model for the
Church. In her the Church witnesses the fullness of the effects of the saving
death and resurrection of Christ for humanity. The Preface for the feast’s
Eucharistic Liturgy attests to this.
Today the Virgin Mother
of God
was taken up into heaven
to be the beginning and
the pattern of the Church
in its perfection,
and a sign of hope and
comfort for your people
on their pilgrim way.
The themes of the Mass prayers and
readings, and those of the Liturgy of the Hours, reflect the basis of the
Church’s teaching about Mary and the many titles accorded her in popular
Christian devotion.
The feast of Mary’s Assumption
honors her Dormition, as the feast is called in the East, her falling asleep in
the Lord and being taken body and soul to heaven when her earthly life was
completed. Mary’s Assumption is
analogous to Jesus’ Ascension.
The similarity between the
privileges of Christ and those of his Mother is in no way identity. Christ has his prerogatives by his very
nature as God Incarnate. Mary receives
hers by a free gift from God. “He who is
mighty has done great things for me.”
We understand that Mary is a
creature only, dependent on Christ for everything.
She is a
woman and a mother, and her grace is adapted to her own nature and to her own
special function. Christ exists for
God. Mary exists for Christ. God made Christ our unique Redeemer. Mary exercises her role as Cordemptrix only
through union with Christ, and she herself had to be redeemed by him. Christ is our necessary advocate with the Father. Mary is our advocate with Christ and through
Christ. So it is with all the privileges
of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This analogy is the work of the
filial piety of the Son of God for his Mother.
This was understood by the faithful from earliest times, even though it
was not formulated until later. In the
eighth century St. John of Damascus
explained in regard to the Assumption: “It was necessary that the Mother
should have entered into the possession of all the goods of her Son, and that
she should have been venerated by all creation as the Mother and Handmaid of
God. It is a customary practice that the
wealth of the parents pass to their children.
But here . . . the springs of the sacred waters flow toward the
height. The Son has submitted the entire
creation to the dominion of his mother.”
Centuries later St. Louis de Montfort wrote: “All that is proper to God Incarnate by
nature is proper to Mary by grace.”
Around 1930 the renowned Marianist
Mariologist and author, Father Emile Neubert, S.M., expressed this principle of
analogy with theological exactness: “To the various privileges of the humanity
of Jesus there correspond analogous privileges in Mary, in the manner and in
the degree required by the difference between her condition and that of her
Son.”
Finally Pope Pius XII solemnly
defined Mary’s Assumption as a dogma and an article of faith in Munificentissimus Deus more than six decades ago on November
1, 1950.
In many countries this feast is a
holyday of obligation. In Lebanon,
August 15 is also a national holiday observed by peoples of all faiths.
What meaning and message does Mary’s
Assumption have for us today? This
doctrine and feast remind us of our eternal destiny, that we are made for
everlasting life with God. This feast
honoring Mary points us to our future and reminds us to live accordingly so as
to achieve our goal. The Assumption of
Mary also teaches us respect for life and for the sacredness of the human body.
Queen assumed into heaven, pray for
us!
