Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

The Assumption of Mary

Jim and I made it back into the recording studio last week after a summer break from podcasting. The most recent one focuses on the Assumption of Mary. You can listen to it and other podcasts here.

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This entry was posted by on Monday, August 16th, 2010 at 7:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Fr. Christian is the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, TN.

Comments

  • Loukas

    Thanks for this entry.
    I also found an interesting article about the Dormition/Assumption providing a broad perspective on the feast’s history and the various ways it is observed. Worth checking out: http://dstp.cba.pl/?p=2399

  • http://www.emahlou.blogspot.com elizabeth mahlou

    I followed the link, and, my goodness, what a treasure I found. You are building quite a rich site on the church blog/site.

  • http://happyentanglements.blogspot.com Mark G.

    A couple of thoughts…

    Though the apostolic constitution of Pope Pius XII, with sensitivity to both the Eastern & Western traditions, frequently speaks of overcoming death, it never declares definitively that the Blessed Mother actually died. The closest it comes is paragraph 14, when it indicates that, since Mary follows her Son in all things, it is reasonable that she, too, tasted death, but not corruption.

    It does go on in para. 20, 21, et. al. to show that the Fathers of the Church pretty much unanimously believed & taught the actual death of the Blessed Mother.

    Here’s the link to the AC at the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus_en.html

    A priest told me of a story told in the East about a member of royalty who made a pilgrimage to Ephesus, wanting to venerate at the tomb of the Blessed Mother. The dumb-founded bishop told him in reply simply, “There is no tomb of Mary.”

    Given how insanely relic-happy Middle Age Christianity became, if Mary had actually been bodily buried like the rest of humanity, surely someone (or a hundred ones!) throughout the course of history would have claimed to have her relics. Maybe that’s why she was assumed – to keep her body safe from the hands of Catholics!

    BTW, you left off the Nativity of Mary (1 of the 3 Nativities in the calendar, along with Christ Jesus & John the Baptist) & the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the day before the Sacred Heart of Jesus) in your list of Marian feasts. Sorry, don’t have those dates handy here in China!

    It is an odd thought that, from our temporal, earthly viewpoint, the only 2 embodied persons in heavenly glory until the Judgment are Christ Jesus himself & the Blessed Virgin Mary.

  • jill

    Mark…
    What about Elijah and Enoch?

  • Fr. Christian Mathis

    Yes, I understand that the official statement from the Church does not come right out and say the Mary died, but it is certainly implied, and the longer Church tradition would consistently support this. Perhaps the most compelling argument is the fact that Christ Himself underwent death and that it would seem odd that Mary would be spared death when God Himself experiences it.

    Thanks for the reminder about Elijah and company Jill!

  • http://happyentanglements.blogspot.com Mark G.

    Hi Father, I wasn’t arguing one way or the other, just pointing out the fact. I rather agree that Mary’s life paralled her Son’s in this way & that she underwent everything he did as a model for us to follow in hope.

    Hi Jill, though the Scriptures speak of Elijah & Enoch as “taken up”, the Church has never elaborated on this to say they are bodily in heaven – in any case, certainly not before the King Christ Jesus & the Queen Mother Mary. It seems fitting to me that they await the Judgment as well.

    May it please God that we all find out one day!

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