Today we celebrate the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven. Pope Benedict expresses the beauty of what Our Lady means to us
“By contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we understand that the earth is not the definitive homeland for us either, and that if we live with our gaze fixed on eternal goods we will one day share in this same glory and the earth will become more beautiful. Consequently, we must not lose our serenity and peace even amid the thousands of daily difficulties. The luminous sign of Our Lady taken up into Heaven shines out even more brightly when sad shadows of suffering and violence seem to loom on the horizon.
“We may be sure of it: from on high, Mary follows our footsteps with gentle concern, dispels the gloom in moments of darkness and distress, reassures us with her motherly hand. Supported by awareness of this, let us continue confidently on our path of Christian commitment wherever Providence may lead us. Let us forge ahead in our lives under Mary’s guidance”.
— Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience at Castel Gandolfo Aug. 16, 2006.
For hundreds of years, Catholics observed the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15 — celebrating Mary’s being taken bodily to Heaven after her death — but it was not until 1950 that the Church proclaimed this teaching a dogma of the Church – one of the essential beliefs of the Catholic faith.
The Feast of the Assumption has always been loved dearly by the faithful who are children of Mary. It is a sign to us that someday, through God’s grace and our efforts, we too may join the Blessed Mother in giving glory to God. The Assumption is a source of great hope for us, too, for it points the way for all followers of Christ who imitate her fidelity and obedience to God’s will. Where she now is, we are meant eventually to be, and may hope to be through Divine grace. Mary’s being taken to heaven after her life on earth was ended is the logical outcome of her immaculate nature, uniquely protected — also by God’s grace — from personal sin. We seek to imitate her self-sacrificing love, her indestructible faith and her perfect obedience
The more we are sinners, the more she has tenderness and compassion for us.”
- Saint John Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars
