Happy Feast of the Assumption! A Nun’s Life community member Marla Thurman wrote today’s blog post in honor of the feast day.

Assumption of Mary (14th c.) housed in Ávila Cathedral museum; photo by Lawrence OP on Flickr

I was directing a retreat for 22 college students when Pope John Paul II died. The theme of our retreat was “I Hope You Dance,” and suddenly everyone stopped rejoicing and became somber. I allowed a couple of hours for sadness, but then I pushed on with the joyful tone of the retreat.

“Should we be having a good time?” a student asked.

“If we believe what we say we believe, yes,” I told her. “If we truly believe that Heaven is the reward for those that do good, and if we believe that Heaven is amazing and beautiful, of course we should be having a good time! The pope is in Heaven experiencing more joy than he ever did on this earth. We should be celebrating!”

The feast of the Assumption of Mary is about just that. Sometimes referred to as “Mary’s Heavenly Birthday,” the Assumption is when we celebrate that Mary’s body and soul were taken up into heaven. Most Church discussion on the Assumption, which was not official Church doctrine until 1950, says that Mary actually died here on earth before being assumed, but it is “okay” with the Church to believe she never died. The issue isn’t forced because Church leaders know it is more important for us to understand where she ended up. To celebrate Mary’s entrance into Heaven is only right. No other person deserved Heaven more.

The custom of celebrating that transition from earthly life to everlasting life is what makes sense for Catholics as a hopeful people. When my best friend died of inflammatory breast cancer in 2001, a prayer card at her funeral read:

Marianne Tillman
Born September 30, 1949
Born to Eternal Life August 1, 2001

I see these announcements at most funerals now. As Catholics, we do hope for a life after this one, we do hope in Heaven. And if we believe that Heaven is joy, how could we not celebrate going there? When we lose those we love and are filled with grief, can we not also rejoice in the belief that they truly are in a happier, more beautiful place?

The Assumption of Mary has many theological implications, most far beyond my ken, but I acknowledge the feast with thanksgiving that there is, indeed, something more for all of us after this life, and it is a wonderful thing to hope for. While no one wants to rush, a “heavenly birthday” can only be awesome.

Following is a post from guest blogger, Jackie Walker. Visit her Web site at www.religiontranscends.com. And watch for an upcoming post on her site from Sister Julie.

On August 15, Catholics will celebrate the feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast is a celebration of the Catholic dogma that Mary was “assumed into heaven body and soul.” As one of the principal Marian feasts and one of the 12 great feasts of the Catholic year, August 15 is a holy day of obligation.

Since the early days of the church, Christians have celebrated the “Memory of Mary” at both the place where Orthodox Christians believe she died (the Place of Dormition in Ephesus) and the place where she was buried (the Tomb of Mary in Israel).

In the 5th century, the Roman emperor Marcian requested Mary’s relics be enshrined in Constantinople; it was then that bishops explained that, aside from her burial shroud, there were no existing relics of Mary. Rather, when the disciples opened her tomb after she had been buried three days, they found no traces of her. This led them to believe she had been taken up (or assumed) into heaven. At that point, the celebration became less about death and more about her assumption into heaven, dead or alive.

By the 13th century, most Catholic leaders accepted that she had been assumed into heaven. But while the belief as accepted, it did not become official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church until 1950.

Around 1946, Pope Pius XII had asked the bishops whether they felt Mary’s assumption should become dogma. When they replied with a resounding yes, he issued the following summary in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950:

The revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same degree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, was finally granted, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the ages. (Concord Encyclopedia of World Religions, 2006)

Such speech exemplifies the idea that God would not allow a corrupt death after a pure birth and that, since Mary was so close to Jesus in life, she must be near him (body and soul) in heaven.

Today, Catholics commemorate this event with a feast. This commemoration is not meant solely to remember the past, but is also intended as a look to the future. It is hoped that by leading a life as Mary did, with obedience and faith, will lead to the same outcome – being taken into heaven with the Blessed Virgin upon death.

Today, a church at Gethsemane sits at the site of Mary’s tomb. According to oca.org, that church holds one of the most solemn ceremonies to celebrate the Assumption. They remember her burial by lifting up what is believed to be her burial shroud, then participating in a procession to the Gethsemane church a few days later.

Links:
For more information about the Assumption of Mary, visit http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/assumption.html.

For information about other Marian feasts, visit www.wf-f.org/MarianFeast.html.

On the same day that Roman Catholics celebrate the Assumption of Mary, Orthodox Christians commemorate her death or dormition. Read about this similar (yet quite different) remembrance at religiontranscends.com/category/christianity.

Jackie Walker is a freelance religion writer in Chicago, Illinois. She is a regular contributor to Relate magazine and has worked for a number of religion publishers in the past, including Guideposts, Relevant Media Group, and World Wisdom.

Religion Transcends is a Web site devoted to providing news about world religions – without prejudice. It includes commentary, reporting, and education to eliminate misconceptions about religions and to give context and meaning to stories in the news. Visit Religion Transcends today at religiontranscends.com.