Greetings and Salutations to Everyone!!!
Today we get to celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, and I would like to remind everyone that this is a Holy Day of Obligation, So don't forget to go to mass! And next week we celebrate her crowning as queen of Heaven
Mary’s Assumption and Crowning
In the month of August, we celebrate not only the Assumption of the Blessed Mother’s body into heaven on the 15th, but also the crowning of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven on the 22nd of August.
Tradition in the Eastern Catholic Church is that the apostles were with the Blessed Mother at her death—or “dormition” as it is called, the “falling asleep.” However, St. Thomas was the only apostle not present at the time, and when he arrived three days later and asked to see her body in the tomb, they opened it for him. To their amazement, her body was gone. The traditional belief is that Mary herself appeared to the apostles and told them that her Son Jesus took her body to heaven. Another legend of St. Thomas recieving Mary's girdle probably originated in the East, and was well known in Italy by the 14th century.[3] Thomas is most famous, apart from his mission to India, for the Doubting Thomas episode (John 20:24-29) where he missed thepost-Resurrection appearance of Jesus to the ten other apostles, and said he would not believe Jesus had returned until he had felt his wounds. In the story of the girdle, at the Assumption of Mary, where the other apostles were present, Thomas once again missed the occasion (being on his way back from India), so the Virgin Mary, aware of Thomas' sceptical nature, appeared to him individually and dropped the girdle she was wearing down onto him, to give him a physical proof of what he had seen. In other versions he was miraculously transported from India to the Mount of Olives, to be present at the actual Assumption, and the Virgin dropped her girdle down to him as she was taken up to heaven.[3] Alternatively, only Thomas actually witnessed the Assumption, and the Virgin left the belt as a proof for his story to the other apostles (a neat inversion of the Doubting Thomas episode).[4]
The Church has declared the Blessed Mother as the Queen of Heaven, and celebrates the Feast of the Queenship of Mary a week after the feast of the Assumption.
Some of the prayers of the feast-day make us reflect on just how much God depended on Mary for the salvation of mankind. Our salvation, based on the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, was made possible by the humble assent of Mary.
“Our Lady, you have become the throne of the Most High, and today you go up from earth to heaven. Your glory, shining forth with the radiance of divine grace, surpasses every other splendor. …Hail, O Woman full of grace, the Lord is with you, the Lord who, because of you, bestows great mercy upon the world.”
“Behold, all the heavenly hierarchies – the Dominations, Thrones, Principalities, Virtues, Powers, Cherubim, and Seraphim – sing a hymn of glory to your Dormition. All human races rejoice at your glory, and kings, together with the angels and archangels, sing out to you: ‘Hail, O Woman full of grace!’ The Lord is with you, the Lord who, because of you, bestows great mercy upon the world.”
“As for the most sublime Powers of heaven, they came… to escort and to pay their last respect to the most honorable body that had contained Life Itself. Filled with awe, …they professed … in a hushed voice: ‘Behold the Queen of All, the divine maiden is coming!’ …Lift up your gates and receive with becoming majesty the Mother of the Light that never fades. Because through her, salvation was made possible for our human race. …For the special honor that made her sublime is beyond our understanding…
“Wherefore, O most pure Mother of God, forever alive with your Son, the Source of Life, do not cease to intercede with Him that He may guard and save your people from every trouble, for you are our intercessor.” [Byzantine Daily Worship, pp. 755 to 757]
“Hail, Holy Queen, enthroned above, Hail Mother of mercy and of love! Our life, our sweetness here below, Our hope in sorrow and in woe. Turn then most gracious Advocate, Towards us thine eyes compassionate. When this our exile is complete, Show us your Son, our Jesus sweet. O clement, gracious Mother sweet, O Virgin Mary, we entreat, O Maria.” (words from Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above)
St. Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church, wrote the book The Glories of Mary, considered a classic among Catholic writings and which many consider to have been inspired. Writing about the Assumption of Mary, he says that Jesus Himself “went forth from Heaven to accompany His Mother” up to Heaven. St. Alphonsus records the words of Jesus to Mary upon her death:
Tradition in the Eastern Catholic Church is that the apostles were with the Blessed Mother at her death—or “dormition” as it is called, the “falling asleep.” However, St. Thomas was the only apostle not present at the time, and when he arrived three days later and asked to see her body in the tomb, they opened it for him. To their amazement, her body was gone. The traditional belief is that Mary herself appeared to the apostles and told them that her Son Jesus took her body to heaven. Another legend of St. Thomas recieving Mary's girdle probably originated in the East, and was well known in Italy by the 14th century.[3] Thomas is most famous, apart from his mission to India, for the Doubting Thomas episode (John 20:24-29) where he missed thepost-Resurrection appearance of Jesus to the ten other apostles, and said he would not believe Jesus had returned until he had felt his wounds. In the story of the girdle, at the Assumption of Mary, where the other apostles were present, Thomas once again missed the occasion (being on his way back from India), so the Virgin Mary, aware of Thomas' sceptical nature, appeared to him individually and dropped the girdle she was wearing down onto him, to give him a physical proof of what he had seen. In other versions he was miraculously transported from India to the Mount of Olives, to be present at the actual Assumption, and the Virgin dropped her girdle down to him as she was taken up to heaven.[3] Alternatively, only Thomas actually witnessed the Assumption, and the Virgin left the belt as a proof for his story to the other apostles (a neat inversion of the Doubting Thomas episode).[4]
The legend is described briefly in the Golden Legend, with Thomas missing the Assumption and receiving the girdle later
Some of the prayers of the feast-day make us reflect on just how much God depended on Mary for the salvation of mankind. Our salvation, based on the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, was made possible by the humble assent of Mary.
“Our Lady, you have become the throne of the Most High, and today you go up from earth to heaven. Your glory, shining forth with the radiance of divine grace, surpasses every other splendor. …Hail, O Woman full of grace, the Lord is with you, the Lord who, because of you, bestows great mercy upon the world.”
“Behold, all the heavenly hierarchies – the Dominations, Thrones, Principalities, Virtues, Powers, Cherubim, and Seraphim – sing a hymn of glory to your Dormition. All human races rejoice at your glory, and kings, together with the angels and archangels, sing out to you: ‘Hail, O Woman full of grace!’ The Lord is with you, the Lord who, because of you, bestows great mercy upon the world.”
“As for the most sublime Powers of heaven, they came… to escort and to pay their last respect to the most honorable body that had contained Life Itself. Filled with awe, …they professed … in a hushed voice: ‘Behold the Queen of All, the divine maiden is coming!’ …Lift up your gates and receive with becoming majesty the Mother of the Light that never fades. Because through her, salvation was made possible for our human race. …For the special honor that made her sublime is beyond our understanding…
“Wherefore, O most pure Mother of God, forever alive with your Son, the Source of Life, do not cease to intercede with Him that He may guard and save your people from every trouble, for you are our intercessor.” [Byzantine Daily Worship, pp. 755 to 757]
“Hail, Holy Queen, enthroned above, Hail Mother of mercy and of love! Our life, our sweetness here below, Our hope in sorrow and in woe. Turn then most gracious Advocate, Towards us thine eyes compassionate. When this our exile is complete, Show us your Son, our Jesus sweet. O clement, gracious Mother sweet, O Virgin Mary, we entreat, O Maria.” (words from Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above)
St. Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church, wrote the book The Glories of Mary, considered a classic among Catholic writings and which many consider to have been inspired. Writing about the Assumption of Mary, he says that Jesus Himself “went forth from Heaven to accompany His Mother” up to Heaven. St. Alphonsus records the words of Jesus to Mary upon her death:
Blessed Mother Mary, on the Feast of your Assumption, pray for us. Most holy Virgin Mother, Queen of Heaven, pray for us.Come in, soul and body, to enjoy the recompense of thy holy life. If thy sufferings have been great on earth, far greater is the glory which I have prepared for thee in Heaven.
On her entrance, [into Heaven]…. The angels proclaim “She is the Mother of our King; she is our Queen, and the blessed one among women; full of grace, the saint of saints, the beloved of God, the immaculate one, the dove, the fairest of all creatures.” Then all the blessed spirits began to bless her and praise her…
All the saints who were in Paradise then came to welcome her and salute her as their Queen. …St. James, the only apostle who was yet in Heaven, also came to thank her in the name of all the other apostles for all the comfort and help she had afforded them while she was on earth. The prophets came to salute her… The holy patriarchs came…Adam and Eve came to thank her…St. Simeon came to kiss her feet. … St. Zachary and St. Elizabeth came and thanked her for that loving visit… by which they had received such treasures of grace. St. John the Baptist came…to thank her for having sanctified him by her voice. … St. Joachim and St. Anne …blessed her, saying, “O beloved daughter, what a favor it was for us to have such a child!”
…her dear spouse, St. Joseph, came to salute her… With what tenderness must he have addressed her: “O my Lady and spouse, how can I ever thank our God as I ought for having made me thy spouse, thou who art His true Mother! Through thee, I merited to assist on earth the Childhood of the Eternal Word, to carry Him so often in my arms, and to receive so many graces. Ever blessed be those moments which I spent in life serving Jesus and thee, my spouse. Behold our Jesus! Let us rejoice that he now no longer lies on straw in a manger… He no longer lives despised in a shop, as He once lived with us in Nazareth; He is now no longer nailed to an infamous gibbet, as when He died in Jerusalem for the salvation of the world; but He is seated at the right hand of His Father as King and Lord of Heaven and earth.”
Then…the great Queen thanked all the angels for their assistance they had given her on earth, and more especially, she thanked the Archangel Gabriel… The humble and holy Virgin, then kneeling, adored the Divine Majesty and …thanked Him for all the graces bestowed upon her by His pure goodness, and especially for having made her the Mother of the Eternal Word.”
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