Four Doctrines on Mary - Part III
By Mike Lambrecht
In keeping with the month of May being dedicated to Mary, we will now examine the fourth and final doctrine of Mary – the Assumption. Pronounced on November 1, 1950 by Pope Pius XII it reads:
… for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.1
When we examine the dogma of the Assumption of Mary closely, we can see that it does not address whether or not Mary died, but rather states that she was assumed body and soul into heaven “after the completion of her earthly life.” As such, Catholics in good standing are free to believe either that she did in fact die and then was assumed, or that she was assumed into heaven without dying. However, it is important to note that “the overwhelming tradition of the Church, including the Fathers, is that she did [die].”2
Whether or not Mary died before being assumed, we know that her body was kept free from any stain of corruption by the power of God. In the tradition of the Church, Saint Gregory of Tours mentions the Assumption of Mary as early as the sixth century. Also, Saint John Damascene writes, “He was pleased even after her departure from life to honor her immaculate and undefiled body with incorruption and with translation [Assumption] prior to the common and universal resurrection.”3 Because of this, we can clearly see that this dogma is not something that the Church invented in the 20th century but rather has believed for centuries and simply made explicit in 1950.
While the Assumption of Mary is not mentioned in Scripture, we can find evidence of other individuals being assumed. Scripture tells us that Elijah was taken into heaven without dying. “And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”4 We can also see that Enoch was taken up into heaven. “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him.”5 From these examples, we can see that bodily assumption, it is not something completely unheard of in Scripture.
The Catechism tells us that, “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.”6 It was fitting that God would choose to keep his mother, who participated so perfectly in his plan of salvation, free from any corruption and to bring her, body and soul, into heaven.
In conclusion, I hope that you have gained a better understanding of the Church’s doctrines on Mary over the past three weeks. The next time someone asks you to explain the Church’s teachings on Mary as the Mother of God, her perpetual virginity, her Immaculate Conception, or her bodily Assumption I hope that you will take the opportunity to inform the individual with charity. In doing so, you may be helping to bring a soul back to the Church.
1 Munificentissimus Deus paragraph 44
2 Chacon, Rev. Frank. Beginning Apologetics: How to Explain and Defend Mary. Farmington: San Juan Catholic Seminars, 2001.
3 St. John Damascene. Second Homily on the Dormition of Mary.
4 2 Kings 2:11
5 Hebrews 11:5 see also Genesis 5:24
6 Catechism of the Catholic Church #966