August 15th marks the Feast of the Assumption. On this day, the Catholic Church celebrates the end of the Blessed Virgin’s life on earth and her bodily assumption into heaven.
This feast day is a relatively new one. But the history and mystery of the Assumption dates back to the early Church.
Pope Pius XII made an infallible, ex-cathedra statement in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus deus formally defining this dogmatic teaching.
“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,” wrote Pope Pius XII. His decree formalized the Church’s teaching on the Assumption.
Catholic News Agency (CNA) has an excellent article on the Feast of the Assumption. Click here to read the CNA piece.
Hundreds gathered in Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul for a Traditional Latin Mass to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Click here for beautiful photography from the Mass.
