What Is the Assumption of Mary?

A Feast in the Middle of August

Every year on 15 August, Catholics celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In many countries it is a public holiday and a holy day of obligation. In Italy, the whole country seems to stop for Ferragosto.

But what exactly are Catholics celebrating? The Church teaches that at the end of her earthly life, Mary was taken up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven (CCC 966).

What the Church Teaches

Pope Pius XII solemnly defined the Assumption on 1 November 1950, in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus. He declared 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.

This was one of the very rare occasions on which a Pope has spoken infallibly ex cathedra. Before defining it, Pius XII consulted the bishops of the whole world, and they overwhelmingly confirmed that this was already the belief of the Church.

Assumption or Ascension?

The two words sound alike, and are often confused. They describe different things.

The Ascension is when Jesus went up into heaven forty days after His Resurrection. He ascended by His own power, because He is God.

The Assumption is when Mary was taken up into heaven. She did not go by her own power. She was assumed, that is, taken up, by God’s power.

Jesus rose; Mary was raised. The difference shows that everything Mary has, she receives from her Son.

Did Mary Die?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about the Assumption, and the answer may be surprising: the Church has not defined it.

Pius XII deliberately chose the words “having completed the course of her earthly life,” leaving the question open.

The great majority of the Church’s tradition, in both East and West, holds that Mary did die, sharing in the death of her Son, and was then taken up into heaven. In the Eastern Churches, this feast is called the Dormition, meaning the “falling asleep” of the Mother of God. St John Paul II, in a general audience in 1997, said that it was more likely Mary had passed through death like her Son before being raised.

Others have held that, being free from original sin, Mary did not need to die. Catholics are free to hold either view, though the first is far more widely held.

Where Does the Belief Come From?

The Assumption is not described in the Bible. Catholics do not expect every revealed truth to be spelled out in Scripture, because God’s word is handed on through both Scripture and Tradition.

That said, Scripture gives strong hints.

The woman clothed with the sun. The Book of Revelation describes “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). The Church has long seen Mary in this woman, shown in heavenly glory.

The Ark of the Covenant. Just before that vision, John sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven (Revelation 11:19). The early Christians saw Mary, who carried God within her, as the new Ark.

Christ’s victory over death. Mary was free from sin, and death is the consequence of sin. It was fitting that her body should not see corruption.

The Tradition is equally telling. From early on, the Christians of Jerusalem pointed to the place of Mary’s tomb, but no city ever claimed to have her bodily relics. For a Church that treasured the relics of the saints, this silence is striking. By the sixth century, the feast of the Dormition was being celebrated widely in the East, and it spread throughout the West.

Why Does It Matter?

The Assumption might seem like a privilege for Mary alone, with little to do with us. In fact it is deeply connected to our own hope.

It shows the dignity of the body. Christianity does not teach that the soul escapes from the body like a bird from a cage. God made us body and soul, and He intends to save us body and soul. Mary’s Assumption shows that the body is destined for glory.

It is a preview of our own resurrection. The Catechism calls the Assumption a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians (CCC 966). What has happened to Mary will happen to all the faithful at the end of time. She has simply gone first.

It gives us a mother in heaven. Mary is not only a figure of the past. She is fully alive, body and soul, in heaven, and she cares for us as a mother. When we pray to her, we pray to someone who is present to God and present to us.

The Mother Goes First

At the end of the Hail Holy Queen, we pray: “after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” The Assumption assures us that Mary is already where we hope to be.

Like a mother who goes ahead to prepare the house for her family, she waits for us there.

See also What Are the Four Marian Dogmas? and What Does the Resurrection Mean for Us?

Go deeper: Why Did Pius XII Define the Assumption, and How Can a Dogma Not Be in the Bible?