https://mysticpost.com/2018/08/visi...fore-death-august-15-feast-of-the-assumption/ Our Lady of Medjugorje Tells Visionaries ..”I went to Heaven before death”…August 15 – Feast of The Assumption Medjugorje Visionaries from recorded testimony: October 12, 1981 Where is Paradise and the Kingdom of God? “In Heaven.” Our Lady is asked if she is the Mother of God and if She went to heaven before or after Her death: “I am the Mother of God and the Queen of Peace. I went to Heaven before death.” The Assumption of Mary into Heaven, often shortened to the Assumption and also known as the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Dormition),[3][4] according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.[5] This doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950, in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus by exercising papal infallibility.[6] While the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church believe in the Dormition of the Theotokos, which is the same as the Assumption,[7] whether Mary had a physical death has not been dogmatically defined. In Munificentissimus Deus (item 39) Pope Pius XII pointed to the Book of Genesis (3:15) as scriptural support for the dogma in terms of Mary’s victory over sin and death as also reflected in 1 Corinthians 15:54: “then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory”.[8][9][10] In the churches that observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, commonly celebrated on 15 August. In many countries, the feast is also marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church and as a festival (under various names) in the Anglican Communion.
At the end of the clip, Scott Hahn encourages us to pay close attention to today's readings on this Feast of the Assumption. What did you hear? Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
I was rereading a fvourite book lately which reminded me of the first reading for the Feast.. it wasn;t the readings for the vigil mass last night that drew my atention but one on the Ark of the Coventant a few days ago. Blesssed Catherine writes of the generations coming up to the Birth of Mary, how they longer for their coming. It reminded me that Mary is the New Ark of the Convenat; holding God in her womb, arms and heart. The original Convenat, legend has it was taken by God into Heaven as Mary was. A mark of it's and Mary's Holiness.
"Before Death", as in before death would take her on Earth? I've always thought that she was assumed without having died (I think tradition allows for both interpretations, that she was resurrected and that she'd never died), but it never occurred to me that it might have been done in part to prevent her death. Hmmmm. I'd assumed that if she hadn't been assumed (sorry) she'd still be living on Earth, since aging and death are a product of sin.
I think there is a thing called the 'Dormition' (the Falling asleep of Mary), I must look it up. I think Catholic Legend has it that this happened at the Holy House at Ephesus. ..others say this happened at Jeruslaem, but I think it was Ephesus.
cf: http://taylormarshall.com/2012/04/year-of-assumption-of-mary-according-to.html The Year of the Assumption of Mary according to Maria Agreda by Dr Taylor Marshall Venerable Maria Agreda, in her Mystical City of God records that the Immaculate Mother of God survived her Divine Son 21 years and that she died peacefully at 3pm on Friday the 13th of August in the 21st year after the resurrection of Christ. Her glorious Assumption occurred three days later on Sunday the 15th of August. Venerable Maria Agreda , The Bluebonnet of Texas We find that AD 33 plus AD 21 yields AD 54 for the date of the Dormition and Assumption of Mary. However, when we confer with the Julian calendar calculator, we find that the Friday does not fall on the 13th of August in the year AD 54. Uh oh. There is, however, a problem with the math in the preceding paragraph. Christ did not live out a full 33 years (he died in the middle of his 33rd year) and Mary did not live out a full 21 years beyond the resurrection of Christ our Lord. So we should not look for AD 54, but for AD 53. And guess what. In the Julian AD 53, the 13th of August is a Friday and the 15th of August is Sunday. If we are to trust the vision of Maria Agreda, AD 53 in the Julian calendar fits rather perfectly. I personally think that the year AD 63 is a better year for the Assumption, but this idea from Agreda is interesting.
https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/dormition-of-our-lady.html Dormition of Our Lady August 13: Dormition of Our Lady (58) Death of Our Lady in the presence of the apostles, except Saint Thomas. Like her divine Son, she rose again and ascended to heaven on the third day after her death. The Dormition of Our Lady. “The holy Apostles held a conference concerning the burial of the most sacred body of their Queen and lady. As they remembered that, according to the custom of the Jews at burial, the deified body of their Master had been anointed with precious ointments and spices and wrapped in the sacred burial cloths; they thought not of doing otherwise with the virginal body of His most holy Mother. Accordingly they called the two maidens, who had assisted the Queen during her life and who had been designated as the heiresses of her tunics, and instructed them to anoint the body of the Mother of God with highest reverence and modesty and wrap it in the winding-sheets before it should be placed in the casket. (Dormition of Our Lady, cont.) With great reverence and fear the two maidens entered the room, where the body of the blessed Lady lay upon its couch; but the refulgence issuing from it barred and blinded them in such a manner that they could neither see nor touch the body, nor even ascertain in what particular place it rested. In fear and reverence still greater than on their entrance, the maidens left the room; and in great excitement and wonder they told the Apostles what had happened. They, not without divine inspiration, came to the conclusion, that this Ark of the covenant was not to be touched or handled in the common way. Then saint Peter and saint John entered the oratory and perceived the effulgence, and at the same time they heard the celestial music of the angels, who were singing: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” Others responded: “A Virgin before childbirth, in childbirth and after childbirth.” From that time on many of the faithful expressed their devotion toward the most blessed Mary in these words of praise; and from them they were handed down to be repeated by us with the approbation of the holy Church. The two holy Apostles, saint peter and saint John, were for a time lost in admiration at what they saw and heard of their Queen; and in order to decide what to do, they sank on their knees, beseeching the Lord to make it known. Then they heard a voice saying: “Let not the sacred body be either uncovered or touched.” Having thus been informed of the will of God, they brought a bier, and, the effulgence having diminished somewhat, they approached the couch and with their own hands reverently took hold of the tunic at the two ends. Thus, without changing its posture, they raised the sacred and virginal Treasure and placed it on the bier in the same position as it had occupied on the couch. They could easily do this, because they felt no more weight than that of the tunic. On this bier the former effulgence of the body moderated still more, and all of them, by disposition of the Lord and for the consolation of all those present, could now perceive and study the beauty of that virginal countenance and of her hands. As for the rest, the omnipotence of God protected this his heavenly dwelling, so that neither in life nor in death any one should behold any other part except what is common in ordinary conversation, namely, her most inspiring countenance, by which She had been known, and her hands, by which She had labored. Then the Apostles consulted further about her burial. Their decision becoming known among the multitudes of the faithful in Jerusalem, they brought many candles to be lighted at the bier, and it happened that all the lights burned through that day and the two following days without any of the candles being consumed or wasted in any shape or manner. The Apostles took upon their shoulders the sacred body and the tabernacle of God and, as priests of the evangelical law, bore the Propitiatory of the divine oracles and blessings in orderly procession from the Cenacle in the city to the valley of Josaphat. This was the visible accompaniment of the dwellers of Jerusalem. But besies this there was another invisible multitude, that of the courtiers of heaven. It was composed of the thousand angels of the Queen, continuing their celestial songs, which were heard by the Apostles and disciples and many others, and which sweetly continued for three days. In addition to these many other spirits had descended from heaven, namely, many thousands or legions of angels with the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets, among whom were saint Joachim saint Anne, saint Joseph, saint Elizabeth and the Baptist and numerous other saints, who were sent by our Savior Jesus to assist at the exequies and burial of His most blessed Mother. When the procession came to the holy sepulcher in the valley of Josaphat, the same two Apostles, saint Peter and saint John, who had laid the celestial Treasure from the couch onto the bier, with joyful reverence placed it in the sepulcher and covered it with a linen cloth, the hands of the angels performing more of these last rites than the hands of the Apostles. They closed up the sepulcher with a large stone, according to custom at other burials. The celestial courtiers returned to heaven, while the thousand angels of the Queen continued their watch, guarding the sacred body and keeping up the music as at her burial. The concourse of the people lessened and the holy Apostles and disciples, dissolved in tender tears, returned to the Cenacle. *from The City of God, Mary of Agreda Dormition of Our Lady
Ah, I was assuming that the lack of original sin would mean the presence of all preternatural gifts, that's pretty naive in retrospect. The discussion after this article is rather good, as well as the article itself. Thanks, Padraig! http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/08/death-of-blessed-virgin-mary-latin.html
The article in the link is very good. I would be uncomfortable with the idea that Jesus died and Mary did not. It seems wrong, somehow.
According to the account of Mary of Agreda in the 'Mystical City of God' (she claimed apparitions of Our Lady who recounted details of her own life and the life Christ), Mary was offered the option of death or an assumption without death, she chose the former for the reason that you state - She could not decline to suffer something that Our Lord had endured. (Well worth reading).
This article on the Assumption has been stuck in my mind for years. Mary as the true living tabernacle through the biological fact of microchimerism. Microchimerism itself is simply amazing. Truly we are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! The article below contains a link to the original article where she explains microchemerism http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanc...f-mary-in-which-science-and-theology-are-met/
Thank you Brgid, great article. Such a huge mystery. It kinda makes me silent but grateful that God did this. The Assumption of Mary was a Great Gift to us all. It reminds me of what Dante said of Mary, 'Our poor tainted nature's solitary boast'. How true. Yet another case of the more I learn the less I realise , I know. But I do look forward to heaven and having it all explained to me.
“It was fitting…that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinized, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory…should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God.” (Theoteknos of Livias, Homily on the Assumption; before 650 A.D.)
