Woman of Faith: The Assumption
Fr. J. Patrick Gaffney, SMM
The fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, Mary’s Assumption into heaven, is a constant reminder of our own victory over death and a pledge of our life with the Risen Lord.
Woman of Faith: The Assumption
In 1950, His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, solemnly proclaimed a truth which had always existed in the Church but which world circumstances now dictated be stated explicitly, dogmatically;
Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, always a Virgin, after having completed the course of her earthly life, was taken body and soul into heavenly glory.
Why solemnly and dogmatically promulgate this mystery? To extol the beauty of the faithful disciple, Mary the Mother of God? Yes, but that is not the ultimate reason.
Consider the World
Consider the situation of the world shortly after World War II. Nations were trying to regain some equilibrium after years of devastation. However, the iron curtain had fallen along eastern Europe; the cold war had begun, the fear of atomic warfare had become a grim reality.
The horrors of the holocaust were still vivid, the displaced persons still searching for homes, some countries – like the Baltic republics – had been wiped off the map. A pessimism promoted by atheistic existentialism filtered into the lives of many, especially through the publications of Sartre and Camus who wrote persuasively of human existence as absurd, meaningless.
The problem was not only political, sociological, philosophical. It was deeply religious, There was serious skepticism if not out- right denial concerning the ultimate outcome of all creation, Eternal Victory in Jesus Christ the Lord.
The Church Proclaims . . .
The Church, prompted by the Holy Spirit, responded with the solemn proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption; the model of the Church, Mary, the summary of the universe both in its yearning for redemption and in its being divinized by Christ, shares gloriously, in the fullness of her personality, in the eternal triumph or the Risen Lord. In her, we see our victorious goal. We have, therefore, not been made for nothingness, we are not destined to absurdity, we are not entrapped in meaninglessness. In the light of the Assumption of our sister, Mary, we see our goal in greater clarity; one for all eternity with Christ Victor!
An infallible statement of the Church – the pillar and bulwark of truth (1 Tim 3:15); is a clear sign- post pointing out the correct path. After the Second World War, it appeared that humankind was at a crossroads; meaninglessness or eternal life. The Church intervened with the infallible evangelical cry; “Thanks be to God who has given us the Victory through Our Lord Jesus Christ”. (l Cor 15:57).
Madonna and Child: painter Elisabetta Sirani: 1663
Elisabetta took over the studio of her father Giovanni Sirani in 1654-1655. This painting resides in the National Museum of Woman Arts in Washington, DC.
As we meditate, therefore, on this fourth glorious mystery of the rosary, we should not limit our thoughts to the glory of Mary’s Assumption. For whenever we talk about Mary we are ultimately talking about ourselves and most especially about Christ. The Assumption stresses the victorious redemption gained for us by the Death/Resurrection of Jesus.
Return to The Queen: Articles
. . . the Dogma of the Assumption
In response to the grave world situation, the Church could have solemnly repeated the majestic chapter fifteen of First Corinthians which insists upon our destiny to share in the glory of the Lord; a destiny which involves our entire being. However, following a custom of the Church dating back to the times of the Gospel, the Church illuminates our situation by clarifying that of the first disciple of Jesus, the model of the Church, Mary.
As Luke explains the meaning of faith in his first two chapters by depicting Mary, so in 1950, the Church followed the evangelical example, tells us infallibly that our goal is joyful victory by giving us Mary as our example. As her faithful discipleship brought her into the eternal triumph of Jesus, Risen Lord, so too our Gospel fidelity will infallibly lead us not to emptiness but to share in the fullness of victory with Christ.
The Assumption Stresses the Victorious Redemption
Mary, in the glory of her Assumption is the shining lesson for all times that our destiny is heaven, the victorious Risen Christ.
As we meditate, therefore, on this fourth glorious mystery of the rosary, we should not limit our thoughts to the glory of Mary’s Assumption. For whenever we talk about Mary we are ultimately talking about ourselves and most especially about Christ. The Assumption stresses the victorious redemption gained for us by the Death/Resurrection of Jesus.
Like everything authentically Marian, it magnifies the Lord. And as we meditate on Mary’s Assumption we should see ourselves, destined for glory. The beautiful scriptural text; “O death where is thy victory, O death where is thy sting”? (1 Cor: 15:55). This comes alive in the person of Mary assumed into heaven, reminding us that death is the passageway to eternal life.
Clearly, the mystery of Mary’s Assumption has profound meaning for us today. Especially when we are tempted to pessimism and despair, when all seems so bleak and meaningless; the fourth glorious mystery brightens the day. It is a rosary decade of our ultimate triumph for the victory we see in Mary is a sure sign that our destiny is the same. It is a rosary mystery of profound joy for we see everything in the light of the final outcome; against the backdrop of certain victory, eternal life in Christ Jesus. Furthermore, it is a rosary meditation which strengthens us to persevere in the struggle for justice low all peoples. It is the glorious mystery which continually challenges us to implement the triumph won for us by Christ Jesus.
Life Takes On New Meaning As We Meditate On Our Destiny
Old age, sickness, death, so-called failures, anxieties about the future and about our family and friends, disappointments, even our sinfulness take on new meaning as we meditate on our destiny; like Mary – because of the resplendent victory of Christ Jesus Redeemer – we shall be forever with the Lord. We should comfort one another with this truth. (cf. I Thess 4:18).
No one can doubt that Mary, the immaculate temple of the Holy Spirit, the virginal womb of the Incarnate God, the beloved daughter of God the Father, now dwells forever in the victory of Christ her Son. Mary is the first and the uniquely beloved; but in her all peoples and primarily the church whose form and model she is, are loved also. Her victory in Christ is an anticipation of the final goal of the Church; of all the faithful disciples of Christ. The entire Church, as Saint Ephraem says, “rejoices in the Blessed Virgin”. And the entire Church participates in her destiny; eternally glorious in the Holy Spirit through Christ the Risen Lord, for the glory of God the Father.
How ardently we pray with Saint Louis de Montfort; “May the grace of the mystery of the Assumption come down into our hearts.”
Vol. #xxx Month 2022
