Hello all, Happy feast day to all born, baptized and married today. Happy feast day to all Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, Monks, Nuns, Rev Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus Happy feast day to all who honour the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially all who recite Her Holy Rosary with true devotion Happy feast day to all Catholics Happy feast day to all Virgins and Parents of Virgins Today August 15th is the Feast of the Assumption of our Lady. This is a Holy day of obligation This means that we are all expected and have a duty to participate in the Holy Mass today. On 1st November 1950, Pope Pius XII defined as a truth: the course of her life on earth was finished, Our lady was taken up body and soul into Heaven – Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her son, the Lord of lords and the conqueror of sin and death – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in Her Sons Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians. By promulgating the Bull Munificentissimus Deus, on the 1st of November, 1950, Venerable Pope Pius XII (who was the 260th Vicar of Christ since the pontificate of Saint Peter the Apostle) declared infallibly that the ‘Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ was a dogma of our Catholic Faith. Likewise, the Second Vatican Council taught in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium that the Immaculate Virgin Mary, preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things. Along with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) the Feast of the Assumption is a principal feast of the Blessed Virgin and a Holy Day of Obligation -- one of the most important feasts of the Church year. The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the oldest Feast day of Our Lady, but the origin of the feast is uncertain. However, according to the some records, the Feast of the Assumption has been celebrated since the 5th century. The Feast of the Assumption celebrates both the happy departure of Mary from this life by her natural death, and her assumption bodily into heaven. The belief in the Assumption of our Blessed Mother has been longstanding in the Church, dating back to the apostles themselves. What was clear from the beginning was that there were no relics of Mary to be venerated, and that an empty tomb stood on the edge of Jerusalem near the site of her death. That location also soon became a place of pilgrimage. (Today, the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on the spot.) Saint John Damascene also recorded an interesting story concerning the Assumption: At the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem that Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven. In another version of the story, according to which one of the apostles, often identified as Saint Thomas popularly known as (Doubting Thomas or Thomas the Believer) , was not present at the death of Mary, but his late arrival precipitates a reopening of Marys tomb, which to their amazement, was filled with flowers all giving off a sweet fragrance. Her body had been carried up to heaven by her Son and the angels, to join her soul. ----------------------------------------------------- We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. Bishop Theoteknos of Livias (c. 550- 650) delivered one of the most comprehensive early sermons concerning the Assumption: For Christ took His immaculate flesh from the immaculate flesh of Mary, and if He had prepared a place in heaven for the Apostles, how much more for His mother; if Enoch had been translated and Elijah had gone to heaven, how much more Mary, who like the moon in the midst of the stars shines forth and excels among the prophets and Apostles? For even though her God-bearing body tasted death, it did not undergo corruption, but was preserved incorrupt and undefiled and taken up into heaven with its pure and spotless soul. In the eighth century, Saint John Damascene was known for giving sermons at the holy places in Jerusalem. At the Tomb of Mary, he expressed the belief of the Church on the meaning of the feast: Although the body was duly buried, it did not remain in the state of death, neither was it dissolved by decay. . . . You were transferred to your heavenly home, O Lady, Queen and Mother of God in truth. The most reliable surviving testimonies of the Assumption come from the 6th century Saint Gregory of Tours. Saint Gregory of Tour provided a rationale for the tradition, which is related to her having been preserved from original sin. He said that it is inconceivable to think Marys sinless body, likened to the Ark of the Covenant which was made of incorruptible wood, should decay in the grave. The text, Rise thou and the ark of thy strength (Ps 132/1:8) was understood to mean that it was Gods will that, as Christ had ascended, so too Mary would be received into heaven. There is an important difference, of course, between the ascension of Jesus into Heaven after His Resurrection, and the assumption of Mary. To ascend is to rise up under ones own power; while to be assumed means something that is done to one. Jesus, being the Second Person of the Trinity, had no need of assistance; whereas Mary did not have this power. All the feast days of Mary mark the great mysteries of her life and her part in the work of redemption. The central mystery of her life and person is her divine motherhood, celebrated both at Christmas and a week later (Jan. 1) on the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception (celebrated on the 8th of December) marks the preparation for that motherhood, so that she had the fullness of grace from the first moment of her existence, completely untouched by sin. Her whole being throbbed with divine life from the very beginning, readying her for the exalted role of mother of the Savior. Our mother also shared intimately in the life of the Lord and in His passion, death and resurrection, and since she was present at Pentecost, this model disciple appropriately shared in the bodily resurrection and glorification of the Lord at the end of her life. The Assumption completes Gods work in her since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is Gods crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters eternity. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over. The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended. Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven, and the word Assumption does not appear in Sacred Scripture. Nevertheless, we must remember that this is a dogma of faith and, also should first pause and reflect on the role of our Blessed Mother in the mystery of salvation, for this provides the foundation for the belief in the Assumption. Some Papal scholarship also cites some passages that have been offered in support of this teaching. One is that woman clothed with the sun [Revelation 12:1-2] whom John the Apostle contemplated on the Island of Patmos as support for the doctrine. The text seems to parallel this woman with the woman of the Genesis 3 prophecy (and hence Mary): for in verse 9 the passage recalls that old serpent of Genesis 3, and reflects the prophecy that God would place enmities between thee [i.e. Satan] and the woman, and thy seed and her seed when it says that Satan was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed (Rev. 12:17). Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Since Mary best embodies the people of both the Old and New Testament, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory. Other passages include John 14:3, Isaiah 60:13, Luke 1:28, Song of Songs 8:5, 1st Corinthians 15:20-26, Psalms 132:8, Psalms 45:9-17, Song of Songs 3:6, 4:8, 6:9, and Revelation 12:1-2 -- and are drawn upon as Scriptural support of the Assumption. The Feast of the Assumption gives each of us great hope as we contemplate this one facet of the beautiful woman of faith, our Blessed Mother. Mary moves us by example and prayer to grow in Gods grace, to be receptive to His will, to convert our lives through sacrifice and penance, and seek that everlasting union in the heavenly Kingdom. In 1973, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in their letter Behold Your Mother, stated, Christ has risen from the dead, we need no further assurance of our faith. Mary assumed into heaven serves rather as a gracious reminder to the Church that our Lord wishes all whom the Father has given Him to be raised with Him. In Mary taken to glory, to union with Christ, the Church sees herself answering the invitation of the heavenly Bridegroom. “In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.... She is our Mother in the order of grace.” ----------------------------------------------------- Let us pray that by the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary we may in this group find the spiritual motivation to win our souls for God. Amen Feast of the day, would be communicated to you as promptly and consistently as humanly possible, by Gods grace. May we all in this group and beyond this group, Christians and non Christians alike, Catholics and non Catholics alike, be saved from the fires of hell and lifted up into heaven after our stay here on this exile. Amen May our Lord Jesus Christ, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and through Gods Divine Mercy strengthen our souls, open out the way for us all, and above all, intoxicate us with HIS love. Amen May Christ make us into blazing fires to enkindle the earth with the heavenly fire HE brought us. Amen God bless you and grant your heart’s desire. Amen
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 16:57:54 +0000
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