Our Lady of Guadalupe

Date: August, 15

On August 15th, the Church celebrates the fact that Mary, the Mother of God, was assumed into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.

As with the dogma of her Immaculate Conception, the dogma of the Assumption isn’t explicitly stated in Scripture. This was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950 in his encyclical, Munificentissimus Deus, when he referred to many “holy writers who … employed statements and various images and analogies of Sacred Scripture to illustrate and to confirm the doctrine of the Assumption….”

He explained that he wasn’t manifesting a new doctrine but rather fulfilling his divine commission to “faithfully propose the revelation delivered through the Apostles.”

The Church teaches that the dogma of the Assumption was at least implicitly present in Scripture and Apostolic Tradition and therefore is a legitimate sign of the “protection of the Spirit of Truth.”

• “In her, assumed into heaven, we are shown the eternal destiny that awaits us beyond the mystery of death: a destiny of total happiness in divine glory. This supernatural vision sustains our daily pilgrimage. Mary teaches about life. By looking at her, we understand better the relative value of earthly greatness and the full sense of our Christian vacation.” – Saint John Paul II

Prayer: 

Dearest Mother, assumed into Heaven, you are the Immaculate Conception, the Ever-Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. As we honor your glorious Assumption into Heaven, please pray for me and for all your children.

In Heaven, you are honored by your Son and your prayers are most effective. I believe this with all my heart and entrust myself, my family, our Church, and the entire world to your motherly care and intercession. Mary, assumed into Heaven, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.