All members of the Marquette community are invited to join in the celebration of Mass for the Solemn Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Mass will be celebrated at noon at St. Joan of Arc Chapel.
As with all Marian feasts, the Solemnity of the Assumption recalls and makes present for us the love of Jesus Christ, raising each of us to new life through His Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection. On Nov. 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly and dogmatically defined the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, writing that:
“We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by God that the immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven.”
Pius’s definition came after broad consultation with the universal Church and reflects traditions dating back to at least the sixth century. This gift given to Mary makes clear and evident for all of us the ultimate grace of the resurrection of the body promised us by Christ’s victory over death. In communion with the Blessed Virgin, we can make her prayer our own, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord … for God has cast the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly…” (Luke 1:46, 52).
The Feast the Assumption is a holy day of obligation for all Roman Catholics in the United States.
