Many thanks to this Sunday's sermon from Fr J for some thought provoking material - at least it was thought provoking for me....I have always just assumed the facts about the Assumption.
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15th August - Feast of The Assumption of The Virgin Mary |
Did Our Heavenly Mother die before she was assumed? Of course not (although Pope Pius XII was careful to remain ambivalent on the subject).
St Paul said: "The wages of sin is death".......and if you take this statement to its logical conclusion....Our Lady was Mary Immaculate, born without the stain of Original or any other sin on her soul. She was and is unblemished, pure, radiant in her virginity and totally unknown to any offence against God whatsoever.
Therefore, she was, so some of us believe, assumed into Heaven to physically join her Divine Son at a moment of intense spiritual ecstasy...She could not die, she did not die, she was not liable to bodily corruption as she was spiritually incorrupt.
As the Eastern Church would put it...she fell asleep...The Feast of the Dormition of Our Lady. How utterly wonderful!
A prayer for The Assumption:-
The ark which God has sanctified,
Which He has filled with grace,
Within the temple of the Lord
Has found a resting-place.
Which He has filled with grace,
Within the temple of the Lord
Has found a resting-place.
More glorious than the seraphim,
This ark of love divine,
Corruption could not blemish her
Whom death could not confine.
This ark of love divine,
Corruption could not blemish her
Whom death could not confine.
God-bearing Mother, Virgin chaste,
Who shines in heaven's sight;
She wears a royal crown of stars
Who is the door of Light.
Who shines in heaven's sight;
She wears a royal crown of stars
Who is the door of Light.
To Father, Son and Spirit blest
may we give endless praise
With Mary, who is Queen of heaven,
Through everlasting days.
may we give endless praise
With Mary, who is Queen of heaven,
Through everlasting days.
The Eastern Church is quite clear on the point: she died, and was buried. Some days later, the tomb was discovered to empty.
ReplyDeleteRichard I went to Mass and the Priest said "Our Lady died..."
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to hear a priest say that she had died because the Gospel talks of her 'falling asleep'.
I was scandalised. However, read my latest blogpost, which is an account from Venerable Mary of Agreda on the transition and assumption of Our Lady.
In the account, Our Blessed Lord gives Our Lady a choice, on appearing to her, whether she would undergo death or be taken up to Heaven without death. She answers that she wishes to enter into Glory through the portal of death, in imitation of her Divine Son and in union with Him.
The account suggests that Our Lady dies not 'of the wages of sin' or of some disease, but instead that Almighty God withdrew from her the divine help He had given her in bearing and being Mother to the Saviour. The account suggests that she died, but that she died of love, since when the Heavenly assistance was removed, her heart simply failed - the fire of her charity being so great and holy.
http://thatthebonesyouhavecrushedmaythrill.blogspot.com/2011/08/glorious-transition-of-blessed-virgin.html
I had always thought she did not die, but have learned that the Church has never defined that, and further that their are two respectable traditions, one on each side of the debate. On the one side Christ would surely want to spare His Mother undeserved death. On the other, Our Lady would surely want a share of Death as part of her Compassion with her Son...
ReplyDeleteLaurence, I've read your post and it's excellent....it has me 85% convinced...but I still have a nagging doubt.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is an inspiration.