With these words, Pope Pius XII officially and infallibly declared the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God (Theotokos), to be dogma in 1950. In this pronouncement, Pope Pius was simply stating dogmatically what the Church, East and West, had believed for many years. The Catholic Catechism further explains:
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians (966).
The Catechism then quotes from the Troparion of the Feast of the Dormition from the Byzantine Liturgy:
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. (966)
Thus, the Assumption of Mary is not only a participation in her Son's resurrection, but a preview of our future resurrections. As such, the dogma of Mary's Assumption is firmly rooted in the actions and person of Christ, and in the virtue of Christian hope.
Let us pray:
We ask Sr. Marie to pray for us to Our Lady assumed into heaven on this special day. We thank Sr. Marie for the special place of devotion, Mary's House in Ephesus, where prior to Her Assumption, Our Lady did reside awaiting her perfect union with her Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us pray and with Sr. Marie spiritually enter this tiny little home of Mary and contemplate and meditate upon Our Lady's Assumption and the love of the Father in Heaven for His Daughter, the Holy Spirit for His Beloved Spouse, and the Eternal Son for His Holy Mother. Thank you Most Blessed Trinity for the gift of Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, and Our Mother by the order of grace. Dearest Jesus, of all Your gifts to us as You gave Your life for us upon the Holy Cross, Your Mother is "most clement, most loving, and most sweet." She is "our life, our sweetness, and our hope." Thank you Jesus. Praise You Jesus. Thank you Sr. Marie for the gift of praying inside the refuge of Mary's House as we thank God for Mary...Meryem. Amen.
