What is the Assumption of Mary?

Response

The Assumption of Mary (or the Assumption of the Virgin) is a belief that, following the death of Jesus’ mother, she was resurrected, glorified, and taken bodily to heaven. The term “assumption” is derived from a Latin word meaning “to take up.” This teaching is upheld by the Roman Catholic Church and, to a lesser extent, the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The concept of the Assumption of Mary gained attention through an apocryphal text known as Transitus Mariae, believed to have been written in the latter part of the 5th century (Rush, A. C., “Scriptural Texts and the Assumption in the Transitus Mariae,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 4, Oct, 1950, p. 368). A yearly celebration in honor of Mary evolved into a remembrance of her death, referred to as the Feast of Dormition (“falling asleep”). As this tradition spread to the Western Church, the focus shifted to Mary’s resurrection and the glorification of her body and soul, leading to the renaming of the feast as the Assumption. This observance still takes place on August 15, as it did during the Middle Ages. The formal declaration of the Assumption of Mary as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church occurred in 1950 under Pope Pius XII.

While the Bible mentions God “assuming” both Enoch and Elijah into heaven (Genesis 5:24;2 Kings 2:11), there is no biblical foundation for the Assumption of Mary. The Bible does not describe Mary’s death or make any references to her beyond Acts chapter 1. The narrative surrounding Mary’s Assumption, which includes her resurrection and the miraculous gathering of the apostles to witness the event, is purely based on folklore.

The doctrine of the Assumption elevates Mary to a status akin to that of her Son. Some Catholics even suggest that Mary was resurrected.On the third day, similar to Jesus, Mary ascended into heaven, just as Jesus did. The New Testament conveys that Jesus was resurrected on the third day «saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. », (Luke 24:7) and that He ascended bodily into heaven «And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. », (Acts 1:9). To attribute the same events to Mary is to assign to her some of the characteristics of Christ. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Assumption of Mary is a significant aspect of the rationale for why Mary is venerated, worshiped, adored, and prayed to. Teaching the Assumption of Mary is a stride toward equating her with Christ and essentially declaring Mary’s deity.