by Fr. Tommy Lane

If a small child hurts his finger he runs to Mammy crying. All Mammy has to do is to kiss the finger and it is well again. Children know their mother loves them and has made a great many sacrifices for them.

In the same way we look on Mary as our heavenly mother. She is the mother of us all. We look on her as our mother who loves us a great deal, who watches over us to protect us. She is the mother to whom we can tell every joy and every sorrow. We remember Jesus' words as he was dying on the cross; he said to Mary, 'Woman behold your son', and to John he said, 'Son, behold your mother' (John 19:26-27). We have always regarded this little incident as being symbolic for us: as Jesus was dying on the cross gave us his mother to be our mother also.

One example of someone who looked on Mary as a mother is St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Thérèse lost her mother before she reached ten years of age. Then she was fighting for her life during a grave illness and was miraculously cured through the intercession of Mary. Thérèse looked on herself as nestling in the arms of Mary. The child Jesus found protection in the arms of Mary and so also did Thérèse. The reason for our great joy today as we celebrate Mary's Assumption into heaven is because we are celebrating a great privilege given to our heavenly mother.

There is in all of us the tendency or temptation to 'play God' sometimes. We will not allow God to have control over our lives. We don't surrender our lives to God. Sometimes we stand before God as if we are little gods. We hold out our hands to God full of ourselves so God cannot give himself to us because God can only give himself to us if our hands are empty. Our life is meant to be giving more and more of ourselves to God. We are complex people and we give God only part of our lives, the part that suits us. But to meet God in heaven we will have to surrender ourselves fully to God firstly, to let God be God in our lives and accept that we are only human.

Mary's greatness lies in the fact that she was humble before God and surrendered herself to God. Her words to the angel at the annunciation are words that we need to meditate on a great deal, 'Let it be done to me according to your word.' (Luke 1:38) Surrendering of herself to God did not mean a perpetual spiritual honeymoon but a giving of herself more and more to God as time went on. We can see evidence for this in the Gospels: at the presentation of Jesus in the temple, Simeon told her that her soul would be pierced with sorrow; when Jesus was twelve years old the family had a misunderstanding over why Jesus got lost for three days. Mary once again learned more about surrendering to God as Jesus told her that he had to be about his Father's business.

Because she surrendered herself so much to God, God filled her with his presence just as God fills us when we surrender ourselves to God. Mary's sinlessness and being 'full of grace' led naturally to her assumption, body and soul, into heaven at the end of her life. (See Rom 6:23) The Church has believed in Mary's Assumption for centuries, although it was only proclaimed a dogma in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

A way for us to surrender ourselves to God and be filled with the presence of God like Mary is to pray the Rosary daily. It is a most beautiful prayer, a prayer that can bring us closer to God and keep us closer to God. When we pray the Rosary we are not just saying prayers. Saying the prayers is to calm us down so that we can tune in to God and our blessed Mother. While we say the prayers our minds are meditating on the fifteen great events in the life of Jesus. When we are in desperation and we don't know how to pray, it is a good prayer and is a most beautiful way to keep in contact with our heavenly mother. When we do so we can unite ourselves with Mary in expressing her sentiments:

by Saint Mariam of Jesus Crucified

Saint Mariam of Jesus Crucified reflects on the mysterious and tragic events that followed the death of her parents and on her restoration to health by the Mother of God:

by Pope John Paul II

1. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (I Cor 15,26).

Paul's words that we have just heard in the Second Reading help us to understand the significance of the solemnity we are celebrating today. Christ's definitive victory over death, which came into the world because of Adam's sin, shines out in Mary, assumed into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. It was Christ, the "new" Adam, who conquered death, offering himself as a sacrifice on Calvary in loving obedience to the Father. In this way he redeemed us from the slavery of sin and evil. In the Virgin's triumph, the Church contemplates her whom the Father chose as the true Mother of his Only-begotten Son, closely associating her with the salvific plan of the Redemption.

This is why Mary, as the liturgy points out, is a consoling sign of our hope. In looking to her, carried up amid the rejoicing of the angelic hosts, the whole of human life, marked by lights and shadows, is opened to the perspective of eternal happiness. If our experience of daily life allows us to feel tangibly that our earthly pilgrimage is under the sign of uncertainty and strife, the Virgin assumed into heavenly glory assures us that we will never lack divine help.

2. "A great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun" (Apoc 12,1).

Let us look at Mary, dear brothers and sisters who are gathered here on a day so dear to the devotion of the Christian people. I greet you with deep affection. I greet in particular Cardinal Angelo Sodano, my primary collaborator, and the Bishop of Albano with his Auxiliary, and I thank them for heir courteous presence. I also greet the parish priest together with the priests who assist him, the religious and all the faithful present, especially the consecrated Salesians and the communities of Castel Gandolfo and of the Pontifical Villas. I greet the pilgrims speaking various languages who have wished to join in our celebration. I hope that each one will joyfully live today's solemnity, which offers so much food for meditation.

Today a great sign appears for us in heaven: the Virgin Mother! The sacred author of the Book of the Apocalypse speaks of her to us in the First Reading. What an extraordinary miracle meets our astonished eyes! Used to looking at earthly realities, we are invited to lift our gaze: to heaven, which is our definitive homeland, where the Blessed Virgin awaits us.

Perhaps, more than in the past, modern man is consumed by material interests and concerns. He seeks security and often feels lonely and anxious. Then what can be said of the enigma of death? Mary's Assumption is an event that concerns us precisely because every human being is destined to die. But death is not the last word. Death - the mystery of the Virgin's Assumption assures us - is the passage to life, the encounter with Love. It is the passage to the eternal happiness in store for those who toil for truth and justice and do their utmost to follow Christ.

3. "Henceforth all generations will call me blessed " (Lk 1,48).

This is what the Mother of Christ exclaimed when she met Elizabeth, her elderly kinswoman. Once again the Gospel has just presented the Magnificat to us. It is Our Lady's response to St Elizabeth's prophetic words: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1,45).

In Mary the promise is fulfilled: the Mother is blessed and we her children will be blessed if, like her, we listen to and put into practice the Lord's words.

May today's solemnity open our hearts to this superior view of life. May the Virgin, whom today we contemplate in splendour at her Son's right hand, help contemporary man to live believing "in the fulfilment of the Lord's words".

4. "Today the children of the Church on earth are joyfully celebrating the Virgin's passing to the celestial city, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Laudes et hymni, VI).

This is what the Armenian liturgy sings today. I make these words my own, thinking of my apostolic pilgrimage to Kazakhstan and Armenia on which, please God, I shall be setting out in just over a month. To you, Mary, I entrust the success of this new stage in my service to the Church and to the world. I ask you to help believers to be watchmen of the hope that does not disappoint and never to stop proclaiming that Christ is victorious over evil and death.

Gen 3:14-15
Then the Lord God said to the serpent: “... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

Mary and her role in the history of our salvation is foretold by the prophet Isaiah; her virginity and divine motherhood is confirmed.

Is 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

Matthew begins his genealogy with Abraham and ends with Mary.

Mt 1:16
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Luke narrates the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she is to conceive a son and remain a virgin.

Lk 1: 26-38
...(The angel Gabriel said) “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you ... The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” ... Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Luke also narrates Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth (pregnant with John the Baptist). It is Elizabeth who first calls Mary “the mother of God (Lord)”.

Lk 1:39-45
... When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ... Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Lk 1:46-49
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

Matthew records Mary’s engagement to Joseph.

Mt. 1:18-25
... When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. ... the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” He (Joseph) had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

Luke narrates the birth events of Jesus.

Lk 2:1-19
... Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger ... (Shepherds) went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant ... Mary kept all these things (that the shepherds told her), reflecting on them in her heart.

Luke includes the circumcision and presentation of Jesus.

Lk 2:33-35
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke narrates the loss and finding of Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph.

Lk 2:48-51
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

John records the wedding feast at Cana where Mary prompts Jesus’ first miracle.

Jn 2:1-12
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” (And) Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” ... Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. After this, he and his mother, (his) brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days.

Matthew writes of Jesus’ own words that compare his relationship with his followers to his relationship with his mother.

Mt 12:46-50 (Mk 3:31-35)
While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. ... And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

It is John (an eye witness) who recalls his personal experience at the foot of the cross on Calvary.

Jn 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

by Raphael Brown

When Mary's soul left her body, the soft chanting of the angels seemed to withdraw slowly from the Cenacle. Peter and John must have perceived the glory of her soul in this moment of its liberation, for they both looked up, while the other apostles remained absorbed in prayer, with their heads bowed to the ground.

The Blessed Virgin's body lay radiant with light, surrounded by her thousand invisible guardian angels. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were folded on her breast.

When at last all the apostles, disciples, and holy women present realized that their beloved spiritual Mother had indeed left them, their sorrow was so intense that only a special dispensation of divine power prevented some of them from dying of grief.

For some time they prayed and wept silently. Then they arose and sang a number of hymns in honor of their departed Queen.

Later Mary's two devoted servant girls were told to anoint and wrap her body in a shroud with the greatest reverence and modesty. But when they entered her room, they were so blinded by the dazzling mystical light surrounding her couch that they could not even see her body. Highly excited, they hastened to notify the apostles. Peter and John then went into the room, perceived the bright light, and heard angels singing: "A Virgin before the Nativity, during the Nativity, and after the Nativity." Kneeling down and praying for guidance, the two saints heard a Voice say: "Let not this virginal body be touched!"

They therefore brought in a plain wooden bier. And with their own hands they reverently took Mary's robe at both ends and carefully lifted her light body onto the bier. Numerous candles were then lit and set around it, and although they burned for many hours they were not at all consumed. During all this time great numbers of the faithful quietly entered the room, prayed for a moment, and left, weeping and mourning.

On the day of the funeral, the apostles took up the bier and bore it in a solemn procession from the Cenacle to the tomb in the Valley of Josaphat, near the Garden of Gethsemane. All the Christians of Jerusalem, as well as an invisible multitude of angels, patriarchs, prophets and saints, accompanied the funeral, during which numerous miraculous cures and conversions of compassionate Jewish and Gentile spectators took place. Everyone was amazed at the delicious fragrance and heavenly music that followed the passage of Mary's remains.

When the procession reached the prepared tomb, St. Peter and St. John reverently carried the bier into the sepulcher, which was then filled with aromatic flowers and closed with a large stone, while everyone present wept and prayed in profound sorrow. The heavenly chanting of the angels continued, and many persons noticed an extraordinary light shining around the tomb. Gradually most of the mourners returned to the city, but some of the apostles and holy women remained watching and praying before the sepulcher.

Meanwhile, immediately after Mary's death, Our Lord had entered Heaven, conducting the pure soul of His Mother at His right hand. And presenting her before the throne of the Divinity, He said:

"Eternal Father, it is right that to My Mother be given the reward of a Mother. And since during all her life and in all her works she was as like to Me as it is possible for a creature to be, let her also be like to Me in glory and on the throne of Our Majesty."

This decree was approved by the Father and the Holy Spirit. And Mary's soul was immediately raised to the right hand of her divine Son and placed beside the throne of the Holy Trinity.

Later, after the funeral, the Lord descended in a dazzling beam of light to the tomb of the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by Mary's soul and by innumerable angels. Then the holy soul of the Mother of God penetrated into her body in the sepulcher, reanimated it, and rose up again united to it, utterly radiant, gloriously attired, and indescribably beautiful.

Now amid celestial music a magnificent triumphant procession ascended from the tomb to Heaven. First came the rejoicing angels and saints, and then Christ the King with His Immaculate Mother at His side, while the souls of all the blessed in Heaven gladly welcomed and praised their new Queen and the whole universe seemed to be chanting exultantly:

"Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her Beloved?"

At the throne of the Holy Trinity the three Divine Persons received and welcomed Mary in a mystical embrace of eternal love, after she had bowed before Them in deep humility and reverence. She was attired in a marvelous sparkling robe that trailed behind her and scintillated with multicolored iridescence.

Then the Eternal Father announced to all the angels and saints:

"Our Daughter Mary has been chosen by Our will from among all creatures as the first in Our favor, and she has never fallen from the position of a true Daughter. Therefore she has a claim to Our Kingdom, of which she is to be acknowledged and crowned the lawful Sovereign and Queen."

The Incarnate Word declared:

"To My true and natural Mother belong all the creatures that I have created and redeemed. And of all things over which I am King, she too shall be the rightful Queen."

And the Holy Spirit said:

"By the title of My only chosen Spouse, to which she has faithfully corresponded, the crown of Queen is also due to her for all eternity."

Then the three divine Persons solemnly placed on Mary's bowed head a splendid gleaming crown of glory which far exceeds in beauty any crown that ever has been or ever will be awarded to a creature by God.

At the same time a Voice sounded from the throne, saying:

"Our Beloved and Chosen One among creatures, Our Kingdom is yours. You are the Queen and Sovereign of the Seraphim and of all Our ministering angels and of all the created universe. We give you power, majesty, and dominion over it. While filled with grace beyond all others, you humbled yourself to the lowest place in your own estimation. Receive now the supreme honor which you deserve, and participate in the sovereign power exercised by the Divinity over all that Our Omnipotence has created. From your royal throne you shall rule over Hell and earth and nature. Our own will shall ever be ready to accomplish your will. You shall be the Protectress, Advocate and Mother of the Church Militant. Whenever any of the children of Adam call upon you from their hearts or serve you, you shall relieve them and help them in their labors and necessities. You shall be the Friend and Defender of the just and of Our friends. All of them you shall comfort, console, and fill with blessings according to their devotion to you. Therefore We make you the treasury of all Our graces. In your hands We place the distribution of Our grace and blessings. For We wish nothing to be given to the world that does not pass through your hands. And We will refuse nothing that you wish to grant. Whatever is Ours shall be yours, just as you have ever been Ours. And you shall reign with Us forever."

In execution of this divine decree, all the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Heaven, all the angels and saints and blessed, and especially St. Joachim, St. Ann, and St. Joseph, joyfully rendered homage and obedience to their glorious new Queen and Sovereign.

Meanwhile, on the morning of Mary's Assumption into Heaven, St. Peter and St. John had been watching and praying at her tomb with some of the faithful. Suddenly they noticed that the music of the angels had ceased. Looking up at the sky, the two apostles were partly enlightened by the Holy Spirit and guessed that the Blessed Virgin's body might have been taken up to Heaven by God.

As they were debating whether to open the tomb, St. Thomas arrived from the Orient. When they told him that Mary was already dead, he burst into tears and earnestly begged them to allow him to have one last look at the Mother of his Lord. Peter and John consented and proceeded to open the tomb.

John and Thomas went in and reverently knelt down in prayer. Then John stood up, while Thomas held aloft a torch.

There was nothing on the bier but Mary's robe and mantle.

In wonder and awe the two saints gazed at the ceiling of the tomb. Then John ran to the entrance and cried to the others outside:

"Come and see —she is no longer here!"

St. Peter and the rest entered two by two in the narrow grotto. In mixed joy and sorrow they all wept as they slowly realized what an extraordinary honor and privilege God had accorded to Mary.

Peter carefully folded and took with him her mantle and robe. Then they all stood outside the tomb and sang hymns of praise to the Lord and to His holy Mother.

After they had replaced the large stone, they were standing gazing silently at the sepulcher when suddenly an angel appeared to them and said:

"Men of Galilee, why do you tarry here? Your Queen and ours is now living body and soul in Heaven and reigning in it forever with Christ. She has sent me to confirm you in this truth. And she recommends to you again the Church, the conversion of souls, and the spread of the Gospel. She wishes you now to return to your ministry. From her throne she will watch over you and protect you."

Then, celebrating this first feast of Our Lady's Assumption with deep joy and peace of heart, the apostles and disciples went back to the Cenacle, praying together and singing hymns of thanksgiving to God.

The Blessed Virgin said to St. Bridget of Sweden:

"One day while I was admiring the Love of God in a spiritual ecstasy, my soul was filled with such joy that it could hardly contain itself. And during that contemplation my soul departed from my body. You cannot imagine what splendor my soul perceived then, and with what honor the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit welcomed it, and with what a multitude of angels it was carried upward.

"But that persons who were in my house with me when I gave up my spirit fully understood what divine mysteries I was then experiencing, because of the unusual light which they saw.

"Thereafter those friends of my Son who had been brought together by God buried my body in the Valley of Josaphat. Countless angels accompanied them.

"My body lay entombed in the ground. Then it was taken up to Heaven with infinite honor and rejoicing. There is no other human body in Heaven except the glorious Body of my Son and my body.

"That my Assumption was not known to many persons was the will of God, my Son, in order that faith in His Ascension might first of all be firmly established in the hearts of men, for they were not prepared to believe in His Ascension, especially if my Assumption had been announced in the beginning."