The Fathers and the Assumption of Mary

Last updated on: August 15, 2014 at 12:22 am by Matthew Tan

The Fathers and the Assumption of Mary 2014-08-15T00:22:00+10:00 Matthew Tan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today, the Roman Catholic Church marks the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, which was included as one of the dogmas of faith on 1st November 1950 by Pope Pius XII. This is one of only a small handful of dogmas that was articulated by the Bishop of Rome ex cathedra, that is, from the See of Peter and without an ecumenical council.

The document that articulates this dogma is Munificentissimus Deus (“The Most Bountiful God”). The document is highly informative on a number of historical, theological, biblical and liturgical points, but of particular interest is the patristic bases from which Pius draws in articulating this dogma. Though references to the fathers is scattered throughout the document, particular focus is given to paragraphs 19-22 in the Office of Readings for this feast.

St. John of Damascus (676-749) spoke in a homily of the end of Mary’s earthly life thusly:

It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God

Another father, St. Germanus of Constantinople (634-733), wrote thusly:

You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life.

What comes out of this passage and others is that the focus is not really the heavenly trajectory of Mary’s body at the end of her earthly pilgrimage. Rather, that is the secondary effect of the more significant theme of the liberation of Mary by God from the usual consequences of creatureliness. This means that, as John Henry Newman once wrote, this is not an independent Catholic dogma, but as “one of a family of doctrines [within the Christian Tradition] that are united together”. In other words, the seemingly strange dogma of the Assumption is but the consequence of reflection on all too familiar doctrinal themes, including creation, sin and redemption by God. Thus, it is important to note that these dogmas are not and should not be focused on Mary as such, but on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Church Fathers

liturgy

resources

Previous Post

August 9, 2014

Prayer as Political Theory

Next Post

August 22, 2014 New Podcast: Faith in the Church of Facebook

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category architecture art Augustine Belloc Benedict XVI bible blogs books bourgeois Christianity Campion College Chesterton Christianisation Church and Culture Church Fathers citizen conference conservative consumer culture cybernetics Desert Fathers discipleship distributism drinking ecclesiology economics education environment Evagrius of Pontus formation Foucault George Weigel Girard Graham Ward http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post interfaith Jacques Ellul John Chrysostom Julia Kristeva Latin liturgy mall marriage monasticism Music Narrative news philosophy polis politics pop culture postmodern city postsecular prayer prostestant quote Quotes Radical Orthodoxy resources Rome Rule of St. Benedict saint Saints secular sociology theological anthropology theology transcendance Uncategorized videos William Cavanaugh

Select a Month December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 October 2009 February 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Dry bones in a valley came together, received sinews and flesh, then breath entered them. What did this valley represent?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The house of Israel God's army The resurrection The dead