The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Fr. Paul P. Pang O.F.M.

Immediately after she was told that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived, she who was known as sterile, Mary went to see her and offer her her service. Now, under the revelation of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth said to her little cousin: “Of all women you are the most blessed!” What praise indeed! How did Mary react to it? Denied it? No, she admitted it, but by attributing everything to God for His goodness to her. There lies the greatness of Mary. There lies the greatness of Mary for everything that she is: a genuine thanksgiving to God’s goodness and a total surrender of herself to His holy will. All this leads to her final victory: spiritual as well as bodily assumption into heaven at the conclusion of her earthly existence.

Even though the scripture does not say how this happened, many references did indeed hint at this, namely her total union with God in life, starting with Gen. 3:15, Lk. 1:28, Acts 1:14 and Rev. 12:1-2, led to her total union with God after life. The Church uses particularly St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians to prove that Christ’s victory over sin and death was also the cause of Mary’s victory over sin and death (15:54-57). The sinless Mary has no need to suffer from the consequences of Adam’s fall. Thus Vatican II indicated that Mary is both the symbol and prefigure of every believer and more so of the whole believing Church when the fullness of time comes. At the end of time when God’s plan of salvation is completed, every chosen one will be like Mary, to be assumed into heaven body and soul, to be with God for all eternity (LG 59).

“Of all women you are the most blessed!” Oh, Mother Mary, you are indeed the most blessed because of you is born the Saviour of the world and the conqueror of sin and death! All your children fervently pray to you that you continue to protect us from the snares of Satan, so that all of us will join you one day in the home of our eternal happiness. Amen.