5 keys to understand the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Every August 15 we celebrate the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, here are some important points that will help us better understand this truth of faith:

1. What is a dogma?

A dogma is an absolute, definitive, infallible, irrevocable and unquestionable truth of faith, revealed by God through the Holy Scriptures or Sacred Tradition. After being proclaimed it cannot be repealed or denied, neither by the Pope nor by conciliar decision.

For a truth to become dogma, it is necessary that it be proposed directly by the Catholic Church to the faithful as part of their faith and doctrine, through a solemn and infallible definition by the Supreme Magisterium of the Church.

2. The Dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin

According to the tradition and theology of the Catholic Church, the Assumption of the Virgin is the celebration of when the body and soul of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, were glorified and taken to Heaven at the end of her earthly life. It should not be confused with the Ascension, which refers to Jesus Christ.

It is said that the resurrection of the bodies will take place at the end of time, but in the case of the Virgin Mary this event was anticipated by a singular privilege.

This dogma is also celebrated by the Orthodox Church.

3. Declaration of dogma

Since 1849, several requests began to reach the Holy See for the Assumption of the Virgin to be declared a doctrine of faith. It was Pope Pius XII who published the apostolic constitution on November 1, 1950. The most bountiful Godwhich declares the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith with these words:

“After raising many and repeated prayers to God and invoking the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of the omnipotent God, who granted the Virgin Mary his peculiar benevolence; for the honor of her Son, immortal King of the centuries and victor of sin and death; to increase the glory of the same august Mother and for the joy and joy of the entire Church, with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and with our own, we pronounce, declare and “We define it to be divinely revealed dogma, that the Immaculate Mother of God, always Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

4. Importance of the Assumption of the Virgin

This festival has a double objective: the happy departure of Mary from this life and the Assumption of her body to Heaven. The answer to why it is important for Catholics is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says: “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin constitutes a singular participation in the Resurrection of her Son and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians. ” (#966).

The importance that the Assumption of the Virgin has for all of us occurs in the relationship it has between the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and our resurrection. The fact that Mary is found body and soul already glorified in Heaven is the anticipation of our own resurrection, given that she is a human being like us.

5. Dormition or Death of Mary?

Scripture does not give details about Mary’s last years on earth, from Pentecost to the Assumption, we only know that the Virgin was entrusted by Jesus to Saint John. When declaring the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, Pius XII did not want to decide whether the Virgin died and was resurrected immediately, or whether she went directly to Heaven. Many theologians think that the Virgin died to be more like Jesus, but others support the Dormition of the Virgin, which has been celebrated in the East since the first centuries.

What both positions agree on is that the Virgin Mary, by a special privilege from God, did not experience the corruption of her body and was assumed into Heaven, where she reigns alive and glorious, alongside Jesus.