Thursday, August 15, 2024
August 15 — the Catholic and Orthodox feast commemorating the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
The Assumption of Mary, celebrated on August 15, commemorates the Catholic and Orthodox belief that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. The doctrine was defined as Catholic dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950, though it had been the universal belief of the Catholic Church for many centuries. Orthodox Christians celebrate the same event as the Dormition of the Theotokos ('falling asleep of the God-bearer'). The doctrine is grounded not in an explicit scripture (Mary's death is not narrated in the New Testament) but in theological reasoning: as the bearer of God who was preserved from sin (per the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception), Mary was fittingly preserved from bodily corruption and received into glory ahead of the general resurrection. Apocryphal accounts of Mary's death and assumption circulated from the 5th century onward. The feast is one of the oldest Marian feasts, dating to at least the 6th century in the East. It is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church.
The Assumption is observed with: white vestments, special readings (Revelation 11:19-12:6, 10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56), the singing of the Magnificat, processions and pilgrimages in many Catholic cultures, the blessing of herbs and flowers, and special Masses. In some Mediterranean cultures, August 15 is a major civic and religious holiday with parades, fireworks, and beach festivals.
The traditional Bible readings for The Assumption of Mary include:
The Assumption is the Catholic and Orthodox belief that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. The doctrine was defined as Catholic dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950, though it had been the universal belief of the Catholic Church for many centuries. Orthodox Christians call it the Dormition.
Mary's assumption is not narrated in the New Testament. The doctrine emerges from theological reasoning (Mary as the bearer of God was fittingly preserved from bodily corruption) and from apocryphal accounts of her death that circulated from the 5th century onward. Catholic teaching does not require these apocryphal accounts to be historically reliable — the dogma rests on the church's consensus understanding of Mary's unique role.
August 15 in the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox calendars. The Orthodox call it the Dormition of the Theotokos ('falling asleep of the God-bearer') and observe a 15-day fast leading up to it. It is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church.
Generally no — most Protestant traditions reject the doctrine of the Assumption because it is not taught in scripture. Some Lutherans and Anglicans observe August 15 as a feast of Mary the mother of our Lord without affirming the bodily assumption. The Reformation emphasized that doctrines must be grounded in scripture (sola scriptura), and the Assumption did not meet that standard for most Reformers.