THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY

The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

For Roman Catholic Christians, the belief in the Assumption of Mary flows immediately from the belief in her Immaculate Conception. Catholic Christians believe that if Mary was preserved from sin by the free gift of God, she would not be bound to experience the consequences of sin--death--in the same way we do. Mary's assumption shows the result of this freedom from sin--the immediate union of her whole being with her Son Jesus Christ with God at the end of her life.

Catholic Christians believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was assumed both body and soul into heavenly glory. This teaching is not strange to Sacred Scriptures wherein holy people are mentioned to have been brought to heaven while still alive.

Genesis 5:24 Enoch was taken to heaven

2 Kings 2:11 The Prophet Elijah was brough body and soul to heaven by chariot of fire.

Jude 1: 9 "When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said: The Lord command thee."

ENOCH, ELIJAH AND MOSES

It's an odd thing, but Christians who find it untenable that Mary could have possibly been miraculously transported into heaven seem to have no problem with Elijah and Enoch. Biblically, Elijah, who was one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament (OT) was brought up to heaven before his death via a fiery chariot. Enoch, although not specifically stated in the Bible, is also commonly believed to have been taken up to heaven prior to his death.

If God had already given two examples of men who were plucked from the earth and brought into the heavenly realms, why is it an impossibility with the mother of God? Is it because it's not explicitly stated in the Bible? If that's the case, neither is Enoch's rapture.

In addition to Elijah and Enoch, Moses was taken up physically as well (Jude 1:9). The difference with Moses was that he was brought up into heaven after he had passed away.

There are three points thatat spawn from this topic. The first is that God can do anything, even raise someone up into heaven at will. The second is that we have empirical evidence (Biblically) that it has happened to prophets prior to Mary. Finally, we reasonably believe that a prophet like Enoch may have been raptured without any explicit evidence in the Bible. If reason allows us to believe that these three prophets were able to be taken up into the skies, then it cannot be reason that prevents us from believing that Mary could not be.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

2 Cor. 12:2 - Paul speaks of a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven. Mary was also brought up into heaven by God.

Matt. 27:52-53 - when Jesus died and rose, the bodies of the saints were raised. Nothing in Scripture precludes Mary's assumption into heaven.

1 Thess. 4:17 - we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Rev. 12:1 - we see Mary, the "woman," clothed with the sun. While in Rev. 6:9 we only see the souls of the martyrs in heaven, in Rev. 12:1 we see Mary, both body and soul.

2 Thess. 2:15 - Paul instructs us to hold fast to oral (not just written) tradition. Apostolic tradition says Mary was assumed into heaven. While claiming the bones of the saints was a common practice during these times (and would have been especially important to obtain Mary's bones as she was the Mother of God), Mary's bones were never claimed. This is because they were not available. Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven.

THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST AS THE NEW ADAM

Rom 5:12 "Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned ..."

Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

1 Cor 15:21-26 "For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the first fruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

Since sin and death are the fruits of Satan, the freedom of Mary from the original sin of Adam also frees her from the consequences of sin also. Then Mary best fulfills the scripture of Genesis. Thus the Catholic Church refers to Mary as the New Eve because she is the woman who was primarily used by Christ - the New Adam in bringing forth salvation to man and to correct the sin of the first Eve. The First Eve listened to the Devil but Mary the New Eve listened to the Angel of God.

Gen 3:15 "I will put enmity between you (the serpent, Satan) and the woman (Mary), and between your offspring (the minions of Satan) and hers (Christ); He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."

The constant faith (paradosis) of the Church affirms the belief in the Assumption of Mary.

From the 5th Century:

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary was celebrated in Syria.

5th and 6th Century:

The Apocryphal Books were testimony of a certain christian sense of the abhorrence felt that the body of the Mother of God should lie in a sepulcher.

6th Century:

The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Jerusalem (and perhaps even in Alexandria).

From the 7th Century:

Clear and explicit testimony was given on the Assumption of Mary in the Eastern Church; The same testimony is clear also in the Western Church (Gregory, Tours, 538-594).

9th Century:

The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Spain.

From the 10th - 12th Century:

No dispute whatsoever in the Western Church; there was dispute over the false epistles of Jerome on the subject.

12th Century:

The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in the city of Rome, and in France.

13th Century to the present:

Certain and undisputed faith in the Assumption of Mary in the universal Church.

1950

Pope Pius XII, declared infallibly, ex cathedra: "Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory." (The Magisterium has stayed cospicuously silent regarding whether this process entailed Mary's physical death. The teaching merely states that Mary's body and soul were assumed at the completion of the course of Mary's life.)