THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY - 15th AUGUST

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, aHoly Day of Obligation. On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption. Thus he solemnly proclaimed that the belief whereby the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the close of her earthly life, was taken up body and soul, into the glory of heaven, definitively forms part of the deposit of faith, received from the Apostles.

To avoid all that is uncertain the Pope did not state either the manner or the circumstances of time and place in which the Assumption took place, only the fact of the Assumption of Our Lady, body and soul, into the glory of heaven.

In prclaiming The Assumption a dogma of the church, Pope Pius XII declared "The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven."