One of only three months without a federal holiday, August features a most spectacular solemnity – the oldest feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary commemorates Our Lady’s journey into heaven body and soul and is celebrated on Aug. 15.
As a holy day of obligation, Catholics are expected each year to attend Mass on this day, unless it falls on a Sunday or Monday.
Father Ted Mauch, pastor of Our Lady of Consolation/Holy Martyrs Parish, said it is essential to give thanks and praise to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to observe her glorious Assumption into heaven.
“The Blessed Mother is at the center of our expression of faith because she committed her life totally to Christ,” he said. “She fulfilled the mission given to her by God to conceive and bear a son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In turn, Jesus Christ gave the Blessed Virgin Mary to us as a mother, he explained. As Jesus died on the cross, He said to his mother “behold thy son,” presenting her to His apostle John and the whole world, said Father Mauch.
He continued saying that the Blessed Virgin Mary ascended into heaven and was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. “She did not know the decay of death,” he said.
The Assumption of Mary was defined as a dogma of faith by Pope Pius XII on Nov. 1, 1950. By the time he solemnly declared this dogma – after an extensive consultation with bishops, theologians and laity – it was already a common belief in the Catholic Church as it was the earliest Marian feast day on record, according to Church history.
Dogma states, “the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory,” said Father Mauch, stressing that it was irrefutable. “We believe that the Blessed Mother holds a special place in the life of the Church.”
Homilies about Mary’s Assumption date back to the sixth century. The Eastern churches held steady to the doctrine during subsequent centuries while the Western churches showed some hesitancy. However, by the 13th century, there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated in the West as the Assumption and in the East as Dormition, or “falling asleep.”
Father Mauch stressed that there is no contradiction with the different titles. “They are complementary in that we believe she was taken into Heaven without knowing the decay of death,” he said.
It is also important to pray the Rosary in order to encounter Mary and enter into the mysteries of Jesus Christ through her, Father Mauch said. Mediating on the Assumption, which is the fourth Glorious Mystery, can lead to a better understanding of Jesus’ love for his mother.
Father Lourdu Pasala, pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hobart, deeply loves the Blessed Mother and the more-than-100-year-old parish named after her. “We are thankful to God for the gift of Our Mother. We have a special devotion to her as our intercessor. She is protecting us and keeping us going on.”
The parish celebrated its centennial in 2017.
Each year, the parish honors the Blessed Virgin Mary and celebrates the feast of the Assumption with Mass and a picnic on the Saturday nearest the feast day, said Father Pasala. This year his parishioners will celebrate with a potluck picnic following 4 p.m. Mass on Aug. 12. “We celebrate the feast and give honor to Our Mother. We are also thanking God for the gift of our parish. We are accepting of His will.”
Father Mauch said the Blessed Virgin Mary is the perfect person to turn to for favor with God.
“She is the best example of a mother figure. She is the mother of Jesus and our mother; she always has our best interest at heart even as our own mothers on earth and beyond. She responds and acts as a great mediatrix in the role of mother,” he said.
Father Christopher Stanish, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia, said the Blessed Virgin Mary is the mediatrix of all graces. “People should always go to the Blessed Mother knowing of her intercession for you on behalf of her Son.
“As St. Maximillian Kolbe has told us there is no one who could ever love Mary more than Jesus,” he said. “You should always go to your Blessed Mother knowing her intercession for you on behalf of her son. He is attentive to his mother.”
Father Mauch noted that people should also not confuse the Assumption with the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, or the Annunciation – when the Blessed Virgin Mary accepted God’s will that she become the mother of the Son of God as revealed to her by Archangel Gabriel.
The other two months without a federal holiday are March and April, which include the Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Easter and the feast of Divine Mercy.