the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary-Holy day of Obligation

According to Roman Catholic doctrine and the traditions of the Catholic Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mary, the mother of Jesus) "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."

This means that Mary was transported into Heaven with her body and soul united. The feast day recognizing Mary's passage into Heaven is celebrated as The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Roman Catholics.

This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus.

In those denominations that observe it, the Feast of the Assumption is commonly celebrated on August 15.


Question for your Reflections: How can the Bodily Assumption of Mary be reconciled with the Bible, which seems to be totally silent about it?

.....Catholics agree that no Christian teaching can contradict anything in the Bible.
The Assumption of Mary is a belief of this sort. We believe in it as a part of the received Tradition, passed down from the Apostles and because it is utterly plausible and consistent with Mary's role as the "Theotokos" ("God-bearer") and immaculate sinless one, who was granted a singular grace from God in order to bear God himself in her body.

If indeed she was free from sin, then it follows that she would not undergo the decay of death, which was the penalty for sin.

But for the fall of man, no one would have died.
Mary is the exception, for very good reason, and the forerunner of the resurrection that all who are saved will experience (1 Corinthians 15:12-23 cf. Mt 27:52-53).

Moreover, there are parallels in Holy Scripture of others going straight to heaven (bodily) without dying: Enoch-Heb 11:5 ; cf. Gn 5:24 , Elijah- 2 Kings 2:1, 11 , and many during the Second Coming: 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

Pope Pius XII, in his apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, November 1, 1950, proclaimed this Dogma in the following words:
---"By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we proclaim, declare and define as a Dogma revealed by God: The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul in the glory of Heaven"---