Seton Magazine Catholic Homeschool Articles, Advice & Resources
The Assumption, which we celebrate on August 15, is certainly one of the happiest and most glorious feast days in the Church. The Blessed Mother is raised, body and soul, to her heavenly reward!
How many paintings—showing Mary surrounded by angels being welcomed by God the Father, her Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit—have been devoted to this magnificent occasion!
Not only is it a glorious occasion for Mary, but it gives us consolation and hope for our own assumption into heaven, body and soul, at the end of time. Our assumption and the assumption of our children into Heaven to obtain their eternal heavenly glory is, after all, what the purpose of life in this world is all about.
As we struggle with the daily aggravations or frustrations, as we deal with the pains and bumps of life, keeping in our minds a beautiful picture of the Blessed Mother’s Assumption into Heaven can give us strength to overcome and to remain faithful.
Father John Hardon, once a spiritual advisor for Seton and a regular speaker at our conferences, founded Intermirifica, an organization dedicated to teaching the Catholic Faith through home-study courses for adults. The following meditation-prayer appeared on their website:
“As angels sing their hymns of praise, you are raised on high to the kingdom of glory by God’s own power. Who can tell the sweetness of that loving embrace whereby Jesus welcomes and admits you, His own Virgin Mother, to unending union with Him in the glory of heaven! Your peaceful tomb has been opened by the Apostles and found to be empty. Beautiful flowers whose sweet fragrance scents the air fill the place where your body has lain, and heavenly music envelopes your empty tomb. The Apostles now realize that you have been taken up into heaven, soul and body.”
“Mary, it was fitting that you should be assumed into heaven with soul and body. By your Assumption, God honored your body that was always the temple in which He dwelt by grace. It was a gate through which the Son of God, the Divine Word, passed to earth and became Man. It was fitting that your holy and virginal body which gave flesh and blood to the God of all sanctity, the Victor over death, should never experience the corruption of the grave. Death and corruption are a result of original sin; but by your Immaculate Conception, you are preserved from original sin and its effects. You offered yourself to suffering and your beloved Son to death for the redemption of mankind; it was fitting that you should be united with Him in glory.”
Queen assumed into Heaven, pray for us!
Header Image CC Jim, the Photographer
