FEAST
OF THE ASSUMPTION — The taking of Mary —
body and soul — to heaven is depicted in a relief outside the
cemetery at St. Peter and Paul Church in Mauren, Liechtenstein. The
feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated Aug.
15.
(CNS/ Crosiers)
Feast
of the Assumption is not only for Catholics
By Evans K. Chama
Eastern churches and some
Anglicans are one with the Catholic Church in the belief of Mary’s
assumption to heaven, while for many others this is a point of divorce.
Ecumenical dialogue can open us to understand, and possibly be enriched by, what history may have conditioned us to fight and never to value. I find it not too much to say that with just a little broadening one may be surprised to appreciate that the Assumption of Mary, at its deeper sense, isn’t just Catholic but fundamentally a Christian faith and hope.
How did this celebration and teaching on the Assumption develop? It
goes back to a tradition from between the fourth and fifth centuries,
first known in Palestine, then to Egypt in Alexandria from where it
spread to the monks of Gaul, in today’s France. We hear of the
Assumption in Rome much later, between the seventh and eighth centuries.
Yet only much later did it become an official church teaching.
In 1946 Pope Pius XII consulted bishops, priests and the lay faithful
if they desired that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary be defined
as dogma. Nearly all bishops desired it. And so, on Nov. 1, 1950, in
his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, 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 heavenly
glory.”
Did Mary die before being taken to heaven or was she taken up without tasting death? Here the teaching makes no definition. The Orthodox Church is more in the position that Mary died before being taken up, and thus, from early centuries celebrated the Dormitio, which is the “falling asleep” of Mary.
Some questions have been raised regarding this dogma:
Scriptures mention nothing about Mary’s assumption and the first
three centuries of the church’s tradition seems to be silent about
it. Also, the exalted place of Mary in heaven attracts considerable
devotion, which somehow puts Christ in the shadow.
Catholics nourish their faith from both Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
If a teaching is not written in the Bible it does not necessarily mean
it’s unbiblical. Indeed, the first three centuries are silent
about the Assumption, hence a point for research. However, it’s
equally significant to note that the Feast of the Assumption had been
celebrated for more than 1,000 years even before being officially defined.
This living tradition, the celebrated and lived faith of the people,
is an important source of the Catholic teaching.
Understanding the distinction between the Ascension and the Assumption
can clarify Mary’s place before God, as well as give depth to
what we celebrate in the Assumption.
Ascension refers to Christ’s going back to the Father. Christ
ascended to heaven by his own power as incarnate son of God, which is
not the case with the Assumption. Mary was assumed, that is, she was
taken up or received into heaven, not by her own power but by God’s
doing.
A little reflection is enough to be able to detect, from the declaration
of the dogma, what has been the point of God’s action in the history
of salvation. God has been beckoning humanity to communion with him,
and so Christ became man in order to assume human beings into God’s
life. That’s why most of the Eastern Church Fathers would thus
speak of salvation as divinisation.
The Byzantine Rite brings this out through the Good Friday liturgy —
the burial of Christ. Christ descends into hell in order to redeem humanity
from death to life in God. This is loud and visible in the icon of Adam
and Eve fettered in hell. Christ breaks the chains and extends his hands
to draw them out from the shackles of death.
This goes well with John Paul II’s perspective. He linked the
assumption to Jesus’ promise to his disciples: “And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be
with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn 14:3).
Hence, the Solemnity of the Assumption is not just a celebration of
a superficial admiration of what God has done for Mary. Rather, it’s
a celebration of faith and hope that what God began and accomplished
in her he will also accomplish in the rest of humanity. And this isn’t
just Catholic but a Christian faith and hope.
If only the divided churches would find unity in this common hope and
co-operate in making the whole of humanity responsive to God who is
calling all into communion with him.
Chama is a Zambian-born Missionary of Africa, just finishing theological
studies in Jerusalem and due for priestly ordination this July.
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