The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-08-12
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN.

The day of unalloyed JOY and glory
for Mary is the day of her assumption
into heaven, celebrated on the 18th
of August 1t is pious belief, coming
down to us by tradition from the ear
Hest times of Christianity, that the
body of the Blessed Virgin was raised
by God, soon after her death, and as
sumed to glory, by a singular privilege,
before the general resurrection of the
dead
1t is not an article of faith which
Catholics must believe under pain OF
sin; but it would certainly be pre-
sumptious not to accept with defer
ence an opinion which has always re-
ceived the favor of the Church from
the earliest times. 1t is, besides, per-
fectly conformable to the sentiments
of piety and generation which we owe
to the glorious Mother of God. The
preservation from corruption, and the
speedy assumption to glory, was
privilege which seems justly due to
that sacred body which was never de-
filed by any sin, and which was per-
served from the common curse OF
mankind; to that body from which the
Eternal World received His own ador-
able flesh, by whose hands He was
pleased to be tended and cared for on
earth and whom He vouchsafed to obey
and honor as His mother. Whether
this opinion be true or not, it in no
manner effects the object of this fes-
tival. The Church celebrates on this
day the departure of the Blessed Vlr-
gin from this vale of tears to take
possession of those joys which God
had prepared for her.
1t is not known with certainty where
the Blessed Virgin died. Some think
she went with st. John to Ephesus,
and died there; but this opinion seems
to be grounded only on conjecture. 1t
seems more probable that she died IN
Jerusalem. st. Willibald, who flour
ished in TAO, in his voyage to Jerusa-
lem, was shown the tomb OF the
Blessed Virgin, which was empty, in
the valley of Josaphat, at the foot OF
Mount Olivet Albanian, the Irish
monk, who visited Palestine at
the close of the seventh century, and
Bede, mention it in the same place.
AS soon as the days of bloody persecu-
ton were passed, the Christians began
to celebrate the memory of the death
of the Blessed Virgin. At first it was
commemorated on the 18th of Janu-
airy; but from the year 582 it has been
celebrated on the 18th of August The
Epistle in the Mass of this day begins
with these words: In all these
sought rest, and shall abide in the
inheritance of the Lord (Ecclus. XIV
IL; and the Gospel of the day ends
as follows: Mary hath chosen the
better part, which shall not be taken
away from her" duke X. 42). This
sounds to us like cry of JOY and exul-
tation from heaven, and we rejoice at
the thought that the purest and the
hottest of the human race now dWells
in eternal glory, and that she is now
forever united with her Divine Son,
Whom she brought forth and laid in
the manger, Whom she nurtured,
Whose ignominy and tortures she
shared at the foot of the cross, and
Whose resurrection was her comfort
and JOY. We are transported in spirit
to the realms of bliss, and behold her
exalted above the highest cherubim,
and placed on a throne above all the
choirs of the blessed spirits; and we
also think of our own true home,
where one day we hope to be united
with the blessed in heaven in extolling
and praising the mercies of God
shown to Mary.