The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-08-24
Why do we not speak of the Ascen-
sion of the Blessed Virgin Mary into
heaven instead of her Assumption?


sion of the Blessed Virgin Mary into
heaven instead of her Assumption?
We speak of the Assumption and not
of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin
Mary into heaven because the former
expresses more accurately than the
latter what really took place, and the
Church is always careful to use the
word that expresses most precisely
the idea she wishes to convey. The
Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed,
that is, taken up, into heaven bodily
by the power of God and not because
she possessed any inherent power to
raise herself into heaven. She was
passive instrument in the hands OF
God. If we used the word ascension"
instead of assumption" it would
imply that the Blessed Virgin was the
active agent in her upward journey.
The difference is readily seen when
we contrast the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin with the Ascension of
our Lord. Christ, by virtue of His
divine power, raised Himself into
heaven, whereas the Blessed Virgin,
not being divine, had to be taken up
into heaven by the power of God.
What is meant by Sufficient reflec-
ton" in regard to mortal sin? How
can a person commit sin by thought
when he has not any idea what his
thoughts are going to be until they
enter his head? Where does the "suf-
ficient reflection" come in in regard to
such sins?
We are told in the catechism that
sufficient reflection" is one of the
three conditions necessary to make a
sin mortal. BY this we mean that the
mind must advert to the moral evil
or malice of the act about to be per-
formed In other words, it must know
that the act in question is gr1evously
wrong and be conscious of the fact,
or remember it at the time of deciding
to do it. Of course, no one can pos
sibly commit sin by thought until
the thought has entered the mind.
The mere entrance into the mind of a
sinful thought does not make one
guilty of sin. 1t is merely tempta-
ton and temptations are not sins I'M
til we yield to them. When the thought
enters the mind, we advert to it's
wickedness, that is, realize that it is
contrary to the law of God and become
guilty of sin if we consent to do it,
but not until then. 1t is not, however,
necessary to reflect explicitly on the
grave wickedness contained in the
thought in order to sin. 1t sufices ii
one who has the full use of reason
consciously does what he knows to be
wrong although there is no actual
weighing of motives for doing or
avoiding the act.
Kindly explain the following diff.
Guilty: In the Apostles Creed we say
that Christ "descended into He'll, the
third day he arose from the dead and
assembled into Heaven" In the Pas
sion read on Wednesday in Holy Week
we read that Jesus said to the penitent
thief: "This day thou shalt be with
Me in Paradise" How could the
penitent thief enter Heaven before
Christ assembled?
The apparent contradiction involved
in the foregoing statement is &C
counted for as follows in Doctor
Breen's Commentary on Holy Scrip
ture: "a difference arises here from
the words of Christ. He tells the
robber that he would be with Him that
Sy CT xFOnr
Christ had descended into Limbo be
fore going into His kingdom. We
know so little of the nature of the
state of the soul when it leaves the
body that it is hard to trace the sou
of the robber in it's life beyond the
grave. The words of Christ, in sub
stance, declare that the robber was
saved and that he should be with
Christ as member of His kingdom
Immediately after death. More thar
this is not given us to know. Limbo
could, in certain way, be called
Paradise. All those who went there
belonged to Heaven and were happy
in the certainty that Heaven was
theirs. The veil that hangs over thai
unknown state that lies between this
life and the Beatific Vision has moi
been lifted. Abraham did not precede
the Redeemer into Heaven, and We
the Redeemer himself places Lazaru!
in Abraham's bosom in Heaven, ant
makes Abraham speak from HEAVIER
to the rich man in He'll. God has no
made clear revelation of the mys
teries that lie over the border of time
Hence, we must be satisfied, tina
Jesus gave to the penitent robber tn,
perfect assurance of Heaven, and tina
his soul should be with Jesus as soor
as it left the body"
Are all priests required to say Mass
every day of their lives? II they ar,
excused, kindly state reasons.