page_title: Catholic Mariology
section_title: Assumption of Mary
hierarchical_section_title: Catholic Mariology / Dogmatic teachings / Assumption of Mary
context_page_description: Catholic Mariology refers to Mariology – the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the Economy of Salvation – within Catholic theology. Mary is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints. The Catholic Church teaches that she was conceived without original sin, therefore receiving a higher level of veneration than all other saints. Catholic Mariology thus studies not only her life but also the veneration of her in daily life, prayer, hymns, art, music, and architecture in modern and ancient Christianity throughout the ages.
  The four dogmas of Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, and Assumption form the basis of Mariology. However, a number of other Catholic doctrines about the Virgin Mary have been developed by reference to sacred scripture, theological reasoning and Church tradition. The development of Mariology is ongoing and since the beginnings it has continued to be shaped by theological analyses, writings of saints, and papal statements, e.g. while two Marian dogmas are ancient, the other two were defined in the 19th and 20th centuries; and papal teachings on Mary have continued to appear in recent times.
context_section_description: This dogma states that Mary was assumed into heaven with body and soul. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (item 966) states:
  The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things.
  Pope Pius XII discussed the Assumption in Deiparae Virginis Mariae (1946) and declared it a dogma in Munificentissimus Deus (1950).
  Although the Assumption was only recently defined as dogma, accounts of the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven have circulated since at least the 5th century, and by the 8th century saints Andrew of Crete and John of Damascus had declared belief in it. The Book of Revelation (12:1) has been interpreted as referring to it; with her coronation implying her previous bodily assumption to heaven.
  Before declaring the Assumption a dogma in Munificentissimus Deus in 1950, in the encyclical Deiparae virginis Mariae (1946) Pope Pius XII obtained the opinion of Catholic bishops, and based on their overwhelming support (1210 among the 1232 bishops) proceeded with the dogmatic definition. The consensus of Magisterial teaching and liturgy affirms that Mary suffered death before her assumption, but this is not always accepted as settled doctrine. What is most clear is that her body was not left on earth to corrupt.
  When responding to Pope Pius XII following the circulation of Deiparae Virginis Mariae, a large number of Catholic bishops pointed to the Book of Genesis (3:15) as a scriptural basis. In Munificentissimus Deus (item 39) Pius XII referred to the "struggle against the infernal foe" as in Genesis 3:15 and to "complete victory over the sin and death" as in the Letters of Paul as a scriptural basis for the dogmatic definition, Mary being assumed into heaven also seems to verify 1 Corinthians 15:54: "Then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory".
caption: The Assumption of Mary by Charles Le Brun, 1835.
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