Celebration Of Assumption Day

Added: 10/15/2007

Each year Catholics around the world get together to celebrate Assumption Day as the day that the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven in her earthly form. There has been a great deal of debate as to whether or not the bible even references any assumption into heaven of the Virgin Mary and some religious experts believe that no one really knows the fate of the Virgin Mary. Either way it still remains as an important day on the Catholic calendar.

Assumption Day is a largely Catholic celebration where the Catholic faith believes that the Virgin Mary, after she had completed all she was asked to do on earth, was assumed into heaven in her earthly form body and all. It is more formally referred to as The Solemnity Of The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary and it permanently defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950 as being true Catholic dogma and infallible. The date has varied somewhat throughout history but those that do celebrate Assumption Day normally celebrate it on August 15.

As early as 377AD Epiphanius of Salamis had circulated a statement that no one really would ever know what the true fate of the Virgin Mary was but in spite of that stories of her assumption into heaven have been circulating since as early as the fifth century AD and it is mostly a Catholic story that puts the Virgin Mary into heaven while still in human form. Many Catholic scholars point to chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation as directly referring to the fact that the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven even though many other religious scholars disagree. As early as the 3rd century there is thought to be reference made to the Virgin Mary’s plight in the Six Books Dormition Narratives which is difficult to really tie to any accurate time period and is thought to have been written sometime between the 3rd century and the 5th century AD. In the 5th century AD the Catholic saint St. John did a summary of the Six Books in which he maintained that it is a description of Mary’s assumption into heaven. Variations of the story began to spring up including one version that had the discovery of Mary’s tomb opened and her body gone with just her burial clothes lying on the ground. In 1950 Pope Pius XII put an end to the debate as far as Catholics were concerned by declaring the assumption an event and saying Catholics should celebrate Assumption Day.

Catholics refer to Assumption Day as the Virgin Mary’s heavenly birthday because it was the first day of her life in heaven. It is a very holy day for Catholics and it is even considered a public holiday in countries such as France and Italy. Costa Rica celebrates its Mother’s Day on Assumption Day as a day to celebrate all mothers along with the Holy Mother. In New York City the laws regarding which side of the street you can park on are suspended for Assumption Day which is the only real public display offered in the United States outside of the celebrations happening in the Catholic churches of America.

Obviously there is no way we will ever know what really happened to the Virgin Mary and some religious scholars argue that we may never know if there actually ever was a Virgin Mary to begin with. But many nations all over the world celebrate Assumption Day as the day the mother of Jesus Christ was assumed into heaven in her earthly form to take her seat in the kingdom of heaven and to complete, for many scholars and religious followers alike, the story of Jesus and his mission on earth among the people of the earth doing his heavenly work.

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