Pope on Assumption: The Blessed Mother leads us toward eternal life

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Mary, our Mother, leads us, joyfully, toward Her Son...

Pope Francis gave this reassurance during his Angelus address on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Thursday.

On 1 November 1950, Pope Pius XII declared the Blessed Mother's Assumption into Heaven as dogma in his Apostolic Constitution 'Munificentissimus Deus,' which asserts that Blessed Virgin Mary "by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conception," and as a result, "she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have to wait until the end of time for the redemption of her body."

Pius went on to infallibly declare, that "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."

As the Church observes the Solemnity on 15 August, Pope Francis remembered that today's Gospel offers us the dialogue between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth.

As we contemplate the young girl of Nazareth, who, having just received the Angel’s announcement, set out to visit her cousin, the Pope highlighted the expression, 'Mary set out and went,' and call it "beautiful."

Sets out joyfully in haste

This means, he marveled, "that Mary does not consider the news she received from the angel a privilege," but, on the contrary," "she leaves home and sets out with the haste of someone who wishes to announce that joy to others and with the eagerness to be of service to her cousin."

In reality, he observed, this first journey "is a metaphor for her whole life," because "from that moment on, Mary will always be on the move following Jesus as a disciple of the Kingdom."

And, in the end, the Pope remembered, Our Lady's earthly pilgrimage concludes with her Assumption into Heaven where, "together with her Son, she enjoys the joy of eternal life forever."

Blessed Mother leads the way

"We should not imagine Mary as a motionless wax statue," he admonished, saying that instead, "in her, we can see a "sister... with worn-out sandals... and with so much fatigue," before she would later conclude her journey "in the glory of Heaven."

In this way, he reiterated, the Holy Virgin is the one who precedes us on the path, reminding all of us that our life is also a continuous journey towards final union with the Lord.

Pope Francis concluded before the midday prayer by reassuring all faithful that Mary is at our side as we journey toward Heaven.

The full text of the Pope's Angelus address for the Solemnity can be read at the Vatican website.

Assumption of the Blessed Mother