On August 15th, in Italy we celebrate Ferragosto, a date that for many means vacation and summer rest, but for us Catholics, it's much more: it's the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. It's the day when we contemplate an extraordinary mystery, one capable of changing our perspective on life and death.
This feast doesn't speak to us of a distant past, but of a promise that concerns us intimately. Because what happened to Mary also tells the story of our destiny.
A living body, not merely preserved
When we think of the saints, sometimes we recall stories of incorrupt bodies, signs of holiness that defy time. But with Mary, we're facing something radically different, something that goes beyond all expectations.
Her body wasn't simply kept intact: it was transformed, glorified, resurrected. Mary doesn't rest in an earthly tomb awaiting the last day. She is already where we all hope to arrive: in the fullness of eternal life, beside Christ, with her entire being—body and soul united in heavenly glory.
Along with Jesus, she is the only human creature already living this complete reality. And this isn't a privilege that distances her from us, but a beacon that illuminates our path.
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A faith as ancient as the Church itself
The certainty of Mary's Assumption doesn't arise from a late intuition or medieval devotion. It's a truth that the Christian community has breathed since the earliest centuries, transmitted with the quiet power of lived faith.
Accounts of Mary's passing were already circulating in the first centuries of the Church. Christian communities told of her dormition, a gentle passage from earth to Heaven. And there's one episode that still moves us today: when the bishops gathered in Council spoke of Mary's empty tomb, discovered after being opened, no one doubted. It was as if that truth was already written in the hearts of believers.
For centuries this conviction was preserved in prayer, in liturgies, in popular devotion. The people of God have always known it, even before the Church solemnly proclaimed it.
The Church's definitive voice
When Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption in 1950, he didn't invent anything new. He gave official voice to what the Church has always believed. His words ring out with crystal clarity: Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, having completed her earthly existence, was received into Heaven in the totality of her being.
The Church doesn't pronounce on how this passage occurred, whether through death or otherwise. That's not the point. What matters is the final destination: full glory, the definitive victory over corruption and sin.
The Church asks us to look not at the process, but at the fulfillment. And this fulfillment is wonderful.
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Four truths that lead to glory
The Assumption isn't an isolated event in Mary's story. It's the natural culmination of a journey of grace that runs through her entire existence. The Marian dogmas form a perfect mosaic, where each piece prepares the next:
- Mother of God: Mary isn't just the mother of the man Jesus. She's the mother of God made man, of the second Person of the Trinity. To carry the Creator in her womb: what greater grace?
- Ever Virgin: Before birth, during, and after, Mary remains virgin. She is the living sanctuary where the mystery of the Incarnation is fulfilled, the place where God chooses to dwell in a unique way.
- Immaculate Conception: From the first instant of her existence, Mary is preserved from every shadow of sin. She is "full of grace," as the angel calls her. In her there is no room for evil.
- Assumed into Heaven: And here's the crowning: a body and soul without stain cannot know corruption. Mary is received into eternal glory, anticipating what awaits all the redeemed.
Each dogma prepares the next. Each truth makes the following one not only possible, but necessary.
Why this feast changes our lives
When we celebrate the Assumption, we don't just commemorate a past event. We celebrate a reality that touches us personally, here and now.
Mary shows us that our body isn't destined for eternal dust. That matter can be transfigured. That death isn't the end, but the passage to a truer life. She is the first among the redeemed, the firstfruits of the resurrection that awaits us all.
To look at Mary Assumed means to look at our future with hope. It means believing that our entire being—not just the soul, but also this body with which we live, love, and suffer—is called to glory.
A mother who never abandons us
From Heaven, Mary isn't a distant, unreachable figure. She is Mother, and like every authentic mother, she remains close to her children. Her intercession isn't formal or cold: it's filled with tenderness, understanding, and that gentle strength that only a mother knows how to have.
When we entrust ourselves to her, we discover that our struggles aren't invisible to her maternal eyes, that our tears don't fall into emptiness, that our deepest desires find a hearing in her heart.
Mary Assumed is the companion of our journey, the one who knows the weariness of earthly life and now lives in heavenly fullness. She is the bridge between our fragility and the glory that awaits us.
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A personal invitation for us
The Assumption of Mary isn't just a beautiful doctrine to study or a feast to celebrate absentmindedly. It's a personal invitation, addressed to each of us.
Mary tells us: "Look at where I've arrived. This is what God desires for you too. Don't be afraid, don't give up, don't think your life is too small or too marked to be redeemed. Everything, in God, can be transfigured."
Let's entrust ourselves to her without reservation. Let's seek her intercession with an open heart. Let's speak to Mary as we would speak to a mother who knows us intimately and loves us unconditionally.
She never abandons those who call upon her. She accompanies her children through every trial, always according to God's Will, always toward the light.
And together with her, we can walk with certain hope toward the life that never ends.