S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

The Assumption of Mary (or the Assumption of the Virgin) is a doctrine which teaches that after the mother of Jesus died, she was resurrected, glorified, and taken bodily to heaven. The word assump...

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July 01 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Vincent Mercado Supporter Skeptic turned believer, Catholic, father of 3

The Assumption of Mary into Heaven, informally known as The Assumption, according to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.

Stories of the assumption of Mary into heaven have circulated since at least the 4th century. Since then, many churches named after the Assumption of Mary were erected. This doctrine (Church teaching) became widespread across the Christian world by the 6th century.

It was only in 1950, when Pope Pius XII elevated this doctrine to a level of a dogma (a must-believe Church teaching). The text of his declaration below:

"By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: 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." Pope Pius XII, November 1, 1950.

It is wrong to say that the Assumption was only declared in 1950 and that it is a new doctrine. The doctrine had long been there. The only thing new is the canonical status of the doctrine.

September 23 2013 • 16 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report