Susan Smith discusses the Feast of the Assumption and Marian devotions yesterday and today.

The Council of Ephesus (431) was primarily concerned with unity of Christ’s divine and human natures, and so this inevitably led to discussions about Mary. Should Mary be called Theotokus (“God-bearer” or mother of God) or Christotokus (“Christ-bearer” or mother of Christ). Theotokus it was and from the 5th century onwards, liturgical celebrations to honour Mary began to multiply.

By the 6th century, Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven was being celebrated. Though there is neither biblical nor patristic evidence to mandate such a celebration, it was widely believed that Jesus would have saved Mary from the bodily corruption that was the lot of us lesser mortals. By the 11th century, belief in Mary’s Assumption and her Immaculate Conception were strong.

PRE-VATiCAN II MARiAN DEVOTiON

Marian devotion continued to grow in importance, particularly in 19th-century France, and our early French connection, here, perhaps explains why Marian devotion was such an important part of pre-Vatican II Catholicism.

In 1830 Catherine Labouré claimed to have had a vision of Mary as immaculately conceived, standing on a globe. I certainly remember wearing the Immaculate Conception medals to save me from a multiplicity of physical and moral dangers that would come my way. In 1854, Pius IX ruled that belief in the Immaculate Conception was a dogma of faith. Appearances of Mary continued — La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858), Knock (1879), Fatima (1917) — and were an important part of catechetical formation prior to Vatican II.

Nor did Vatican II alter this for many Catholics. Pius XII, John Paul II and Francis emphasised devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. Indeed, in May 2017 Francis canonised the three shepherd children to whom Mary appeared. I must admit that long before 2017 I had stopped worrying about Lucia’s message, although I do wonder if Putin is better or worse than Russia’s former Communist dictators. Putin does not emerge as an answer to prayer about the evils of Communism.

ASSUMPTiON OF MARY

In 1950, Pius XII gave us yet another Marian dogma — Catholics were to believe that Mary had been bodily assumed into heaven. The Catholic Catechism, quoting Lumen Gentium 59, teaches that “Finally, 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, so that she might be more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of Lords, and conqueror of sin and death.” Both Pius IX and Pius XII taught that failure on the part of Catholics to believe in these two Marian dogmas meant they had “abandoned the divine and
Catholic faith”.

After celebrating the first Mass in Hokianga on 13 January 1838, Bishop Pompallier dedicated the country to Mary under the title of her Assumption. In 1988, New Zealand’s bishops declared the feast of the Assumption of Mary the patronal feast of Aotearoa, and a holy day of obligation.

BiNDiNG FORCE OF MARiAN DOGMAS

The binding force of these Marian dogmas, none of them with any scriptural mandate, can be problematic for some Catholics today and here American theologian Richard McBrien (1936-2015) is helpful.

McBrien, following the Decree on Ecumenism (par 11), writes of a hierarchy of truths and argues that no one could reasonably hold that “the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are so central to Christian faith that the faith itself would disintegrate without either or both. Such would be the case, on the other hand, if one were to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ or the redemptive value of his life, death, and resurrection” (McBrien, Catholicism,1980, 887-888).

Those Catholics who look to the Gospels, particularly Luke’s Gospel, to understand and appreciate better Mary’s role in God’s salvific plan, may find McBrien’s insights more helpful in their lives as disciples than messages via Mary from Lourdes, Fatima or Međugorje. Before looking at two gospel texts, something else needs to be remembered about Pius XII’s teaching about the Assumption of Mary.

HORROR OF WWII DEATH TOLL

First, this feast that celebrates Mary’s glorified body, points to the transformation of our bodies because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Second, World War II was still fresh in the minds of many in 1950. Who could not forget the tens of millions of men, women and children exterminated in concentration and prisoner of war camps, the hundreds of thousands exterminated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the millions of military personnel who lost their lives, and the millions of civilians killed whether in Luftwaffe bombings in England or later Allied bombings in Hamburg or Dresden?

It is estimated that some 85,000,000 died altogether and, in many instances, the dead bodies were never honoured in any way. Perhaps Pius XII was thinking of these many desecrated bodies when instituting this feast which honoured and celebrated the human body after death.

MARY'S DiSCiPLESHiP iN SCRiPTURE

The New Testament tells us nothing about the Assumption of Mary but Luke’s readings for both the vigil and feast of the Assumption warrant attention as they focus on Mary’s humanity. The vigil reading highlights Mary’s maternity when one of the crowd acclaims the womb that bore Jesus and the breasts that nurtured him. Jesus complements this anonymous acclamation by affirming that those who hear the word of God and observe it are even more blessed. In Mary the seed that was planted surely bears fruit a hundredfold
(see Luke 11:27-28).

In the reading for the feast of the Assumption, soon after Mary learns that she is to conceive and bear a child, she leaves Nazareth and makes her way to Judea to be with her older cousin, Elizabeth, who is also pregnant. Both these women are key players in God’s saving plan. Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist, proclaims that Jesus, son of Mary, has come to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God.

We recall the pregnant and Spirit-filled Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary when we pray: “Hail Mary, full of grace, blessed are you among women…” Recognising God’s Holy Spirit at work in herself and in her cousin Elizabeth, Mary breaks into song, praising God’s actions in their lives. Mary understands well that the God of Israel is a God who will scatter the proud in the conceit of their hearts, bring down the powerful from their thrones, lift up the lonely, fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty (see Luke 1.51-53).

When we look at our fractured world today, Mary’s song alerts us to what discipleship requires of us — lifting up the lowly and filling the hungry with good things. Pentecost, celebrated some weeks ago, meant that like Mary we, too, have been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, empowering us to continue the mission of Jesus by our outreach to the poor and marginalised. When this happens, we bring healing to our broken world.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 284 August 2023: 4-5