My lover speaks; he says to me, Arise, my beloved,
my beautiful one, and come! For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
Songs 2, 10-11

“Behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed;
for the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.”
Luke 1, 48-49

“Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away.”
Matthew 24, 35

As a Christian, it's impossible to understand the truth about the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary without focusing on her divine Son and his Gospel message. The Word of God made flesh embodies everything that God has revealed to us in the sacred Scripture and Tradition about his will and saving acts. During his time on earth, Jesus' words and deeds clearly demonstrated divine truth. We can only truly know Jesus, both as divine and human, by listening to his words and witnessing his acts of love and compassion.

What our Lord and Saviour has mercifully accomplished for us, both in the present and the future, demonstrates the goodness and righteousness of His word. Jesus would never contradict himself by disregarding any of His own precepts that originate from the Father and are declared in His Person. He could never fail to do something that He expects us to do in similar circumstances. Jesus has declared Himself to be "the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). Therefore, by reflecting deeply on the divine personality of Jesus, whom we have personally come to know through His words and deeds, spoken and performed in His sacred humanity, we can understand and appreciate what great thing He must have done for His mother in honor of her and by His infinite love in accordance with the will of His heavenly Father.

“For this, I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth
listens to my voice.”
John 18, 37

In our case, we can apply the dictum "actions speak louder than words" However, with regards to our Lord, it may be more accurate to say that his words speak louder than his actions, because of his divinity. Every miracle performed by Jesus during his public ministry, out of compassion for the needy, bore witness to the truth of his divine word. It should be noted that while the supernatural deeds of our Lord should not be underestimated, he was not condemned to death for performing miracles but for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin. His death sentence was sealed when he declared to the chief priest Caiaphas, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Mt 26:64). Our Lord was crucified for affirming his equality with God, despite the fact that his miraculous deeds had already been dismissed by the scribes and Pharisees as works of the Devil (Mt 12:22-37).

Jesus' claim that he had the authority to forgive sins alluded to his divinity and ultimately led to his arrest and conviction. This claim deeply offended the Jewish elders who believed that only God had the authority to forgive sins. They were appalled that Jesus had asserted himself as equal to YHWH. Despite witnessing the healing of a paralytic, they cared little about it (Mk 2:1-12). The scribes and Pharisees, who were obstinately religious and proud, refused to listen to the truth and were unfavorably impressed by Jesus' spoken word (Ps 69:8-9). As a result, Jesus condemned them for their unpardonable sin of the soul (Jn 9:35-41).

You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal.
Discard not the work of your hands.
Psalm 138, 7-8

“Even if you do not believe me, believe the works,
so that you may realize and understand that the Father
is in me and I am in the Father.”
John 10, 38

Jesus instructed his disciples that he had come into the world with the sole purpose of doing his Father's will, not his own (Jn 6:38). By obeying God and enduring suffering, Jesus became perfect and was designated by God as our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, the source of our salvation (Heb 5:8-9). Had Jesus disobeyed any of God's commandments and failed to align his human will with his divine will, the scribes and Pharisees would have had a legitimate reason to accuse him of performing miracles in the name of the Devil. This would have compromised the credibility of his teachings and portrayed him as a hypocrite. However, healing the sick on the Sabbath did not violate the spirit of the law but rather aligned with it. Despite what the religious elders believed, Jesus's actions were in line with God's commandments.

The Gospels reveal that the Son of Man displayed impeccable moral courage by humbling himself to please the Father (Mt 3:17; Lk 22:42). God's will was the top priority in Jesus' life, especially when he faced circumstances that would ordinarily compel the human will to follow the course dictated by natural instinct. Fortunately for us, the divine will took charge when Jesus was summoned to conform his human will to the will of his Father (Mt 26:38-39; 27:40-44). His triumphant agony in the garden and death on the Cross confirmed the constancy of the Son in doing the Father's will and keeping His commandments (Heb 4:15).

Let us not unfaithfully suppose that our Lord could be inconstant now that he is in Heaven, where he acts as our intercessor before the Father. We should have good reason to doubt what Jesus said about his doing his Father’s works if it appears he failed to do the work of his Father, of assuming his Mother’s body and soul into heaven in accordance with the Divine moral precepts of the Mosaic Law. We have no reason to believe in anything Jesus has said and done if, in fact, his mother’s body – God’s masterpiece of human re-creation – lies corrupt in a lost tomb, despite all his purported miracles, including the claims of the Apostles of his own resurrection; since the Jesus whom we have come to know by his words and deeds could not possibly be so cold and indifferent towards his own mother contrary to the moral precept of the Law.

Arise, Lord, come to your resting place,
you and your majestic ark.
Psalm 132, 8

Christians who believe their Lord’s claim to be consubstantially one with the Father in his divinity should do so in all honesty with less certitude of faith, unless they also believe what he must have honorably done for his mother as the Divine precept enjoins us to do – that is, honor our mother. In true faith and knowledge of God, without which we cannot be united with Him, Christians must understand that Jesus owes it to Himself as God to be true to His own word, considering the essence of His divine goodness and righteousness. Our Lord, therefore, could not but obligate himself to honor the woman whom the Father had predestined to be his mother, from whom he acquired his sacred body and precious blood by the power of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of humanity (Lk 1:35).

Our Lord is both fully human and fully divine. He received his body from his mother in the hypostatic order of his incarnation. This body was “bruised for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5), and his blood, which mixed with his mother's blood in her womb, was “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28). Our Lord and Saviour is “one Physician both of Mary and of God” (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 7, c. 110 AD). He is no ordinary son, which makes his mother extraordinary. Jesus could not exercise his power in opposition to the commandment of his heavenly Father without denying his divine word, which proceeds from the Father in their substantial unity. To be true to ourselves, we must always express what is on our minds and in our hearts.

It is impossible for Jesus to break any of his own commandments, as he never commanded himself to obey them. However, since he has commanded us to follow them, Jesus himself must hold the moral precepts of the Law to be worth following, especially as they originate from him in his oneness with the Father, whose moral attributes he possesses in their essential oneness. Our Lord refused to break the First Commandment when he rejected Satan's proposal to worship him in exchange for dominion over all the earthly kingdoms. Sacred Scripture reveals our Lord's response to the Devil: "Be gone, Satan! The Lord your God shall you worship, and him alone shall you serve" (Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8). Jesus would have offended his heavenly Father and thereby renounced his own oneness with Him had he succumbed to the Devil's tempting offer. In other words, he would have broken his own commandment and denied himself the worship owed to him by Satan. Indeed, Jesus would have disposed of his sovereign dignity as "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36).

Jesus, as the Divine Word or Logos of God, is the visible manifestation of the unseen God. Just as our spoken words reflect our thoughts and will, Jesus is the visible representation of the Father's spoken Word. The Father's ideas and desires are made visible by Jesus, who works together with the Holy Spirit in perfect unity. Jesus has given us the Father's commands as the undivided Tri-personal God. For instance, the commandment to honor our parents was given to us by Jesus himself. He is the voice of God's mind and will, and the Holy Spirit works through Him within the Holy Trinity. Therefore, we must have faith that Jesus has honored the Father and His mother equally by honoring her with the privilege of being assumed body and soul into Heaven.

This Catholic belief is based on the idea that, as a son, Jesus should honour his mother by staying true to his divine word or decree. If Jesus did not follow his own commandments, he could not be God. Furthermore, as God-made man, he could not act in a way that was inconsistent with the moral attributes of his divine essence, which is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. If Jesus had not done what the Father commanded, there would be no reason for any Christian to believe in his claims about his relationship with the Father.

Imagine if our mother accidentally fell into a pit of dirt. It's safe to assume that Jesus would expect us to rescue her out of love and respect. If we refused to help our mother in such a situation, it would be considered a violation of the Fourth Commandment, and Jesus would condemn us for our indifference or even hatred towards our mother. It's reasonable to assume that if Jesus were alive on earth and in a similar situation, he would come to his mother's aid in the same way. So, whether on earth or in heaven, Jesus would hold the same level of respect and love towards his mother's needs and dignity.

Christians who do not accept the Catholic dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary may not have a complete understanding of God and who Jesus is. The theological virtue of faith is about believing in what is good and righteous as a manifestation of God's love through the Holy Spirit. Faith is not just about believing in what we want to be real but what is unseen. There is no justifiable reason for Jesus to deny his mother the honor of her glorious assumption into heaven, so that they can be reunited in body and soul. Mary was also preserved free from every stain of sin, both original and personal (Lk 1:28). Mary’s Assumption body and soul into heaven is a corollary of her Immaculate Conception. Being preserved free from every stain of sin by a singular grace of God, our Blessed Lady was liberated from being subjected to the law of sin and the corruption of death (Rom 5:12, 18). Suffice it to say that God put her in total enmity (ebah/אֵיבָה) with the serpent (Gen 3:15).

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
and my soul shall be joyful in my God:
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation:
and with the robe of justice he hath covered me,
as a bridegroom decked with a crown,
and as a bride adorned with her jewels.
Isaiah 61, 10

“Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”
Matthew 5, 17

From the moment of the Annunciation, our Lord has loved His mother with absolute perfection, a love that has existed for all eternity. As God and the flesh of her flesh, His love for Mary is infinitely greater than any love we might have for our own mothers. If we had the power to bring our mothers back to life after their deaths, we would certainly do so, unless God forbade it. Similarly, Jesus would also exercise His power to do so, because His love for His mother surpasses anything that we can imagine. So, let us not presume that our love for our mothers is greater than Jesus' love for His most blessed mother, Mary.

As a Christian, it is difficult to imagine how our Lord could disregard any of His own teachings, either here on Earth or in Heaven, where He retains His sacred humanity for all eternity (Col 2:9). It seems unreasonable to think that He would impose the punishments incurred by Adam and Eve upon His own beloved mother: "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. You will return to the dust from which you came" (Gen 3:16, 19).  On the contrary, God said to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring” (Gen 3:15). Neither the Mother nor the Son was subjected to bodily corruption in the tomb being equally blessed (eulogeo) by God in their shared humanity (Lk 1:42). So long as Jesus remains both God and man, Mary is his mother, and more (menoun) than just a natural mother. Our Blessed Lady is the Mother of God incarnate (Isa 7:14; Lk 1:35, 43; Jn 1:14). She is not merely the mother of a great prophet or rabbi (Lk 11:27-28).

From the earliest times, Christians believed that Mary was exempted from being made subject to the law of sin and the corruption of death together with her divine Son since, by a singular grace, she was preserved free from contracting original sin. St. Hippolytus (ante 235 AD) draws a parallel between Mary and the sacred Ark of the Covenant, which was made of incorruptible acacia wood and lined with the purest gold both within and without, for it was fashioned to be God’s personal dwelling place during His physical manifestations (theophanies): “He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle (Mary) was exempt from putridity and corruption” (Orations Inillud, Dominus pascit me). Worms and insects are averse to acacia wood. So, for this reason, God instructed Moses to fashion the ark from this repugnant natural resource.

According to the Church Father, Jesus took on the holy flesh of the holy Virgin (Treatise on Christ and Anti-Christ, 4). This belief is supported by St. Ephraem of Syria (370 AD) who also believed that Mary was sinless and free from all forms of impurity and corruption, just like her Son. In fact, St. Ephraem wrote that there is no flaw in Mary and her Son, and that they alone are fair in all things (Nisibene Hymns, 27:8). These writings of the early Church Fathers implicitly bear witness to an early Christian belief in the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary.

It is intriguing that Mary is regarded as free from the stain of original sin. In Luke's Canticle of Praise or Magnificat (1:46-49), Mary rejoices in God, her savior. However, she does not do so because she is a sinner who needs salvation like everyone else. Rather, she has been redeemed most perfectly through her Immaculate Conception, where she was preserved free from contracting the stain of original sin, given the foreseen merits of Christ. This is evident because the same verse applies to the just merits of Christ in his sinless humanity and the Paschal mystery. God reveals to His Church that He clothed Mary in "the garments of salvation" and covered her with "the robe of justice" by preserving her free from all stain of sin. This shows that the mother and the son are equally blessed (eulogeo) in this way. Neither of them is subject to the law of sin and death because of sin like fallen humanity. Jesus is exempt through his substantial grace of union with the Father and Mary through God's intervening sanctifying grace (Jude 1:24-25).

You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4, 7

The corruption of death is a punishment for the original sin committed by Adam, which affects the bodies and souls of all his descendants who share his human nature. However, the guilt of Adam's sin is not passed on or imputed to his children personally. Therefore, God did not act unjustly by granting Mary the grace of the Immaculate Conception, which preserved her from bodily corruption after her death. This was a result of her unmerited election to the Divine Maternity. God acted righteously in observing His own ordinance, especially since Mary never lost her innocence, unlike Eve who fell from God's grace. When the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, he called her Kecharitomene, which means "perfected in grace with a lasting result" (Lk 1:28).

The words of the early Church Fathers shed light on what Elizabeth meant when she said, "Most blessed (eulogomene) are you among women and blessed (eulogemenos) is the fruit of your womb" (Lk 1:42). This past participle is only used in the New Testament concerning Jesus (masculine) and Mary (feminine), besides the kingdom of heaven (feminine), in the New Testament (Mk 11:10). Both the Mother and the Son are equally blessed (eulogeo) in God's sight, having been set apart from sinful humanity and consecrated to Him in His order of redemption. It is fitting that Mary, who carried the Divine Word in her sacred womb and was preserved free from every stain of sin by the grace of God, should share in her Son's glory in anticipation of the redemption of our own bodies on the Last Day (1 Cor 15:22-23). Jesus meant what he said about our obligation to keep the Divine Commandments, and he exemplified with impeccable humility how we are to honorably treat our parents for the sake of God's goodness and righteousness (Lk 2:51-52).

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and his ark of the covenant could be seen in his temple…
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
Revelation 11, 19 – 12, 1

“Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass
from the law, until all things have taken place.”
Matthew 5, 18

In Matthew 15:4, it is stated that we should honor our parents and those who disrespect their parents should be put to death. The word "honor" used here is "kavodah" in Hebrew, which means "to bestow glory". This word originates from "kavod", which means "weight" or "glory". The Son of God honored His Father by giving unprecedented glory to His mother. He did this by assuming her body and soul into heaven, where they are not only spiritually but also physically present with each other. This bond of love between the mother and the Son is truly special.

Jesus honored and glorified his mother from the moment he created her soul and sanctified it with his grace. He preserved her free from the stain of original sin, so she could be the most fitting mother to him. Jesus established this maternal right of honor and glory by His word and gave it to Moses as a divine command for all to obey. If Jesus were to deny his mother this honor, it would give us cause to doubt his word. It would mean that he is dishonoring his mother by refusing to give her the highest degree of glory he could. This would also mean that he left his mother's body, his own sacred flesh and blood, to decay in the tomb. However, we, the faithful, who know the true Jesus, believe that he would never dishonor his own mother. We believe that he is indeed the Word of God in the flesh of her holy flesh, as we Catholic Christians rightly believe in the sanctifying light of faith.

“It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own
body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the
Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the
spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was
fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into
her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look
upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what
belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and
as the handmaid of God.”
St. John Damascene
Dormition of Mary
[A.D. 697]

The LORD is faithful in all His words
and gracious in all His deeds.
Psalm 145, 13

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF
POPE PIUS XII 

MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS

DEFINING THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION

November 1, 1950

"All these proofs and considerations of the holy Fathers and the theologians are based upon the Sacred Writings as their ultimate foundation. These set the loving Mother of God as it were before our very eyes as most intimately joined to her divine Son and as always sharing his lot. Consequently it seems impossible to think of her, the one who conceived Christ, brought him forth, nursed him with her milk, held him in her arms, and clasped him to her breast, as being apart from him in body, even though not in soul, after this earthly life. Since our Redeemer is the Son of Mary, he could not do otherwise, as the perfect observer of God's law, than to honor, not only his eternal Father, but also his most beloved Mother. And, since it was within his power to grant her this great honor, to preserve her from the corruption of the tomb, we must believe that he really acted in this way."

Salve Regina