By Emmanuel Gandu
The assumption: from belief to dogma
The Assumption is the taking of the blessed virgin Mary’s body and soul into heaven by the power of God at the end of her earthly life.
The church’s belief in the Assumption is backed up by the writings of the early church fathers from as far back as the 4th and the 5th centuries.
For more than a millennium the church through successive fathers has taught this to the Christian faithful.
The Assumption belief had become a big celebration in the Middle Eastern Church by the early 5th century.
By 1568 Pope Pius V made the assumption feast was a holiday for the church.
By 1950 Pope Pius XII issued a declaration officially defining the long-held belief of the Assumption as a Dogma.
By this proclamation, the feast not only became a solemnity but a Dogma that was documented in church records like the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 966).
The significance of the assumption of Mary
(1) In the beginning Mary was destined to play a strategic role in the redemption of man. This is more so proven by God Himself when He proclaimed her Blessed and Glorious and exalted her to become the mother of Jesus our savior – Luke 2: 28 – 31
(2) The assumption illustrates the truth about Christ’s promise of eternal life and resurrection of the faithful.
(3) God had a covenant with Mary, and she fulfilled her own side of the agreement by keeping the faith, bringing the savior to the world, and nurtured Him, being available and one of his disciples, enduring the agony up to His cross, grave, the joy of the resurrection, and ascension.
Therefore, if God extended the glory of the Assumption to
(a) Enoch – Gen 5: 24
(b) Elijah – 2 King’s 2: 11
why would God not fulfill that covenant pact he had with Mary by affording her the opportunity of the assumption to heaven?
(4) Nothing unclean is worth heaven – Rev 21: 27, and therefore the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary signifies the physical elevation of her sinless soul and incorrupt body into heaven – another assurance of heaven for the righteous.
(5) The graves and relics of Peter and the others are identified and located, but there is nowhere Mary’s grave or relics ever mentioned in church history/archival documents.
Why is august 15 the feast day of the assumption?
The choice of the month of August for the celebration of the feast of Assumption is associated with the Roman Emperor Augustus.
The present Italian name of this day of obligation and holiday is “Ferragostos”. This name was derived from the Latin name “Feriae Augusti”
(holidays of Emperor Augustus) since the month of August took its name from the Emperor.
Emperor Augustus had made the 1st of August every year a holiday, a day of rest for the people after a long season of hard work in the agricultural fields.
As the feast was created for political reasons, it also became law throughout the papal states. It was celebrated with pomp and pageantry.
This holiday in the Roman empire can be likened to the Argungu fishing festival, The Calabar carnival, Kagoro Afan Festival, the Eyo festival in Lagos, the Durbar in Northern Nigeria, and the New Yam festival in Igbo land.
This Roman festival celebrated every August 1st gained recognition and wide acceptance with the people, thereby making the Church key in and then influenced the change of date, moving the festival from 1st August to 15th August in order to accommodate the Assumption feast.
How is the feast celebrated?
(1) A nine-day Novena preceding and culminating in the feast day.
(2) Assumption is a Holy Day, and it is Obligatory for Catholics to attend Mass.
(3) Recitation and meditation on the Magnificat – Luke 1: 46- 55
(4) Praying the Rosary in a procession (if situation permits).
(5) If possible, take a work-free break to attend relaxation parties with family members and, or church group associations.
(6) All activities are meant to show reverence to Mary and bring Glory to her son Jesus.
Is the assumption in the bible?
(1) The Catholic Church and the other Orthodox, including the Anglicans believe in the assumption.
(2) The Catholic Church teaches that the
(a) Bible
(b) Tradition
(c) Magisterium are the sources from which she draws and derives her teachings and doctrines.
(3) The Protestants and Pentecostals believe in the “Bible only” (Sola scriptura) for their teachings.
(4) Teachings and beliefs about the assumption of Mary became widespread across Christendom as early as the 4th and 5th centuries, getting unprecedented attention at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
(5) The Protestant concept of “Bible Only” just came on board in the 16th century.
Do you expect the church to disregard those many centuries of rich Christian tradition, history, and worship that build and shaped the church before this recent 16th-century “Bible Only” concept?
(6) Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption a Dogma by invoking papal infallibility, since he was not inventing something new, but rather addressing a widely acclaimed, proven, verifiable, and existing phenomenon.
(7) The following Bible verses support the Assumption Dogma:
(a) Genesis 3: 15
(b) 1Corinth 15: 54
(c) Rev 11: 19
(d) Rev 12: 1 – 10
(e) 1Thes 4: 17 (this very one is what the Protestants and Pentecostals call “The Rapture”)
(8) There is nowhere in the Bible indicating that Mary was *NOT* assumed into heaven.
(9) Get it also that the Bible states that if everything that took place was to be written down the whole world will not hold the books that would be written –
John 21: 25.
The Catholic Church Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s body and soul to heaven squares with scripture perfectly.
Happy feast of the solemnity of the Assumption.
