The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the highest liturgical feasts. It commemorates the Catholic dogma that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken body and soul into heaven.

For Pope Benedict XVI, the Assumption was a day of joy. “God has won. Love has won. It has won life. Love has shown that it is stronger than death, that God possesses the true strength and that his strength is goodness and love,” he said.

For Pope Leo XIV, it was a day of invitation, to be like Mary and to say “yes” to Jesus in our every day lives. "In our day, we are like Mary whenever we do not flee, whenever we make Jesus’ 'yes' our own,” he said. "That 'yes’ still lives and resists death in the martyrs of our time, in witnesses of faith and justice, of gentleness and peace. Thus this day of joy becomes also a day that calls us to choose - how and for whom we shall live."

In Australia, it is one of the two Holy Days of Obligation, aside from every Sunday of the year. This year, the Solemnity falls on Saturday 15 August, and Mass will be held at 9:30am in Holy Spirit Church.

The Vigil Masses that evening will be for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The obligation of both the Assumption and Sunday cannot be fulfilled by simply attending the Saturday Vigil Mass.

The celebration of the Assumption shouldn’t be seen as a “burden” for the faithful, but rather, it is an invitation into an encounter of joy with the Risen Christ. It’s an opportunity to become like the Blessed Virgin Mary and be invited into a stronger “yes” to God’s love.