The Assumption of Mary: what we celebrate on August 15

What the Church teaches

The Bible doesn’t tell how Mary’s life ended, but Christians believed in her Assumption from very early on. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared it a dogma of faith: when the course of her life on earth was finished, the Virgin Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. That is what Assumption means: God took her up. It is not the same as the Ascension, when Jesus went up to heaven by his own power.

Did Mary die?

The dogma doesn’t say whether Mary died before she was taken up, and the Church leaves that question open. Many Christians, especially in the East, keep this day as the Dormition, Mary’s falling asleep, and an old legend tells that the apostles found her tomb full of flowers. What the Church does teach is that she is in heaven now, body and soul.

Why it matters

The Assumption is a feast of hope. Jesus rose from the dead, and what he did for his mother is what he promises everyone who follows him: at the end of time, we too will rise with our bodies (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Mary goes ahead of us, like a mother who gets home first and gets everything ready. And from heaven she never stops caring for us: she is still our mother and prays for us.

How it is kept in Mexico and Spain

In Mexico, the Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo in Mexico City is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, and many towns have her as their patroness. In Huamantla, Tlaxcala, on the night of August 14 to 15, the streets are covered with carpets of colored sawdust for the procession of Our Lady of Charity, an image that came from Spain as Our Lady of the Assumption: they call it “the night nobody sleeps.” In Spain, August 15 is a public holiday, and in many towns it is the main fiesta of the year, the feast of “la Virgen de agosto.” In Elche, the Misteri d’Elx, a sung play about the Assumption that dates from the Middle Ages, is performed every year in the basilica of Santa María.