Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Guido Reni

It was right that she who had kept her virginity unimpaired through the process of giving birth should have kept her body without decay through death. It was right that she who had given her Creator, as a child, a place at her breast should be given a place in the dwelling-place of her God. It was right that the bride espoused by the Father should dwell in the heavenly bridal chamber. It was right that she who had gazed on her Son on the cross, her heart pierced at that moment by the sword of sorrow that she had escaped at his birth, should now gaze on him seated with his Father. It was right that the Mother of God should possess what belongs to her Son and to be honored by every creature as the God’s Mother and handmaid- St John Damascene as quoted by Bl Pope Pius XII in his Apostolic Letter, Munificentissimus Deus: Defining the Dogma of the Assumption (par 21), promulgated 1 November 1950.

It strikes me as fitting that this glorious solemnity falls the day after the liturgical memorial of St Maximilian Kolbe, whose devotion to our Blessed Mother was beautiful and sustained him to the end. It was St Maximilian who said, “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”