Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This beautiful Marian feast is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year because it falls on Monday. The Cathedral will celebrate this feast day at the 12:05 PM Mass in the Chapel. This sublime dogma was defined in November, 1950 by Pope Pius XII, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, “Most Bountiful God.” The pope proclaimed the Assumption of Mary in these words: "The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven."  Our Lady’s Assumption, however, was celebrated since ancient times.  This feast marks God’s completion of His great work on earth with the Mother of God.  We honor Mary at her conception, birth, maternity, her title as Mother of God, and on other special occasions such as the Feasts of Our Lady of Sorrows and of the Holy Rosary.  In a week, we celebrate Mary’s Queenship, as she reigns over Heaven and Earth.