Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven
A homily by Fr. Jerome Machar, monk-priest of Our Lady of New Melleray Abbey
The Blessed Virgin was so open to God that she became the Tabernacle of the Living Word. In celebrating her assumption into heaven, the church presents the humble maiden of Nazareth to the world as a figure of hope, goodness, courage, mercy, and justice. How rightly Dante speaks of her as “humbler and loftier than any creature” (Paradise XXXIII,2).
Mary’s greatness lies in the fact that she knew herself to be God’s lowly handmaid. She believed in God and surrendered her whole being to His will. The more she surrendered to God’s will, the more He filled her with His life-creating Spirit. Mary’s humanity is attracted by the Son in His passage from death to life. She, who followed Him faithfully throughout her life, followed Him with her heart, and entered with Him into the Father’s house. She who had been the dwelling place for the Eternal Word was taken body and soul into His heavenly dwelling. Because she is with God and in God, who is close to us, the Mother of God continues to be close to each one of us.
Today we join our voices with those of the heavenly choir as they welcome the vessel of devotion who gave birth to the King as she is carried into heaven in the hands of her Son. Pope Pius XII shared these thoughts as he declared the dogma of the assumption. “And so, we may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father’s will and to bringing good to others.” Bathed in the light of her Son, Mary reflects that light to a world cloaked in darkness and under the shadow of death.
Hymn to the Theotokos
It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos,
ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the Cherubim,
and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim,
without defilement, you gave birth to God the Word.
In giving birth, you preserved your virginity;
in falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos.
You were translated to life, O Mother of Life,
And by your prayers, you deliver our souls from death.