Almighty ever-living God, who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of your Son, body and soul into heavenly glory…” That’s how we begin the Collect for the Feast of the Assumption.
We believe that Mother Mary was ‘assumed’ in bodily form into heaven. Was it before death or after death? It seems the Dogmatic Definition leaves it open. Some agree with the Orthodox that this happened after her death. According to them, it was like the Death and Resurrection of her own Son on the third day. Her body was resurrected, taken up bodily, leaving an empty tomb behind. For others, she did not experience death. Hence, this great Feast is ‘the Feast of Dormition’ for the Eastern Orthodox, and ‘the Feast of the Assumption’ for us, Catholics.
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