THE CATHOLIC UNION
England Scotland Wales

A reflection from Rt Rev Hugh Gilbert OSB, Bishop of Aberdeen, on the Feast of the Assumption.

It was on 1st November 1950 that Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption. To “define” a doctrine is not to create it. It is to affirm that a long held Catholic belief, such as that of Mary’s Assumption, is part of the overall divine revelation imparted by God to humanity through his Son Jesus Christ. Even though this belief is not directly affirmed in Scripture, even though its witness in Tradition took some centuries to mature, it was judged deeply congruent with the Christian mystery as a whole, with the core message of Scripture and Tradition, and to have been joyfully recognised by the Christian faithful in East and West for some 1500 years. The glorification of Mary in body and soul at the end of her earthly life belongs to the work of our redemption, and to believe it and celebrate it enriches our Christian life.

The Pope made this declaration only some 5 years after the end of World War II. After the bloodiest war of human history, after six years of man’s inhumanity to man, over all the cemeteries and broken lives that were its consequence, the Church raised the “great sign” of a humble woman glorified by God. In contrast to the swaggering dictators and the destruction they unleashed to “magnify” themselves stands a Jewish girl of no political power, but of simple courage and humility, wanting to “magnify” the Lord rather than herself, bringing life into the world rather than death. In her Assumption we see the glory of God’s thought for us, so other than our own. We do well to ask her prayers and “read” this sign.