Decade

Ten years ago, on the 15th of August 2004, Francine and I walked into Saint Patrick’s Church in Tacoma. This was the Solemnity of the Assumption, and ever since we have counted this as our “Catholic anniversary”.

On that day, I discovered in a moment that every doubt I ever had about the truth of Christianity had collapsed.

God in His wisdom had led me on a twenty year quest for Truth through various religions, philosophies, and spiritualities.

In each one, though I did not know it at the time, some piece of Christian doctrine that I had held as ridiculous or superstitious was answered to my satisfaction.

Because each was answered in another faith, or by another culture, I didn’t connect the dots at the time. At the moment that the Blessed Virgin called us into that parish church on the feast of her Assumption, suddenly the scales fell from my eyes and I saw those disconnected dots as a great constellation.

Ave, maris stella,
Dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo,
felix cœli porta.

Hail, star of the sea,
Nurturing Mother of God,
And ever Virgin
Happy gate of Heaven.

I am reminded that it has been a decade today, and of course the Rosary is divided into decades. Today, Francine and I will celebrate the Solemnity at our parish church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, she as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, me as Master of Ceremonies. Both of us, Christians.

What a long, strange, joyous road it has been.

Today we have once again arrived at this great feast, which in the West is called the Assumption, and in the East the Dormition.

There’s plenty of information available on the meaning of the feast, but in a nutshell the doctrine of the assumption is this:

[T]he Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

(Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus)

Precedent for this may be found in the Old Testament in the cases of Enoch (Genesis 5:22-29) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). This is a foretaste of the bodily resurrection to which all the faithful are called. Once again, the Blessed Virgin is our model in the life of the faithful.

Although this doctrine was only infallibly proclaimed in 1950, it has been part of the deposit of faith since the time of the Church Fathers, in both East and West.

Almighty ever-living God,
who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
the Mother of your Son,
body and soul into heavenly glory,
grant we pray, that, always attentive to the things that are above,
we may merit to be sharers of her glory.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

I leave you with some music for the Mass of the Assumption: Palestrina’s amazing Missa Assumpta est Maria. Enjoy!