The Assumption, 15 August 2010
Submitted by FatherSean on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 03:25.
Assumption of the Virgin, Egid Quirin Asam
Marble and stucco, Pilgrimage Church, Rohr, Bavaria, 1717-1725
As the Assumption is a solemnity it takes the place of the Mass for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C. The prayers and readings used on Saturday evening are those of the Vigil of the Assumption, not those of Sunday. It is incorrect to call a vigil Mass an 'anticipated Mass' since it is not an aniticipation of anything. The prayers and readings are proper to the Vigil. So if you go to Mass this weekend on Saturday evening and again on Sunday, you should hear a different set of prayers and of readings on each occasion. There are some priests who seem to be unaware of this. In this instance if you use the Sunday Sambuhay on Saturday evening you are not using the correct texts. As I'm writing this in Ireland I'm not sure if there is a special Sambuhay for the vigil.
Furthermore, missalettes should never be used by priests at the altar or by readers at the lectern. They are meant simply to help priests and people to prepare for and understand the liturgy of the Sunday or feast. Only proper books, made of good material, should be used in worship. The priest should use the Sacramentary at the altar and the proper Lectionary should be used for the readings. If there is a Book of the Gospels that is used fo the reading of the gospel. Not too many churches in the Philippines have that.
How does the magnificent altar-piece of the Assumption aboe compare with the 'altars' without any beauty that we have become so used to? Which would tend to draw us more towards God?
Readings
New American Bible (Philippines, USA) Vigil; Sunday.
Jerusalem Bible (Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland) Sunday.
Gospel for Sunday (NAB) Luke 1:39-56
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.
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In Mary, Humanity and Divinity Are at Home
Biblical Reflection for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB
TORONTO, JULY 30, 2010 (Zenit.org).- It is not often that the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on a Sunday. I would like to offer a few reflections on the historical and pastoral significance of this important feast, and its relevance for our own life. The Assumption of Mary, Mother of the Lord, into heaven is a consoling sign of our hope. In looking to her, carried up amid the rejoicing of angels, human life is opened to the perspective of eternal happiness. Our own death is not the end but rather the entrance into life that knows no death.
Father Rosica gives a brief but clear history of the feast of the Assumption. You can read the full text here.
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Bodily into Eternity
During my novitiate year in 1950 Pope Pius XII declared as a dogma to be believed by Catholics as a matter of Faith that 'Mary, the immaculate perpetually Virgin Mother of God, after the completion of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven'.
Many of us reacted, 'What's new? For years we've been reciting the Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary, "The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven."' For centuries this has been accepted as part of the believing and devotional life of the Catholic Church.
Why, then, under-score what was already taken for granted? One reason, among many others, could be that the dogmatic definition of Mary's Assumption into Heaven emphatically affirmed the feminine bodily-ness of her humanity.
The Preface of the Solemnity proclaims 'The Virgin Mother of God was taken up into heaven to be the beginning and the pattern of the Church in its perfection, and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way.' And then describes how fitting it was that God 'would not allow decay to touch her body, for she had given birth to His Son, the Lord of all life, in the glory of the Incarnation.'
Full text here.
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