Saint of the day · August 15
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Solennité de la Vierge MarieLiturgical colour : White
The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is among the most significant Marian feasts in the Catholic Church and is celebrated annually on August 15th. This day commemorates the belief that Mary, mother of Jesus, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory at the end of her earthly life. While the exact historical circumstances of Mary's final days remain largely veiled, the tradition of her Assumption has deep roots in the faith of the early Church and is attested to in both Eastern and Western Christianity, long before it was defined as dogma. The Assumption expresses the Church’s confidence in Mary’s unique role in salvation history and her complete fidelity to God’s will.
The dogma of the Assumption was formally proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1950 in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, affirming what Christians had venerated for centuries. Mary's Assumption is related to her Immaculate Conception and perpetual sinlessness, highlighting how the effects of Christ's victory over death are already fully realized in her. This feast is not only a celebration of Mary herself but also a sign of hope for all the faithful: it proclaims the ultimate destiny of the Church—that where Mary has gone, we hope to follow. The liturgy is joyful and radiant, marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in many countries.
Through prayer and reflection on the Assumption, Catholics are invited to contemplate Mary's humility, faith, and closeness to Christ, and to seek her intercession as Mother of the Church.
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The liturgical day
Mass readings
"They brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it" — 1 Ch 15, 3-4.15-16 ; 16, 1-2
In those days,
David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem
to bring up the ark of the Lord
to the place he had prepared for it.
He assembled the sons of Aaron and the Levites.
The Levites carried the ark of God,
using poles resting on their shoulders,
as Moses had commanded,
according to the word of the Lord.
David told the leaders of the Levites
to station their kinsmen, the singers,
with their instruments,
harps, lyres, cymbals,
to make them sound with force as a sign of joy.
So they brought in the ark of God
and set it inside the tent
that David had pitched for it.
Then they offered before God burnt offerings
and offerings of peace.
When David had finished offering the burnt offerings
and the offerings of peace,
he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
– The word of the Lord.
Ps 131, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14
Let us enter into the dwelling of God,
let us bow down at the foot of his throne.
Come up, Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might!
May your priests be clothed with righteousness,
may your faithful shout for joy!
For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject the face of your anointed one.
For the Lord has chosen Zion;
it is the dwelling he desires:
"Here is my rest forever,
it is the dwelling I have desired."
"God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" — 1 Co 15, 54b-57
Brothers and sisters,
when this mortal being
will have put on immortality,
then will come about the saying that is written:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
O Death, where is your victory?
O Death, where is your sting?
The sting of death
is sin;
what gives power to sin
is the Law.
Let us give thanks to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
– The word of the Lord.
"Blessed is the mother who bore you!" — Lc 11, 27-28
At that time,
as Jesus was speaking,
a woman raised her voice in the midst of the crowd
to say to him:
"Blessed is the mother who bore you,
and whose breasts nursed you!"
But Jesus replied:
"Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God
and keep it!"
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org