Mary and the Ordinary Life

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary C-2 (August 15)

Entrance Antiphon Glorious things are spoken of you, O Mary, who today were exalted above the choirs of Angels into eternal triumph with Christ.

Collect O God, who, looking on the lowliness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, raised her to this grace, that your Only Begotten Son was born of her according to the flesh and that she was crowned this day with surpassing glory, grant through her prayers, that, saved by the mystery of your redemption, we may merit to be exalted by you on high. 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.

(August 15) The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church. We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However, by the thirteenth century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names (Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption) from at least the fifth or sixth century. Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testament, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory. Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20 Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to belief in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven. In the light of the Assumption of Mary, it is easy to pray her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) with new meaning. In her glory she proclaims the greatness of the Lord and finds joy in God her saviour. God has done marvels to her and she leads others to recognize God’s holiness. She is the lowly handmaid who deeply reverenced her God and has been raised to the heights. From her position of strength she will help the lowly and the poor find justice on earth and she will challenge the rich and powerful to distrust wealth and power as a source of happiness.

“In the bodily and spiritual glory which she possesses in heaven, the Mother of Jesus continues in this present world as the image and first flowering of the Church as she is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, Mary shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Peter 3:10), as a sign of certain hope and comfort for the pilgrim People of God” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 68).

Scripture today: Apocalypse 11:19, 12: 1-6.10; Psalm 44; 1 Cor 15: 20-26; Luke 1:39-56

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished! And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants for ever, even as he said to our fathers. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. (Luke 1:39-56)

Mary and the Ordinary Life At times when we think of outstanding historical figures, or people who have achieved some prominence, we can drift into wishful hopes of some notoriety. Behind this there can lie the hidden assumption that life’s value and meaning depend on recognition by others. Yet human life is filled with much that is ordinary. In the nature of the case, the life of the many brings little praise and often no prominence. It consists of a multitude of ordinary duties common to the many, duties constantly repeated, fulfilled in unnoticed ways day after day. Most people live unobserved beyond their own circle, and die with little recognized trace after them. They are soon forgotten. There is little in their life’s path that seems to them or to others to be in any way special, let alone spectacular. They sink, we could say, like a stone with scarcely a ripple. The temptation is to think that because it is ordinary, such a life is fruitless, inconsequential, and of little value to God or to the world. Now, the Church proposes for our celebration her who is now more glorious than any other creature, her who is the mother of God made man and of every disciple of Christ — Mary! In Christ, she is the help of all Christians, and indeed of all mankind. All may call on her as their glorious queen mother who by her intercession and example will help them attain the glory won by Christ. Her own life consisted of a very ordinary and unspectacular round of family and village duties. She grew up relatively unknown and spent her years in Nazareth as a humble wife and mother, teaching the growing Jesus, cooking, cleaning, carrying the water from the well, attending the synagogue, doing everything that the average villager would have been doing. There is no evidence that she was especially noticed. There is no indication that she, among the village women, was the village leader. Doubtless she was respected and admired. But she was not prominent, dominant, nor widely known, yet no other human person lived so holy a life.

In the midst of this ordinary life, Mary the mother of Christ never in the slightest way sinned in thought, word, or deed. She fulfilled God’s will absolutely and with a perfect love for him. There were women in the Old Testament who were holy and whose path in life was much more prominent and notable. But the one most blessed of all women, indeed the greatest of human beings in holiness of soul, was given a path in life that on the face of it was very ordinary. Because of the way she lived this ordinary life, she was assumed body and soul to our common homeland. This surely reminds us that the path which God in his providence has given us to tread, no matter how ordinary, humble and repetitive, has great value in God’s sight if in it we faithfully strive to do God’s will. If we endeavour to fulfil as best as we can the humble and ordinary responsibilities he has given us in life, we shall share in our measure the glory that Mary our mother now has. Today (August 15) we think of Mary the mother of Christ, at the end of her mortal life, being taken up body and soul into heaven in glory. Kept free of all stain of original sin at her conception, she remained full of grace throughout her life of faith and obedience. Never did the slightest stain of sin touch her soul. Thus death, which St Paul describes as the wages of sin, did not prevail over her. At the end of her mortal life she followed her divine Son who, having risen from the dead, ascended into heaven many years before. The thought of Mary, assumed body and soul glorious into heaven, should give us hope as we toil at our duties of every day. Our path is hers, and she shows us the way. By thinking of our Lady in glory we are able to regain a sense of the grandeur of ordinary life, for Mary’s life was an ordinary and obscure one, but lived extraordinarily well. By living well our ordinary life we are living as true children of Mary, her children — remembering that our Lord said that we are to become like little children if we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Let us day by day keep close to Mary now taken up body and soul in glory, asking her to help us by her prayers to be like her, who is the first and greatest of Christians. On the Cross, our Lord gave to her his beloved disciple for her to be his mother, and in doing this he gave each of us to her. She continued after that to live her seemingly ordinary life. We are her children. Let us follow her ordinary path to glory, thinking of the glory that awaits us when the ordinary path God has given us to tread has been completed.

(E.J.Tyler)

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