this week's feasts
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On Thursday of this week, Aug. 15, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is a Holy Day of Obligation. As always, we will celebrate Mass at 12:05 pm and 6:30 pm.
At the end of her life, Mary was taken up, body and soul, into Heaven. Jesus ascended, but Mary was assumed. Why was she granted this particular privilege?
Mary’s body had borne the child of God and brought that child to birth in the person of Jesus Christ. In the Book of Revelation, John the Beloved Disciple saw heaven opened up and saw the Ark of the Covenant. This was Mary, who was the Ark of the New Covenant. As the original Ark had held the tablets of the Ten Commandments and the staff of Aaron, and some of the manna, she, the Ark of the New Covenant, held the body of the Son of God. Her body, therefore, was preserved from the decay of death.
In our church we have two windows that tell the story of this great event. Facing the sanctuary, the two windows on the front right are of the death of the Blessed Mother and her Assumption. In the first, she is shown on her death bed surrounded by the Apostles, and in the second, we see the Apostles surrounding her tomb, which is empty, except for some flowers, and she is shown rising up, body and soul, into heaven.
There has been some controversy within the Church about whether Mary died or not, or was she taken up into heaven before she died. The argument is that death is the wages of sin, and since Mary did not sin, she would not have died. Although this has never been defined as a doctrine, it is usually presumed that she did in fact die. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI both expressed that they believed that she did die.
As always, Mary’s feasts are all about Jesus (who He is) and about us, who are her other children. It promises that even though we will not be assumed body and soul at the moment of death, there will be for us a Resurrection of the Body. We confess this belief in the Apostles’ Creed. We will not become angels in the next world, but will be fully human beings, composed of both a body and a soul.
At the end of her life, Mary was taken up, body and soul, into Heaven. Jesus ascended, but Mary was assumed. Why was she granted this particular privilege?
Mary’s body had borne the child of God and brought that child to birth in the person of Jesus Christ. In the Book of Revelation, John the Beloved Disciple saw heaven opened up and saw the Ark of the Covenant. This was Mary, who was the Ark of the New Covenant. As the original Ark had held the tablets of the Ten Commandments and the staff of Aaron, and some of the manna, she, the Ark of the New Covenant, held the body of the Son of God. Her body, therefore, was preserved from the decay of death.
In our church we have two windows that tell the story of this great event. Facing the sanctuary, the two windows on the front right are of the death of the Blessed Mother and her Assumption. In the first, she is shown on her death bed surrounded by the Apostles, and in the second, we see the Apostles surrounding her tomb, which is empty, except for some flowers, and she is shown rising up, body and soul, into heaven.
There has been some controversy within the Church about whether Mary died or not, or was she taken up into heaven before she died. The argument is that death is the wages of sin, and since Mary did not sin, she would not have died. Although this has never been defined as a doctrine, it is usually presumed that she did in fact die. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI both expressed that they believed that she did die.
As always, Mary’s feasts are all about Jesus (who He is) and about us, who are her other children. It promises that even though we will not be assumed body and soul at the moment of death, there will be for us a Resurrection of the Body. We confess this belief in the Apostles’ Creed. We will not become angels in the next world, but will be fully human beings, composed of both a body and a soul.
St. Maximillian Kolbe
St. Maximillian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan priest who died on August 14, 1941, in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp at the hands of the Nazi guards. A prisoner had escaped from the camp, and to make an example, the guards chose 10 prisoners who were to be starved to death in an underground bunker. One of these, Franciszek Gajowniczek, fell to his knees and cried out, “My wife! My children!” Maximillian, who was not one of the 10, stepped forward and volunteered to die rather than this man. The guards agreed.
He and the others were placed into the bunker. Father Kolbe continually led the men in prayer. One by one the prisoners died. At the end of two weeks, Kolbe and three other prisoners were still alive. Wanting to get this situation over with, they injected the men with carbolic acid. His ashes were cremated on Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Maximillian had a deep devotion to Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. He founded a lay association, still very active, known as the Knights of the Immaculata. He also founded monasteries just outside of Warsaw, and another in Nagasaki, Japan.
Pope John Paul II canonized Kolbe on Oct. 10, 1982. In the piazza at St. Peter’s Basilica was Franciszek Gajownicek, the man whose life was spared by his sacrifice.
The feast day of St. Maximillian Kolbe is this Wednesday, Aug. 14, the anniversary of his death.
He and the others were placed into the bunker. Father Kolbe continually led the men in prayer. One by one the prisoners died. At the end of two weeks, Kolbe and three other prisoners were still alive. Wanting to get this situation over with, they injected the men with carbolic acid. His ashes were cremated on Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Maximillian had a deep devotion to Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. He founded a lay association, still very active, known as the Knights of the Immaculata. He also founded monasteries just outside of Warsaw, and another in Nagasaki, Japan.
Pope John Paul II canonized Kolbe on Oct. 10, 1982. In the piazza at St. Peter’s Basilica was Franciszek Gajownicek, the man whose life was spared by his sacrifice.
The feast day of St. Maximillian Kolbe is this Wednesday, Aug. 14, the anniversary of his death.
