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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On the Assumption
"The Lord Humbles the Proud and Raises the Humble"
H.H. Benedict XVI
August 15, 2008
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
In the heart of what the Latins called "feriae Augusti," August holiday,
from which stems the Italian word "ferragosto" -- the Church celebrates
today the Assumption of the Virgin into heaven in soul and body. In the
Bible, the last reference to her earthly life is found at the beginning
of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which presents the Virgin Mary
gathered in prayer with the disciples in the Cenacle in anticipation of
the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14).
Subsequently, a twofold tradition -- in Jerusalem and Ephesus -- attests
to her "dormition," as the East says, that is, her "falling asleep" in
God. That was the event that preceded her passage from earth to heaven,
confessed by the uninterrupted faith of the Church. In the eighth
century, for example, John Damascene, great doctor of the Eastern
Church, established a direct relation between Mary's "dormition" and
Jesus' death, affirming explicitly the truth of her corporal assumption.
In a famous homily he wrote: "It was necessary that she who bore the
Creator in her womb when he was a baby, should live with him in the
tabernacles of heaven" (Second Homily on the Dormition, 14, PG 96, 741
B). As mentioned, this firm conviction of the Church found its crowning
in the dogmatic definition of the Assumption, pronounced by my venerated
predecessor Pius XII in the year 1950.
As the Second Vatican Council teaches, Mary Most Holy is always situated
in the mystery of Christ and of the Church. In this perspective, "the
Mother of Jesus, being in heaven, now glorified in body and soul, is the
image and first fruits of the Church which will have its fulfillment in
the age to come, now shines on the earth as a sign of sure hope and
consolation for the people of God, pilgrims until the day when the Lord
will return (cf. 2 Peter 3:10)" (Constitution "Lumen Gentium," 68). From
paradise Our Lady always continues to watch over her children -- whom
Jesus entrusted to her before dying on the cross -- especially in the
difficult hours of trial. How many testimonies of her maternal
solicitude one sees when visiting shrines dedicated to her! I am
thinking especially at this moment of the singular world fortress of
life and hope that is Lourdes, where, God willing, I will go in a month
to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions that took
place there.
Mary assumed into heaven shows us the ultimate end of our earthly
pilgrimage. She reminds us that the whole of our being -- spirit, soul
and body -- is destined to the fullness of life; that he who lives and
dies in the love of God and of his neighbor will be transfigured in the
image of the glorious body of the Risen Christ; that the Lord humbles
the proud and raises the humble (cf. Luke 1:51-52). Our Lady proclaims
this in eternity with the mystery of her Assumption. May you always be
praised, O Virgin Mary!
[Translation by ZENIT]
[After the Angelus, the Pope said in English:]
I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors
present for this Angelus prayer. As we celebrate the Solemnity of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, we are invited to raise our eyes to
heaven and contemplate Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother. She who
on earth believed in God's word is now glorified in body and soul. May
Mary's prayers and example guide you always and renew your hearts in
faith and hope. May God grant you and your families abundant blessings
of peace and joy!
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