August 15、2025
Today, we celebrate one of the greatest feasts of our Catholic Church: the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast commemorates the moment when, at the end of her earthly life, the Blessed Virgin Mary was miraculously taken up into heaven, body and soul. His Holiness Pope Pius XII dogmatically defined this doctrine on November 1, 1950.
What led to the establishment of the Feast of the Assumption? The Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned frequently in the Holy Bible. In Genesis 3:15, God says to Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 15:54, the Apostle Paul declares, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Passages like these inspired the faithful to ponder the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary, eventually leading to the institution of the Feast of the Assumption.
Mary prominently features in the New Testament, especially in the life of Christ. She was the mother who gave birth to Jesus and one of the last people He saw before His crucifixion. When Jesus was twelve years old and lost in Jerusalem, it was Mary, along with His foster father Joseph, who found Him in the temple. Mary was also present at the wedding feast of Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle at her request. Although the Bible does not explicitly state it, it is widely believed that Mary was the first person to whom the Risen Christ appeared after His resurrection.
Mary holds a significant place in the New Testament, but does she appear in the Old Testament? Yes, but not as the Virgin Mary; instead, she is symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant was a boxlike object created under Moses' authority, containing articles of great significance to the Jewish people. It held the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, a jar of manna that nourished the Israelites in the desert for over 40 years, and the rod that Aaron, Moses' brother, used to confront Pharaoh. The Ark was carried by Jewish armies into battle, as they believed it ensured their victory.
However, the Ark eventually disappeared from the Biblical narrative, and its whereabouts became unknown.
In today’s first reading from the Book of Revelation, we see that when God’s temple in heaven opened, the Ark of the Covenant appeared in the temple. The reading continues, describing a great sign in the heavens: a woman clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, and wearing a crown of twelve stars. This woman symbolizes both the Ark of the Covenant and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
A charming event involving King David underscores this connection. When David was in Jerusalem, the people of Israel brought the Ark of the Covenant to him. Filled with wonder and concern, David exclaimed, “How does this happen to me? How is it that the Ark of my Lord should come to me?” Remarkably, nearly 1,000 years later, the same words were echoed by St. Elizabeth, the cousin of the Virgin Mary. When Mary visited Elizabeth after learning from the Archangel Gabriel that she would become the Mother of God, Elizabeth exclaimed, “How does this happen to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” Thus, the Blessed Virgin is seen as a symbol of the Ark of the Covenant.
Mary’s response to Elizabeth takes the form of a well-known prayer called the Magnificat. It begins with, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit exults in God my Savior.” This prayer, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, is found in the Gospel of Luke. The Magnificat is one of eight ancient and beautiful hymns in the Bible and is often considered one of the earliest hymns related to the Blessed Virgin Mary..
By Fr. Cyril Veliath, SJ