Feast of the Assumption
Friday, August 15, at 7 p.m., Assumption Parish
Main Celebrant: Bishop Felipe J. Estévez

The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a Holy Day of Obligation that commemorates the passing of the Blessed Mother to eternal life – the assumption into heaven. It is considered the most important of all the Marian feast days.

The first known mention of the belief that the Virgin Mary’s body was assumed into heaven dates back to the 4th century, in a document written by the Apostle John, the very John that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to.

On Nov. 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared in a dogma of the church – the Munificentissimus Deus, “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

The Eastern churches, too, celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, calling it the Feast of Dormition or falling asleep.