Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady – Mass

Mary was with the disciples in the Upper Room, waiting for and praying for the Promised Holy Spirit. From the earliest days of the church, Mary was spoken of in the Christian community as the ‘Second Eve’, the ‘Mother of all the living’. Jesus Christ was spoken of as the Second Adam… undoing what the first Adam had done: Mary, helping in that work, ‘crushing the head of Satan’ with her heel. This, even from the first century after Christ. Blessed John Henry Newman wrote of her holiness and her dignity being spoken of from the very start.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “By contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we understand that the earth is not the definitive homeland for us either, and that if we live with our gaze fixed on eternal goods we will one day share in this same glory and the earth will become more beautiful. Consequently, we must not lose our serenity and peace even amid the thousands of daily difficulties. The luminous sign of Our Lady taken up into Heaven shines out even more brightly when sad shadows of suffering and violence seem to loom on the horizon.

 We may be sure of it: from on high, Mary follows our footsteps with gentle concern, dispels the gloom in moments of darkness and distress, reassures us with her motherly hand. Supported by awareness of this, let us continue confidently on our path of Christian commitment wherever Providence may lead us. Let us forge ahead in our lives under Mary’s guidance.”
Ná tréig Muire Máthair Dé, an old Irish saying,-
‘Do not neglect Mary, Mother of God.’