In honor of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we will pray Solemn Vespers on Tuesday, August 14 at 7pm in the Basilica.

The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates both the happy departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven. It is known as the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin. The earliest known literary reference to the Assumption is found in the Greek work De Obitu S. Dominae. Catholic faith, however, has always derived our knowledge of the mystery from Apostolic Tradition. The dates assigned for it vary between three and fifteen years after Christ’s Ascension.

The origin of the feast also remains a mystery. It is most likely the anniversary of the dedication of a church, rather than the actual anniversary of Our Lady’s death. That it originated at the time of the Council of Ephesus or that St. Damasus introduced it in Rome is only a hypothesis. According to the life of St. Theodosius (d. 529) it was celebrated in Palestine before the year 500, probably in August.

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