Why Christians clash over Mary's ascent into heaven

Today August 15 is Assumption Day in the Christian Church to commemorate the death and rising into heaven Mary, the mother of God. Hilary Bainemigisha explains the reasons behind the differences in the day's reverence among Christian religions

August 15 is a day of obligation in the Catholic Church. It commemorates the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. ‘Assumption' comes from the Middle Age English "assumpcioun" which means "a taking up into heaven", and from Latin "assumptio" which means "a taking".

According to Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodoxy, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to the end of her life on earth, she was taken to heaven with her whole body.

It is a dogma in the Catholic Church. The church defines a dogma as truth revealed by God, which is binding and unquestionable. The faithful are required to accept as a solemn unequivocal position and teaching. The Assumption was declared a dogma by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950.

The Bible does not narrate the death of Mary, but several scriptural passages have been theologically interpreted to refer to it. One of the commonly referred to verse is Rev 12:1-2  which talks about a woman ‘clothed with the sun'.

Who is Mary?

Mary was a first-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, who became the wife of Joseph, and the mother of Jesus, according to the gospels and the Quran. The Bible refers scantily to her parenting and, later, her presence during the passion of her son, Jesus Christ.

After Jesus' death, the Bible talks of Mary with the Apostles, during the ascention and on the Pentecost. About the later life of Mary, The Bible is quiet. What is known about her is drawn from other literature which, however, contradicts in form and location. Mary probably lived in Ephesus with John until her death. According to Hyppolitus of Thebes, Mary lived for 11 years after the death of Jesus and died around 44 AD. The Sacred Tradition of Eastern Christianity says Mary died a natural, diseaseless and painless death.

Mary is venerated in Christianity and considered to be the most meritorious saint in heaven. She is said to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries.

However, there are differences in Christian religions about who she is to them. The Catholic call her the Mother of God, born without original sin (Immaculate Conception), always a virgin (perpetual virginity), and was lifted into heaven with her body after her earthly life (Assumption).

But many Protestants minimize Mary's role within Christianity, saying other claims for her are not supported by the Bible, other than the virgin birth.

In Islam, Mary has the highest position among all women. She is mentioned more often than the New Testament does, with two of the longer chapters of the Quran devoted to her and her family.

Assumption

The Assumption of Mary was first reported in two non Biblical Century 4 and 5 books, Liber Requiei Mariae (Book of Mary's Repose), and the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon. Others are De Obitu S. Dominae and De Transitu Virginis, both probably from the 5th century, by Dionysius the Areopagite, and St Gregory of Tours.

The AD 7 book, Transitus Mariae by John of Damascus quotes Apostle John, who was staying with Mary, to say that she died without disease or pain and in the presence of the Apostles. Thomas arrived three days after they had buried her. He hysterically narrated to them how he had just witnessed Mary being lifted up. They rushed to the tomb and opened it.

It was empty, except for her grave cloth. The Apostles concluded that her body was taken up to heaven. The grave cloth was preserved in the church of Gethsemane till 452AD when Emperor Constantinople asked for it. It is still preserved in the Church of Our Lady of Blachernae.

Later, in his writing, Thomas claimed he arrived late for Mary's burial, and actually saw her body being lifted upwards. He wrote that he yelled at the scaring spectacle and Mary calmed him. He asked her for a sign of her favour and she dropped her belt for him to keep. That cloth, referred to as the Girdle of Thomas, or the Virgin's Girdle, or the Holy Belt, is a Christian relic preserved at Prato Cathedral in Tuscany, Italy. It is specially venerated by pregnant women for safe delivery.

Doctrine

The narrative of Assumption spread widely across the Christian world. It was later decreed into an edict by Emperor Maurice in the East around AD 600 and, in the West, by Pope Sergius I of the 8th century. It was Pope Leo IV who later confirmed the 15^th of August feast as official.

By the time of the Reformation, Christians were celebrating the Assumption fanatically. At one time, some sects claimed Mary never died but was assumed directly into Heaven. It was later that Ludwig Ott, in his book Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, explained that Mary's death was understandably subject to the general law of death just as it was in conformity with that of her Divine Son.

Differences

While the Assumption is dogmatically defined in the Catholic Church. In the Eastern Orthodox, it is more of liturgically and mystically defined. Both celebrate the Assumption on August 15 only that in the Eastern Catholics, it is called the Dormition (the falling asleep) of the Mother of God and it is preceded by a 14-day fast period.

Eastern Christians believe that Mary died a natural death and her soul was received by Christ upon death. Later, on the third day after her death, her body was resurrected and taken up into heaven in anticipation of the general resurrection.

The Orthodox say that Mary died a natural death, but her body was afterwards raised from the dead and taken up into heaven, in her body as well as in her soul, just as her son, Jesus.

The Anglicans don't concern themselves about the realities of Mary's death. The Assumption day is celebrated as a Marian feast on 15 August by the Anglican Church but as a non-specific feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Most modern Protestants neither teach nor believe in the Assumption of Mary, because there is no biblical basis for it.

For the Catholic Church, it is the day Mary was received into Heaven, rejoined her son and got crowned as Queen. It is a public holiday in 45 counties, 11 of which are in Africa. They include Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chile and Republic of Congo. Others are Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, East Timor, France, Gabon, Greece, Georgia and Guinea. There are also Haiti, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Monaco and Montenegro. There is also Paraguay, Poland (coinciding with Polish Army Day), Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tahiti, Togo, Vanuatu, Vatican and Hungary until 1948.

In other countries, it is a public holiday in some regions. For example, in Germany, it is a public holiday for parts of Bavaria and Saarland. In Switzerland, it applies in 14 of the 26 cantons (districts). In Guatemala, it is observed in Guatemala City and Santa Maria Nebaj town.

In Catholic art, the earliest known use of the Assumption in art was found in a church in Zaragoza, Spain dated AD330. After the Reformation, it became a popular subject in Western Christian art, to counter resistance from the Protestants who were trying to downplay Mary's role in salvation. The art depicts Angels carrying Mary heavenward, Mary being crowned by Christ and Apostles surrounding her empty tomb as they stare up in awe.