Assumption of Mary

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates the dogma of the Church that Mary was taken body and soul into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. Although belief in Mary's assumption had been widespread since the third century, it was not until 1950 that Pope Pius XII declared the belief as dogma in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. In it he writes, "the revered Mother of God ... finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven" (MD 40). The Solemnity of the Assumption is a Holy Day of Obligation.

Catholic Apostolate Center Blog Posts on the Assumption of Mary

• Imitating Mary: The Solemnity of the Assumption

• Trusting in God: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• The Gift of Her Assumption

Pilgrimage Sites in the United States

• Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption — San Francisco, CA

• Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption — Covington, KY

• Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of Mary — Baltimore, MD

• Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption — Lancaster, OH

• Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption — Marietta, OH