Reading= Rom 12:9-15
Gospel = Lk 10:38-42,

or Lk 1:46:55

Sanctoral Cycle

St. Maronite Catholic Church
August 15th.

THE DORMITION OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Proper of Memorials:

The Dormition

of the

Blessed Virgin Mary

Ancient tradition tells us and our own faith assures us of what the Church has solemnly proclaimed: The Virgin Mary has entered, body and soul, into heaven. After her death the Virgin Mother of God, without undergoing corruption, entered heaven, by a special privilege given by God, with her body glorified as was her Son's. As God has preserved her as a virgin, so also has he brought her to himself in her integral human nature of body and soul. The origins of this feast are very ancient and date to a period some time before the sixth century. Although it has been an ancient tradition to venerate the bodies of the saints, there never had been any mention of there being any veneration to the body of the Virgin. This is an added witness to the truth of the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary. This feast is celebrated in the Churches of both East and the West under a variety of titles.
May our Virgin Mother intercede for us and may her prayers protect us. Amen.