Her Glorious Assumption: Divine Praises Reflection

Because Mary was blessed in her Immaculate Conception (the line just before this in the Divine Praises!), her body was preserved from the decay of the grave. Her glorious assumption is the natural fulfillment of her immaculate beginning.

The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.

Catechism, 974

Mary prayed with the disciples in the upper room for the descent of the Holy Spirit [Acts 1:14].

The early Church believed  that the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven.

In the 1st century we already began to see the tradition of collecting holy relics of the saints, yet historically, there are no relics of the Virgin Mary.  She has two empty tombs: one in Jerusalem and another in Ephesus, these are both places where she lived. 

The Bible records the phenomena of relics holding spiritual power in both the Old and New Testaments. This was widely known by 1st century Christians. We clearly see this in Acts 5:15-16 when the shadow of the Apostle Peter was believed to have the power to heal. We also see it in Acts 19:11-12 when the Apostle Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons were used to heal the sick and cast out demons.  We also see in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 13:21, that the relics of the Prophet Elisha had the spiritual power to revive a deceased man when his bones touched him. 

There are no relics of the Virgin Mary, and this fact alone points to the plausibility of her bodily Assumption into heaven.  Furthermore, there are no testimonies about her postmortem body or possession of her relics in antiquity. This is very noteworthy, because Mary was chosen to be the Mother of God and was present throughout Christ’s earthly life and ministry, yet there are no relics despite there being bodily relics (preserved to this day) from all the other apostles, (except John the Apostle).

Throughout her history, the Church has never claimed to have relics of the Virgin Mary’s body. This shows us the early Church believed Mary was indeed assumed into heaven, body and soul.

In 350 AD, St. Epiphanius wrote in Refutation of All Heresies, that he believed in her glorious Assumption and compared it to the prophet Elijah:

“And if I should say anything more in her praise, [she is] like Elijah, who was virgin from his mother’s womb, always remained so, and was taken up and has not seen death. She is like John who leaned on the Lord’s breast, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” She is like St. Thecla; and Mary is still more honored than she, because of the providence vouchsafed her.” [Panarion 79.5.2].