DID THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY EXPERIENCE DEATH?

Over the years, there have been questions surrounding the death of Mary, if she died a normal and peaceful death; whether she died a martyr; or whether she did not die. The Catechism of the Church teaches us that Mary was taken to heaven when the course of her earthly life was finished. The Church does not declare whether Mary died and then was assumed into heaven or whether she was assumed before she died. It leaves open both possibilities. 

However, the majority of theologians and saints throughout the centuries have affirmed that Mary did experience death before her Assumption. Among them was St. John Damascene of the eighth (8th) century, who established from the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) that Mary died in the presence of the Apostles, but her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas (who was absent), was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that her body was taken up to heaven. Meanwhile, the Council of Chalcedon itself did not define whether Mary died.

This debate about the death of Mary continued for centuries until 1950, when Pope Pius XII declared it as a dogma of faith. He said, “We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This was clearly in harmony with other Catholic Ideas about Mary. That is, her Immaculate Conception, which serves as the basis for her Assumption; her perpetual virginity; and her being the Mother of God.

There are some Biblical foundations for this theology. 2Kings 2:11 tells us how Elijah was taken up to heaven by the whirlwind without his body experiencing death. Hebrews 11:5 tells us that by faith, Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death. If God could take Enoch and Elijah to heaven without the experience of death, how much more the Mother of God, who is full of grace, whose womb is the dwelling place of God? Psalm 132:8 says, “Go up, Lord, to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your strength.” Today’s Psalm tells us, “On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir”, and the first reading of today from the book of Revelation draws our attention to a “Woman clothed with the sun…”

St. John of Damascene makes an eloquent comparison between the high privilege conferred on the Mother of God in General and her bodily Assumption. He said, “It is fitting therefore, that she who had borne the Creator as a child in her bosom should have a dwelling place with God. It is fitting that the Mother of God should enjoy the privileges of the Son and should be honoured by all creation as the Mother and the handmaid of God.” For us as Christians, her Assumption gives us the hope of the resurrection. 

P. Ken Dogbo, OSJ