“What kind of death did Our Lady have? Her death was an impulse of love in Christ.” (Pope Saint John Paul II).
Pope Saint John Paul II believed that Our Blessed Mother died peacefully before she was assumed into Heaven because he believed that though she did not need to die – being completely free of sin – she consented to share completely in the suffering of her Son and died as He died…
Pope Saint John Paul II asked, “What kind of death did Our Lady have?” And he answered, “Her death was an impulse of love in Christ.”
And I have been reflecting on that IMPULSE of the Blessed Virgin… This impulse to die of love in Christ… For it has been said that the miracle of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin is not in her death, but the miracle is in her ability to have lived so long without her Beloved Son being physically with her...
You see, while the Catholic Church has established the DOGMA – the undeniable truth – of the ASSUMPTION of the Blessed Virgin BODY AND SOUL into Heaven, which we celebrate on this most wonderful day of the Feast of the Assumption, the Church has NO dogma relating to the death of the Blessed Virgin.
Some theologians suggest that the Blessed Mother did not die because she had no need to die as her soul was completely unstained by sin (even lacking Original Sin through the special Grace she received as Mother of God). And these theologians suggest that Our Lady fell asleep when the time came to ascend into Heaven and she was carried to Heaven by the power of God. It is for this reason that this Feast Day today is called the "DORMITION" of the Virgin, because dormition means falling asleep.
Other theologians suggest that the Blessed Virgin accepted the Will of God, which was that she should share in the suffering of her Divine Son, and thus die, and AFTER her death, be assumed body and soul into Heaven. And Saints such as Pope Saint John Paul II preferred this theory because they believed that it shows mpre completely the complete piety of the Virgin in following the Divine Will in every way and through every sorrow… and this theory is based, in part on the descriptions of the Blessed Virgin's assumption, because when we are told about the Ascension of Our Lord, we are told that the apostles were looking up. However, when we are told about the Assumption of Our Lady, we are told that the apostles looked down – supposedly at the tomb into which her body was laid prior to her Assumption into Heaven.
Importantly, whether a Catholic chooses to believe that the Blessed Virgin died or fell asleep, the process of the sleeping or death of the Virgin and her assumption into Heaven is described as her DORMITION. The dormition of the Virgin recognises that the Blessed Virgin died (or slept) in a state of perfect spiritual peace.
And I have been imagining the scene around the bedside of the Blessed Virgin on this day…
I imagine the twelve apostles. I imagine their tears and love. I can see how they cried because they were losing the physical presence of their mother, who they loved with all their hearts, and yet they cried too knowing her happiness in heaven in being reunited with her Son. And how could they help but love her? After all, the soul of the Blessed Virgin is the masterpiece of creation! Satan himself turned away from God through jealousy of the beauty of the Virgin.
You see, the apostles would have sought her counsel. She is so beautiful in every way that they would have sought her out. How they would miss her wise counsel. After all, the Blessed Virgin is FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT – “full of Grace” (Luke 1:28) – which means that she practices the WISDOM of the Holy Spirit because he is INSIDE her soul completely because there is NO sin inside her to crowd Him out!
But there would have been more souls there in that room and surrounding that bedside. I can hear the tears of the women who accompanied her – her friends, her girlfriends, who were the women who knew and loved her. These were the women whom she supported and loved in return! These were the women who became saints by association with the Blessed Virgin. These are the women that I would like to imitate. Imagine if I could be as close to my Heavenly Mother – Queen of Heaven – as those women were, imagine if I could be her friend as well as her daughter. Imagine what I could learn from her…
And then there were the angels. How the angels would have surrounded that bed. All the angels in Heaven and Earth would have filled that room. How the Virgin would have loved them and welcomed them – Queen of Heaven – to her royal court right there in the poor, dusty little room where she lay. Was it cold that day? Was she hungry from fasting in penance for souls? Did she have a headache because she chose not to drink water on her death bed to unite herself more fully to the thirst of her Son, who said on the Cross, "I thirst" (John 19:28)?
When Our Lady was Assumed into Heaven she was Assumed Body and Soul and her Body is her Glorious Body. It is not like the body of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead and returned to life looking just as he did before his death. No. Our Lady’s Body is the Glorious Body of the Resurrection – the body that we profess in the Creed when we say, “I believe in the Resurrection of the Body”… We believe that our body – like Christ’s and the Virgin – will be glorified in Heaven and will be perfect in Heaven with no aches, or pains or ugliness, because in Heaven our body will be free of sin…
You see, the Assumption of Our Lady is a commemoration of the Ascension of Our Lord… As in all things – even in her death, Our Blessed Mother mirrors her Beloved – for she is after all not only His greatest Masterpiece but also His most faithful disciple and His first disciple. It was for that she was made Queen of Heaven…
And it was because of this that “Her death was an impulse of love in Christ.” (Pope Saint John Paul II).
And what a miracle it is that I have been given the gift of Grace, so that I can reflect on this today... And what a glorious sight she will be to behold when I enter the house of my Beloved one day, what a glorious sight to behold…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.