Diego Rodriguez de Silva y VELÁZQUEZ
(b. 1599, Sevilla, d. 1660, Madrid)
c. 1618 Oil on canvas, 135 x 102 cm
National Gallery, London
The Praises of Mary
O how wondrous is the dignity of the glorious Virgin!
She merited to become the mother of Him
who is the strength and beauty of the angels
and the grandeur of all the saints.Mary was the seat of our sanctification,
that is to say,
the dwelling place of the Son
who sacrificed Himself for us.“And I shall glorify the place where my feet have stood.”
The feet of the Savior signify his human nature.
The place where the feet of the Savior stood
was the Blessed Mary,
who gave him his human nature.Today the Lord glorifies that place,
since He has exalted Mary
above the choirs of the angels.
That is to say,
the Blessed Virgin,
who was the dwelling of the Savior,
has been assumed bodily into heaven.-Saint Anthony of Padua-
My favorite homily from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the subject…
The Feast of the Assumption is a day of joy. God has won. Love has won. It has won life. Love has shown that it is stronger than death, that God possesses the true strength and that his strength is goodness and love.
Mary was taken up body and soul into Heaven: there is even room in God for the body. Heaven is no longer a very remote sphere unknown to us.
We have a mother in Heaven. And the Mother of God, the Mother of the Son of God, is our Mother. He himself has said so. He made her our Mother when he said to the disciple and to all of us: “Behold, your Mother!”. We have a Mother in Heaven. Heaven is open, Heaven has a heart. (Read the rest.)
-Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI-
Homily, August 15, 2005
Fr William Most on the doctrine.
And my own thoughts on Mary, from my archives at Patheos.
Among Women podcast with yours truly reading from Christian classics on the Assumption.
Among Women podcast with several listener guests on “What I Love About Mary.”
