Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 15, toward the end of the summer season, the Church of Christ celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the faithful proclaim that she was taken up, body and soul, into heaven.

It’s a Holy Day of Obligation and the oldest feast day of Our Lady.

Its origin is in the early days of Jerusalem, when one of the memories about the Blessed Mother centered around the “Tomb of Mary,” close to Mount Zion, where she was buried, and the early Christian community had lived. It’s the spot where Mary’s “falling asleep.”

Mary expired in the presence of the apostles, and when her tomb was opened later, it was found empty, and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into the heavenly home.

Therefore, from the beginning, there were no relics of Mary to be venerated. That location also soon became a place of pilgrimage, and the “Memory of Mary” was being celebrated. Today, the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on the spot.

In the seventh century, this feast began to be celebrated in Rome under the title of the “Falling Asleep” (“Dormitio”) of the Mother of God.

Later, it was to become our feast of the Assumption.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption, a truth revealed by God, with these words: “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven.”

The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!

+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

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• August 15, 2025, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET