Letter from the Pastor
-
August 14, 2022It must have been a wonderful moment, second only to the joy of the Resurrection, a moment of great and unconditional love between mother and Son.
Some of the early Church Fathers spoke of Jesus Himself coming back down to earth to take his mother by her hand and bring her to her heavenly home. We are not sure how long Mary lived after her Son’s Ascension. At the moment of her Assumption, Mary’s true longing to be with her Son was finally fulfilled.
Most paintings of the Assumption portray Mary rising in splendor on a cloud to heaven, received by the angels with trumpets and celebration, a mystical moment. Most of the great Western artists like Rubens, Duccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Caravaggio have all created art featuring the Virgin Mary’s moment of the Assumption.
While artistic depictions of this triumphant event in Mary’s life are often celebrated, not as well-known are the other pieces of art that portray her last moments on earth, just before her Assumption. On one of the main doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, is a very different and interesting depiction of the end of Mary’s life—her moment between heaven and earth.
Our Blessed Lady is portrayed as falling, not rising. She is ‘falling” as if she is letting go of all the sorrows and sufferings of this life as she passes from this world to the next. It is just at this moment of abandoning herself into the Father’s hands that the angels rush down to catch her and bring her up to heaven.
It is a beautiful depiction of what perhaps awaits us at the end of our earthly life. Death is the great release, the great letting go of the trials and tribulation in this “vale of tears.” And as we let go and fall away, we don’t fall into a great abyss, rather we fall into the arms of God.
So it is evident from the ancient prayers in the liturgies and recorded homilies of the early Church, that it has always believed in the Assumption of Mary. By the end of the Middle Ages, belief in the Assumption was well established theologically and became part of the devotions of the people.
So, in light of a long history of Christian belief, finally in 1950, Pope Pius XII defined Mary's Assumption into Heaven as a dogma of the Church. Pope Pius XII wrote:
The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven. (from Munificentissimus Deus).
In the 17th Century, Pope Urban VIII included the Assumption as a Holyday of Obligation. In November 1992 the bishops in America issued a new norm: Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated (temporarily waived).
So this year, the Assumption is not a Holyday of Obligation, but it is still a holyday and we should try to attend Mass on Monday. The Masses are at 7:00AM and 9:00AM.
Renovation Update
All the carpet and tile is removed and we are down to the original 1931 wooden floor. The wood is still in good condition. We found a surprise along the way! What we thought was marble (according to old pictures) was in fact vinyl tile that looked like marble! In Churches that couldn’t afford real marble, they used vinyl tile, which mimicked marble.
Another thing I learned, since they didn’t use glue back then to keep the tiles in place, they used hundreds of nails! It is taking longer than we had hoped for, to remove all the nails from the floor. I must say the workers back in 1930’s did a thorough job; the tiles are still very tight together, with very little sawdust.
Once the floor is cleared, then the new Portuguese Tile will be installed. Please God this week.
Check out the website for pictures!
