,
Correggio, 1526–1530 Some scholars argue that the Dormition and Assumption traditions can be traced early in church history in the apocryphal books, with
Stephen J. Shoemaker noting about the dating: According to Shoemaker, the first known narrative to address the end of Mary's life and her assumption is the
apocryphal third- and possibly second-century ("The Book of Mary's Repose"). Yet numerous features indicate that the
Liber Requiei Mariae, or the
Obsequies of the Virgin, as the text is called in Syriac, has manuscripts which date according to Shoemaker to the "fifth or sixth centuries" where the "original Greek underlying these early translations almost certainly belongs to the fourth century." This Greek document, is dated by
Tischendorf as no later than the 4th century. but is dated by Shoemaker as later. Other works that mention the assumption of Mary are the apocryphal treatise , bearing the name of St. John, which belongs however to the fourth or fifth century. It is also found in the apocryphal book , falsely ascribed to
Melito of Sardis, and in a spurious letter attributed to
Denis the Areopagite. Teaching of the assumption of Mary became widespread across the Christian world, having been celebrated as early as the 5th century and having been established in the East by
Emperor Maurice around AD 600. In a
homily,
John Damascene (675–749 AD), citing the third book of the
Euthymiac History, records the following: There is a large number of accounts of the assumption of the Virgin Mary, published in various languages (including Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic). The standard Greek text is the one attributed to St John the Theologian (Evangelist). The standard Latin is that attributed to Melito of Sardis. Shoemaker mentions that "the ancient narratives are neither clear nor unanimous in either supporting or contradicting the dogma" of the assumption. According to the
Passing of the Blessed Virgin Mary, attributed to
Joseph of Arimathea, which is a later version of the Virgin Mary's Dormition, probably from sometime after the early seventh century, one of the apostles, often identified as
Thomas the Apostle, was not present at the death of Mary but his late arrival precipitates a reopening of Mary's tomb, which is found to be empty except for her grave clothes. Subsequently, Mary drops
her girdle down to the apostle from heaven as testament to the event. This incident is depicted in many later paintings of the assumption. The
feast of the Dormition, arrived in the West in the early 7th century, its name changing to Assumption in some 9th century liturgical calendars. The feast was decreed for
Constantinople on 15 August by the
emperor Maurice in 600; about fifty years later it was introduced in
Rome and is mentioned in a papal decree of
Sergius (687–701), who fixed a procession for the feast.
Pope Leo IV (reigned 847–855) gave the feast a vigil and an octave to solemnise it above all others,
Pope Nicholas I (858–867) placed it on a par with
Christmas and
Easter, and
Pope Benedict XIV (1740–1758) declared it "a probable opinion, which to deny were impious and blasphemous". Between 1849 and 1950, numerous petitions for the assumption to be declared as dogma arrived in Rome. On 1 May 1946 the Pope sent to the bishops of the world the encyclical
Deiparae Virginis Mariae, putting this questions to them: "Do you, venerable brethren, in your outstanding wisdom and prudence, judge that the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin can be proposed and defined as a dogma of faith? Do you, with your clergy and people, desire it?" The bishops gave an almost unanimous affirmative response to both these questions. while the
Catechism of the Catholic Church adds: "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians."
Related traditions In some versions of the assumption narrative, the assumption is said to have taken place in
Ephesus, in the
House of the Virgin Mary. This is a much more recent and localised tradition. The earliest traditions say that Mary's life ended in
Jerusalem (see
Tomb of the Virgin Mary). Scholars of the "argued that during or shortly after the apostolic age a group of Jewish Christians in Jerusalem preserved an oral tradition about the end of the Virgin's life". Thus, by pointing to oral tradition, they argued for the historicity of the assumption and Dormition narratives. According to
Antoine Wenger "the strikingly diverse traditions of Mary's Dormition and Assumption arise from 'a great variety of original types', rather than being the result of a progressive modification of a single, original tradition".
Simon Claude Mimouni and his predecessors have argued that belief in the Virgin's Assumption is the final dogmatic development, rather than the point of origin, of these traditions. In the German-speaking and some Slavic countries (like Poland), the custom of blessing (aromatic) herbs is associated with the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This ancient custom "came to be associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in part because of the biblical images applied to her such as vine, lavender, cypress and lily, partly from seeing her in terms of a sweet smelling flower because of her virtue", and Isaiah's reference to the shoot springing from the side of Jesse, which brought Jesus Christ as a fruit. The custom is also related to the tradition of the
Frauendreißiger (means approx. "thirty days of Our Lady"), a period lasting to 8 September, the Feast of the
Nativity of Mary. This rural tradition goes back to the fact that the herbs contain particularly high levels of essential oils at this time of year and are especially healthy.
Scriptural basis The apostolic constitution mentions several Holy Fathers, theologians and
Doctors of the Church who held the assumption of Mary, among them are
Adrian I,
Sergius I,
Leo IV,
John of Damascus,
Amadeus of Lausanne,
Modestus of Jerusalem,
Anthony of Padua,
Albertus Magnus,
Thomas of Aquinas (Angelic Doctor),
Bonaventure (Seraphic Doctor),
Bernardino of Siena,
Robert Bellarmine,
Francis de Sales,
Peter Canisius,
Francisco Suárez, among others. Many of the bishops cited
Genesis 3:15, in which God is addressing
the serpent in the
Garden of Eden, as the primary confirmation of Mary's assumption: Many scholars connect Jesus' usage of the word "woman" to call Mary instead of calling her "mother" as a confirmation of Mary being the "woman" described in Genesis 3:15. Mary was often seen as the "
New Eve", who crushed the serpent's head at the
Annunciation by obeying the
angel Gabriel when he said she would bear the
Messiah (Luke 1:38). The
Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that the account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, and that the fall of mankind, by the seductive voice of the snake in the Bible, represents the fallen angel,
Satan or "the devil". Similarly, the great dragon in
Revelation 12 is a representation of Satan, identified with the serpent from the garden who has enmity with the woman. Therefore, in Catholic thought, there is an association between this woman and Mary's Assumption. Among the many other passages noted by Pope Pius XII were the following: •
Psalm 132 (), greeting the return of the
Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem ("Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, you and the ark which you have sanctified!"), where the ark is taken as the prophetic "type" of Mary; •
Revelation 11:19, in which John sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven (this verse immediately precedes the vision of the woman clothed with the sun); •
Luke 1:28, in which the
Archangel Gabriel greets Mary with the words, "Hail Mary, full of grace", since Mary's bodily assumption is a natural consequence of being full of grace; •
1 Corinthians 15 () and
Matthew 27 (), concerning the certainty of bodily resurrection for all who have faith in Jesus. The Bible mentions two prominent figures,
Enoch and
Elijah, who were taken up to heaven, serving as important precedents for the assumption of Mary. Enoch, referenced in the Book of
Genesis, is noted for his intimate walk with God and is described as having been "taken" by God (), an event that is also reported in the Epistle to the
Hebrews (). Similarly, Elijah, the great prophet, was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, accompanied by a chariot of fire, as recorded in
2 Kings ().
Catholic Marian visionaries and the assumption In the 12th century, the German nun
Elisabeth of Schönau was reportedly granted visions of Mary and her son which had a profound influence on the Western Church's tradition. In her work , she relates how Mary was assumed in body and soul into Heaven. On 1 May 1950,
Gilles Bouhours, a Marian seer, reported to
Pius XII a presumed message that the Virgin Mary would have ordered him to communicate to the pope on the dogma of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary. It is said that
Pius XII asked God, during the Holy Year of 1950, for a sign that could reassure him that the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was actually wanted by God and when Gilles communicated the message to Pius XII, the pope considered this message the hoped-for sign. Six months after the private audience granted to Gilles by the pope, Pius XII himself proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption of body and soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. ==Assumption versus Dormition==