Friday, August 15, 2008

The Solemnity of the Assumption


"It was necessary that she who had preserved her virginity inviolate in childbirth should also have her body kept free from all corruption after death.

It was necessary that she who had carried her Creator as a child on her breast should dwell in the tabernacles of God.

It was necessary that the bride espoused by the father should make her home in the bridal chambers of heaven.

It was necessary that she, who had gazed on her crucified Son and been pierced in the heart by the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in giving him birth, should contemplate him seated with the Father.

It was necessary that the Mother of God should share the possessions of her Son, and be venerated by every creature as the Mother and handmaid of God."

St. John Damascene, quoted by Pope Pius XII in today's Office of Readings.

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