The Assumption in the Spiritual Life

THE ASSUMPTION IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE IN the mystery of the Assumption, as presented by the tradition of the Church to our faith and filial devotion, different aspects may be distinguished: the dormition of Mary, the glorification of her soul, her resurrection and the ascent.into heaven of her body. We can not, in these few pages, exhaust the richness of each one of these aspects. We shall, therefore, restrict ourselves above all to the last of these, that of the Assumption of the glorious body of Mary. Presupposing the various theological studies which expound the fittingness of this mystery, we shall endeavor, to develop its essential relations to our life as Christians and sons of God. It is, therefore , from the point of view of spiritual theology that we wish to study this mystery here. The Mystery of the Assumption is a striking sign of the very spflcial love God has for JJ;Jary. By the resurrection and glorification of the body of Christ, God shows the incomparable love which He bears towards His only-begotten Son. The Father could not permit the body of the divine Crucified, His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased, to know corruption. By the bloody death of the cross, Christ bore witness before the eyes of the entire world that divine Love is stronger than death and that His only "food" was to accomplish fully the will of the Father. In so doing, He gave glory to the Name of His Father and proclaimed His sovereign majesty. By the resurrection of the body of Christ, the Father glorified His Son " with the glory which He had " with Him " before the world was " (John 17 :5) . This resurrection manifests to all eyes the eternal triumph of the love of the Father for Him who was obedient unto death, and who completed the work which the Father had given Him. 98 94 M. D. PHILIPPE In the same way, the mystery of the Assumption reveals to us all the very special love of Jesus for His beloved Mother, in whom He is well pleased, for whom He poured out all His blood. First of all Our Lord, communicated to the soul of His Mother the fulness of His love by permitting her, once the trial upon earth was over, to enjoy the fulness of the beatific vision. She who had been blessed in her faith at the time of the Annunciation , who had been faithful and patient at the moment of the great trial upon Calvary, who had consented to remain on earth with St. John to watch over the infant Church, deserved to live at last by the mystery of the Triune God, " face to face," in full light and in an eternal ecstasy of love. By her beatific vision, Mary lives the very life of God, the very life of her Son. Like Him, she looks upon the Father and loves Him; like Him she lives by His gaze and His love; in the Word and the Holy Spirit, she lives by the Father. To be sure, Mary remains as always the handmaid of her God, but a handmaid who knows all the intimacy of a well-beloved child, who is introduced into the paternal household to rejoice there as a legitimate heir. But the love of Jesus for His Mother aimed more than that. All that He could give her, He would give her. Since He was able to add the glorification and resurrection of Mary's body to the beatification of her soul, Jesus, as the conjoined instrument of the power of God, did it. The glorious Heart of Jesus, burning Furnace of Charity, wished that the whole humanity of Her whom He loved should participate immediately , and in all possible fullness in the splendor and the beauty of His own glorious humanity. It was truly upon the model of the glorious body of Christ that the body of Mary rose again. What St. Paul tells us of all the members of Christ is obviously and especially true of her who had been chosen in so privileged a manner. " Christ is now risen from the dead, the first fruits...