THE ASSUMPTION
THE ASSUMPTION
Three days before the most Happy Transition of the Great Lady the
Apostles and disciples were gathered in Jerusalem in the Cenacle.
Being informed of the purpose of their coming, they were seized with
tenderest grief and shed abundant tears at the thought of losing their
only Protection and Consolation. The Incarnate Word descended from
Heaven on a Throne of Ineffable Glory, and explaining to Mary that
since she had entered the world free and exempt from sin, therefore
also Death should have no permission to touch her,and that, should
she agree, He would take her direct to Heaven. The Most Prudent Mother
with a joyous countenance,answered:`My Son and My Lord, I beseech Thee,
let Thy Mother and Thy servant enter Eternal Life by the common portal
of natural death. Thou Who art my true God, hast suffered death without
being obliged to do so; it is proper that, as I have followed Thee in
life, so I follow Thee also in Death.' Then all the Angels began to
sing in Celestial harmony, and Blessed Mary reclining back upon her
couch, pronounced the words of Her Son on the Cross, `Into Thy hands
O Lord, I commend my spirit'. Then she closed her eyes and expired
The sickness which took away her life was pure Love, nothing else.
Following the earthly death of Our Lady, the Holy Apostles conferred
concerning the burial of their Queen. According to the custom of the
Jews at burial, a body was to be anointed with precious ointments
and spices and wrapped in a sacred burial cloth. With great reverence
and fear, the two Maidens who had been assigned this task, entered the
room,where the Body of the Blessed Lady lay.
But the refulgence issuing
from it barred and blinded them in such a manner that they could not
touch nor even locate the Body. With Divine Inspiration the Apostles
came to realise that this Sacred Body was not to be touched.
The Lord Himself inspired all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be
present at the burial. When the procession came to the Holy Sepulchre
in the Valley of Josaphat,Saint Peter and Saint John, with joyful
reverence placed the body in the Sepulchre, and covered it with a
linen cloth. Our Redeemer Jesus, entered Heaven conducting the Purest
Soul of His Mother at His right hand.
On the third day after that
the Lord manifested to the Saints His Divine Will that she should
return to the world, resuscitate her sacred body and unite herself
with it,so that she might in body and soul be again raised to the
right hand of her Divine Son.
Pray
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