the assumption

Assumpta est Maria in cælum: gaudent angeli: God has taken Mary, body and soul, to heaven; and the angels rejoice!

So sings the Church. And so, with that same cry of joy, we begin our contemplation in this decade of the Holy Rosary.

The Mother of God has fallen asleep. Around her bed are the twelve Apostles—Matthias in the place of Judas.

And we, through a grace respected by all, are also at her side.

But Jesus wants to have his Mother, body and soul, in heaven. And the heavenly court, arrayed in all its splendor, greets our Lady. You and I—children, after all—take the train of Mary’s magnificent blue cloak, and so we can watch the marvelous scene.

The most blessed Trinity receives and showers honors on the Daughter, Mother and Spouse of God . . .. And so great is the Lady’s majesty that the angels exclaim: Who is she?