REFORMERS ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION

“..and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord.” Quoting Sirach 24

“Although the words of this epistle primarily relate to the uncreated Wisdom, they also secondarily relate to the glorious Virgin Mary.”

Today the festival of our dear lady, the mother of God, is observed to celebrate her death and departure above.

There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven.

How it happened we do not know.

And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith.

It is enough to know that she lives in Christ. [Martin Luther, Weimar edition of 1522 Sermon on the Feast of the Assumption

Elijah was transported body and soul in a chariot of fire; he was not buried in any Church bearing his name, but mounted up to heaven, so that . . . we might know what immortality and recompense God prepares for his faithful prophets and for his most outstanding and incomparable creatures. . . .

It is for this reason, we believe, that the pure and immaculate embodiment of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, that is to say her saintly body, was carried up to heaven by the angels.