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Show Feast of the Assumption. THE 15th of August commemorates one of the most joyful events in the life of te Blessed Virgin. Her life, - as gleaned from the gospels, is very simple and brief, so much so that it is urged sometimes as an argument against Catholic devotion to her. Bare facts are only mentioned. These facts are to be found in the five joyful mysteries. The splendor which surrounds sur-rounds her in these mysteries belongs more to her divine son, who was in reality the great object of attraction. When the sou emerges from his obscurity ob-scurity and appears as a public teacher, the mother falls into obscurity. obscur-ity. Her name is rarely mentioned in the sacred text. When the glorified body manifests itself in Thabor, the gospel does not mention that the mother was present to share in the joys of the favored apostles, and indulge in-dulge in the laudable pride of her motherly instincts. It tells distinctly that she stood at the foot of the cross to share in the pangs and sufferings of her crucified son. Favors are bestowed on others by her divine son. Their praises are sung, but the mother is apparently forgotten and buried in obscurity. John the Baptist Bap-tist is lanrWl a.n beine more than a prophet. Peter is styled the rock upon which he would build his church, and Mary Magdalen, after her conversion, U entitled to have her name connected with his gospel whersoever preached. On his mother he bestows no extraordinary extraor-dinary honors. When Jesus is helpless and needs the tender care of her maternal ma-ternal instincts, her name is mentioned. When he suffered, she is present to share in hie great' sorrow, but when honored, her name is not mentioned. Such seemed to be the mother's privilege. privi-lege. After his ascension she is left to mourn her lot in tears. The image of the cross is indelibly, impressed on her soul, and for twenty-three years she lives on, pining away under the weight of her afflictions. Of these years but lltttle is known. The gospels are silent. si-lent. Christian tradition gives them as years devoted to the practice of" every virtue, of continual progress in sanctity, of perfect resignation to the will of God, and to complete union with her 'son in the daily reception of the Blessed Eucharist. In the natural course of events, Mary reached the end of her earthly career. It was the consummation of the mysteries mys-teries of her entire life, namely,' her assumption into heaven. Her death was peaceable and calm. Surrounded by the apostles, her soul, accompanied by angels, passed from earth to heaven. After her death, tradition tells that the apostles guarded the sacred spot where her remains rested. St. Thomas, who had been preaching the gospel at some distance, did not reach Jerusalem till, three days after her burial. His desire to see the remains of the blessed mother was so great that the other apostles consented to open the tomb, but her body, like the soul, had taken its flight to heaven. Only the linen in which the body was wrapped was found in the tomb. ' Faith in this joyful and miraculous i event dates its origin with the apostles,-and apostles,-and though not a dogma of faith, has come down through all the centuries with increased profession of belief, and is annually celebrated with fervor and devotion. On next Friday the feast is celebrated as a holy day of obligation. |
