Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 15 August
15th August 2024
“The Lord arose when he ascended to the right hand of the Father. The Ark which he has sanctified arose when the Virgin Mother was assumed to the Heavenly bridal chamber.” - St Anthony of Padua
On Thursday 15 August 2024 we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. The Assumption of Mary is a Catholic doctrine of faith stating that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was assumed (taken up) body and soul into Heaven at the end of her life. The Catholic Church celebrates this important feast day on 15 August and, in Australia, it is a Holy Day of Obligation, meaning all Catholics are required to attend Mass unless a serious reason prevents them, such as a severe injury or illness.
Our parish will celebrate this important Solemnity with the praying of the Rosary and Holy Mass.
On Wednesday 14 August (the vigil of the Solemnity) there will be Rosary at 5.30pm followed by Holy Mass at 6pm and on Thursday 15 August there will be Rosary at 11.30am followed by Holy Mass at 12 Noon and Adoration until 1.30pm.
Please join us at the Sacred Heart Parish Inverell in celebrating this special feast day. 💖🙏💐
Feast of the Assumption Prayer
O Blessed Virgin Mary, united to the victorious Christ in heaven, you are the image and first-flowering of the Church as she is to be perfected in the world to come. You shine forth as a sign of sure hope and solace for the pilgrim People of God. In your Assumption, you manifest the fullness of redemption and appear as the spotless image of the Church responding in joy to the invitation of the Bridegroom, your Son, who is the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Grant that we may follow your example on earth thereby imitating your Son as well and being enabled to share your glory, with Him for all eternity. Amen. 🙏💐💖
Reflection by Venerable Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton J Sheen
"Here is one body that reflects in its uncounted hues the creative love of God. To a world that worships the body, the Church now says: “There are two bodies in Heaven, one the glorified human nature of Jesus, the other the assumed human nature of Mary.” Love is the secret of the Ascension of one and of the Assumption of the other, for love craves unity with its beloved. The Son returns to the Father in the unity of Divine Nature, and Mary returns to Jesus in the unity of human nature. Her nuptial flight is the event to which our whole generation moves.
"Mary is always in the vanguard of humanity. She is compared to Wisdom, presiding at Creation; she is announced as the Woman who will conquer Satan, as the Virgin who will conceive. She becomes the first person since the Fall to have a unique and unrepeatable kind of union with God; she mothers the infant Christ in Bethlehem; she mothers the Mystical Christ at Jerusalem; and now, by her Assumption, she goes ahead like her Son to prepare a place for us. She participates in the glory of her Son, reigns with Him, presides at His Side over the destinies of the Church in time, and intercedes for us, to Him, as He, in His turn, intercedes to the Heavenly Father. She is the Mediatrix, under the Son, of all graces. As St Paul speaks of the Ascension of Our Lord as the prelude to His intercession for us, so we, fittingly, should speak of the Assumption of Our Lady as a prelude to her intercession for us. First, the place, Heaven; then, the function, intercession.
"The nature of her role is not to call her Son’s attention to some need, in an emergency unnoticed by Him, nor is it to “win” a difficult consent. Rather it is to unite herself to His compassionate Mercy and give a human voice to His Infinite Love. The main ministry of Mary is to incline men’s hearts to obedience to the will of her Divine Son. Her last recorded words at Cana are still her words in the Assumption: 'Whatsoever He shall say to you, that do ye.'"