By Valentine Obienyem
WHEN I put pen to paper, my aims are twofold: to inform and to educate. This is why I sometimes research before writing or draw upon the knowledge I have acquired through years of intense, demanding and rewarding scholarship.
In the business of informing and educating, the pulpit occupies a higher realm and bears an even greater responsibility. It is not merely an instrument of information but of sanctification and doctrinal clarification. It should therefore be used by priests to explain difficult matters of faith, particularly those which, when approached through reason alone, may appear to defy reason itself.
Within Catholic theology, few areas attract as much theological controversy as Mariology, with its four Marian dogmas: Mary’s Divine Motherhood, or “Theotokos”, solemnly affirmed at Ephesus in 431; her Perpetual Virginity, reaffirmed in the sixth-century Church, including at Constantinople II in 553; the Immaculate Conception, defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854; and the Bodily Assumption, solemnly defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
The formal definition of a dogma must not be confused with the invention of the belief itself. The Church may define at a particular moment what Christians have believed, celebrated, contemplated or transmitted for centuries. This is why Catholic priests study dogmatic theology: to examine the biblical foundations, patristic testimony, liturgical tradition, theological development and Magisterial teaching underlying the doctrines of the Church.
Today, we celebrate one of those dogmas: the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The fact that it was formally defined in 1950 does not mean that Church began believing it in 1950. The historical record points in the opposite direction: traditions concerning Mary’s Dormition and glorification existed in Christian antiquity.
The Assumption is not merely a feast on the calendar; it is a Solemnity, the highest rank given to a liturgical celebration. It is therefore celebrated with a dignity comparable to Sunday: the “Gloria”is sung or recited, proper readings and prayers are prescribed, and, where the day is observed as a holy day of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in Mass, just as they are on Sundays.
The Solemnity of the Assumption – the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary – celebrates the belief that, having completed her earthly journey, the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken up, body and soul, into heavenly glory. At the 6:00 a.m. Mass this morning, the celebrant, Fr. Peter Ndiaanefo, commenced his homily with the “Hail Mary,” setting the spiritual tone for the celebration.
Fr. Ndiaanefo anchored his reflection on a profound spiritual and bodily principle: just as the grave could not ultimately hold Christ, corruption could not claim the vessel that bore Him. Mary’s purity, obedience and total consecration become a foretaste of the destiny promised to those who live faithfully in Christ.
Beyond the homily, the liturgical readings deepen this mystery. In Revelation 11:19–12:6, Saint John sees the Ark of God’s Covenant in heaven, followed immediately by the vision of a woman clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars.
The connection is striking. The Old Testament Ark contained the tablets of the Law, the manna and Aaron’s budding staff. Mary, in Christian typology, is the Ark of the New Covenant: she carried within her the Word made flesh, the Bread of Life and the Eternal High Priest.
The Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 45) presents the royal Queen-Mother standing at the King’s right hand, while Saint Paul’s Second Reading (1 Corinthians 15:20–27) presents Christ as the firstfruits of the resurrection. Mary’s glorification is therefore not a rival to Christ’s Resurrection but a privileged fruit of it.
Christian testimony in antiquity points to this belief. We have Saint Justin Martyr, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130–202), Saint Gregory of Tours, and Saint John Damascene (c. 675–749), who explicitly defended Mary’s Dormition and bodily glorification in the eighth century. It was a question already present among the early Church Fathers.
It is also significant that the Eastern Orthodox Church, despite being separated from full communion with Rome, celebrates on 15 August the Dormition of the Theotokos, affirming the ancient Christian tradition of Mary’s death, burial and subsequent bodily glorification.
Even the Hail Mary, which sometimes provokes inter-denominational controversy, is substantially woven from Scripture. The opening words come from the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary: “Hail, full of grace” (Luke 1:28). The second great biblical clause echoes Elizabeth’s Spirit-inspired proclamation: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:42).
However, the concluding petition- asking Mary to pray for us – belongs to the Catholic understanding of the communion of saints and Mary’s maternal relationship with the members of Christ’s Body.
The mystery of the Assumption is ultimately a mystery of Christ’s victory. Mary’s glorification does not diminish Christ; it manifests what His grace can accomplish in a human being completely surrendered to God.
The Assumption therefore points beyond Mary to the destiny of the Church itself: the triumph of grace over corruption, life over death, and resurrection over the grave.
A.I
Aug. 15, 2026
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