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The Catholic Faith has not defined whether the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven alive. Pope Pius XII, when he was having the question researched for a dogmatic proclamation was approached by a little boy who told him Our Lady had appeared to him and that the pope should not add that she had died when she was assumed. The pope believed the child's message and so did not broach the subject in his dogmatic declaration on the Assumption in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus of November 1st, 1950.
Some theologians believe Our Lady did not die as she was immaculately preserved from sin and so would not be liable to the penalties of sin, such as death. Other theologians believe that she wished to further unite herself with her Son's redemption by freely choosing to suffer death as He had.
Tradition seems to favor that Our Lady did not die, so much so that in the Eastern Rites and among the Orthodox, Our Lady's Assumption is referred to as the "Dormition" or "her falling asleep". What the Catholic Church dogmatically teaches is that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven by her son Jesus Christ.
The Assumption is celebrated by the Universal Church on August 15. Our Lady in her Assumption is the patron saint of the United States.
It should be stated the Mary was assumed (needed help) while Jesus ascended (without assistance).
Precedents
Enoch
In describing the fittingness of the Assumption, many saints and theologians have recalled that being assumed, or caught up into heaven is not without precedent. For example "Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him." (Gn 5:24 NAB), and St. Paul recalls that "By faith Enoch was taken up that he should not see death, and 'he was found no more because God had taken him.' Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God." (Heb 11:5 NAB)
Similarly, the archangel Gabriel indicated that Mary had also pleased God: Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30 NAB). Mary herself is gladdened at the news and joyfully attests to having pleased God in her Canticle: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name." (Lk 1:46-49 NAB).
Indeed, her walk with God would become intimately physical and spiritual by giving birth to God the Incarnate Word, walking with Him through His life, death, and resurrection. In this sense, Mary's walk with God takes on a superlative character that surpasses that of Enoch's walk with God.
Elijah
Similarly, saints and theologians have recalled "When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwhind...on their way from Gilgal", and that "as they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind." (cf. 2 Kings 2:1,11).
Here it is worth noting that writers in the Old as well as the New Testaments frequently used flames or fire to indicate the presence of the Divine (cf. Ex 3:2-3, Ex 13:21-22, Is 6:1-7, Ez 1:4). Thus, Elijah's being taken up to heaven by flaming horses and a flaming chariot indicates a fitting consummation of the life of a holy person consumed, engulfed and overshadowed by sacred flames of the Holy Spirit. In this comparison, there is again a superlative character in which Mary was consumed, engulfed or overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, allowing her to receive the very Incarnate Word into her being - body and soul, as no other person ever has.cf. Lk 1:35; Acts 1:13-14; Acts 2:3-4. Considering the Incarnation of Christ alone, the superlative character of her receptivity of the flame of the Holy Spirit surpasses that of even Elijah.
Also, just as Elijah was engulfed in flames and taken to heaven, theologians and scholars have indicated a similar image of Mary engulfed in the Divine flame represented by the sun: A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Rev 12:1.
REFERENCES
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. The New American Bible, (Iowa Falls: IA, World Bible Publisher, Inc. 1991).
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoNo, she was assumed (taken) into heaven. There are two thoughts:
1.) At the end of her days on earth she was taken directly into heaven, body and soul without undergoing death.
2.) She died, was buried, and a few days later she was resurrected and taken body and soul into heaven.
This part of the Assumption of Mary is not defined in the doctrine of the Assumption.
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Did Mary die or ascend into heaven?
On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII, of happy memory, issued his Apostolic Constitution, MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS DEFINING THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION. In that constitution, he carefully defined what Catholics always believed about the Blessed Virgin Mary, that, at the end of her life, she was assumed body and soul into heaven. At that time there were two schools of thought in the Church, one was called the immortalists, who believed that Our Blessed Lady fell asleep at the end of her life and was assumed into heaven. The other school was the mortalists, who believed that Our Blessed Lady, in imitation of her Son, died, and slept in death for three days, at which time her body as assumed into heaven and re-united with her soul. In Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII, with all the authority given to him as the Vicar of Christ, solemnly proclaimed that Our Lady was assumed into heaven. As to the how (mortalists vs. immmortalists) he solemnly proclaimed - nothing. Because we don't know, and it isn't important. That fact is that she ended her mortal life on earth (which the Orthodox call The Dormition (or falling asleep) and was assumed into heaven. How this happened, we will know after we die, but the important thing is that Our Lady is alive right now in heaven, body and soul, and that she cares for you and prays for you every time that you ask. We don't know if Our Blessed Lady died or just ended her life. We do know that, because of her Immaculate Conception, and the fact that she never sinned, her body never suffered corruption, and was assumed into heaven, where she reigns right now. The Blessed Virgin Mary most definitely did NOT ascend into heaven, she was not God, and was incapable of such a thing, God assumed her into heaven, there is a world of difference. See link below for a copy of Munificentissimus Deus.
How is the alleged assassination of Pope John Paul connected to the Virgin Mary?
Blessed Pope John Paul II, of happy memory, soon to be canonized, was a devout client of the Blessed Virgin Mary. AÄŸca, the man who shot the Holy Father, was an expert marksman, and not known to leave a victim alive. Blessed John Paul attributes that fact that he lived to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and, further, relates the very assassination attempt to the vision of the three children at Fatima much earlier in the twentieth century when the Blessed Virgin Mary showed them, in a vision, the murder of the Holy Father "the man in white robes". After his recovery, the Holy Father when to Fatima to give thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he had the bullet, which should have been fatal, inserted in her crown.
Were St. Joachim and Saint Anne alive when Mary became mother of Jesus?
Roman Catholic AnswerWe do not know for sure, but we assume that they were as the Blessed Virgin Mary was only about fourteen years of age when she conceived Our Blessed Lord.
Does Virgin Mary live in 2011?
From the perspective of an Anglo-Catholic, She is alive in heaven. Just like Jesus and all the other saints. She is no longer in this world. She was assumed into heaven. She may have died first.
Who in the bible went to heaven alive?
No one can go to Heaven alive.
Is Virgin Mary alive?
No, she died. --- According to the "T"radition of the Catholic (both eastern and western Rites, as well as all branches of the Orthodox Churches. Virgin Mary either died, or fell asleep, and was then raised "body and soul" to take her place in the heavens. This was proclaimed Dogam of the Church, and is celebrated as a Feast of the Church on August 15 So, the Virgin Mary is very much alive in heaven.
Is Jesus alive in heaven?
Yes
How do you go to heaven alive?
In many religions, the concept of going to heaven alive is not a common belief. Typically, the transition to the afterlife is believed to occur after physical death. Spiritual practices such as meditation, prayer, and leading a virtuous life are often emphasized as ways to align oneself with divine principles and prepare for the afterlife.
Is Jesus Christ still alive?
Yes. In the meaning of spiritually alive in Heaven. There is no evidence that he is alive on Earth at the moment.
Who are the only people to ascend to heaven without dying?
First, the event you are asking, the Rapture, is a form of death where it ends life here on earth as we know it for those people who go up in the Rapture.But the people who ascend are the ones who are accepted by God, the event is:1 Thessalonians 416For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
What are some essential questions about the assumption of the Blessed Mother Mary?
Was she alive or dead?
Who is the oldest Jew?
Serach (Serah, in English). She is the oldest Jew in the Torah (the Jewish bible; the Old Testament for Christians). She was the daughter of Asher and the granddaughter of Jacob. After telling Jacob that Joseph was still alive, she was blessed with eternal life. 210 years later, she left Egypt in the Exodus. The general belief is that she went to Heaven alive.
