SAN DIEGO — The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is on Saturday, Aug. 15.
What does it commemorate?
It celebrates the fact that Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken up (or, assumed) — both body and soul — into Heaven.
Is it a holy day of obligation?
Not this year, at least not in the United States.
The Code of Canon Law includes it as one of 10 holy days of obligation that, like every Sunday of the year, “must be observed” (Canon 1244). However, it notes that, with approval of the Holy See, national bishops conferences can suppress some holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a decree, which went into effect in 1993, that the obligation to attend Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption is dispensed when it falls on a Saturday (like this year) or a Monday.
What’s the difference between “assumption” and “ascension”?
Jesus, who was fully God as well as fully human, “ascended” to Heaven by his own divine power as God. Mary, who is only human, was entirely dependent on God to “assume” her body and soul into Heaven.
