"Give us days of peace, watch over our journey, let us see your Son, filled with the joy of Heaven"

On 15th August, we mark the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when her body was taken up into Heaven with her soul. But we also think of the end of her earthly life, and we think of her coronation as Queen of Heaven. These scenes have been depicted in Christian art in connection with the Assumption for centuries.

The miracle of the Assumption was a strong tradition long before it was confirmed as a dogma of the faith by Pope Pius XII in 1950. It is said that the Bishop of Jerusalem told the Eastern Roman Emperor in 451 that "Mary died in the presence of the Apostles; but her tomb, when opened later on the request of Saint Thomas, was found empty, and thus the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to Heaven." The tomb can still be visited, at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

'The Assumption of Mary is a great mystery which regards each one of us, it regards our future. Mary, in fact, precedes us on the path walked upon by those who, through their Baptism, have bound their life to Jesus, as Mary bound her own life to Him. Today's feast makes us look to heaven, foretells the "new heaven and new earth", with the Risen Christ's victory over death and the definitive defeat of evil. Therefore, the exultation of the humble maiden of Galilee, expressed in the Canticle of the Magnificat, becomes the song of all humanity, which sees with satisfaction the Lord stoop over all men and all women, humble creatures, and assume them with him into heaven.

"Now let us turn trustingly to Mary, gentle sweet Queen of Heaven, and ask her: “Give us days of peace, watch over our journey, let us see your Son, filled with the joy of Heaven" ' (Hymn of Second Vespers).

Pope Francis, Angelus on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2016