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The Early Church Fathers on the Assumption [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
StayCatholic.com ^ | 2004 | StayCatholic.com/Early Church Fathers

Posted on 08/15/2008 8:16:23 PM PDT by Salvation

 The Early Church Fathers on
The Assumption

The doctrine of the Assumption was one that developed over time. It was not something new but rather the logical result of what was already known (Mary’s Immaculate Conception).

Pseudo – Melito

If therefore it might come to pass by the power of your grace, it has appeared right to us your servants that, as you, having overcome death, do reign in glory, so you should raise up the body of your Mother and take her with you, rejoicing, into heaven. Then said the Savior [Jesus]: "Be it done according to your will" (The Passing of the Virgin 16:2-17 [A.D. 300]).

Timothy of Jerusalem

Therefore the Virgin is immortal to this day, seeing that he who had dwelt in her transported her to the regions of her assumption (Homily on Simeon and Anna [A.D. 400]).

John the Theologian

The Lord said to his Mother, "Let your heart rejoice and be glad. For every favor and every gift has been given to you from my Father in heaven and from me and from the Holy Spirit. Every soul that calls upon your name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy and comfort and support and confidence, both in the world that now is and in that which is to come, in the presence of my Father in the heavens". . . And from that time forth all knew that the spotless and precious body had been transferred to paradise (The Dormition of Mary [A.D. 400]).

Gregory of Tours

[T]he Apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb; and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; and the holy body having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise: where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary] rejoices with the Lord's chosen ones. . . (Eight Books of Miracles 1:4 [A.D. 575]).

Theoteknos of Livias

It was fitting ... that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinised, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory ... should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God (Homily on the Assumption [ca. A.D. 600]).

Modestus of Jerusalem

As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him (Encomium in dormitionnem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae [ante A.D. 634]).

Germanus of Constantinople

You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life (Sermon I [A.D. 683]).

John Damascene

It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God (Dormition of Mary [A.D. 697])

Gregorian Sacramentary

Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten Thy Son our Lord incarnate from herself (Gregorian Sacramentary, Veneranda [ante A.D. 795]).

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TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: blessed; catholic; catholiclist; virginmary
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1 posted on 08/15/2008 8:16:24 PM PDT by Salvation
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To: Salvation
Relevant Scripture

VI. Mary's Assumption into Heaven

Gen. 5:24, Heb. 11:5 - Enoch was bodily assumed into heaven without dying. Would God do any less for Mary the Ark of the New Covenant?

2 Kings 2:11-12; 1 Mac 2:58 - Elijah was assumed into heaven in fiery chariot. Jesus would not do any less for His Blessed Mother.

Psalm 132:8 - Arise, O Lord, and go to thy resting place, thou and the Ark (Mary) of thy might. Both Jesus and Mary were taken up to their eternal resting place in heaven.

2 Cor. 12:2 - Paul speaks of a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven. Mary was also brought up into heaven by God.

Matt. 27:52-53 - when Jesus died and rose, the bodies of the saints were raised. Nothing in Scripture precludes Mary's assumption into heaven.

1 Thess. 4:17 - we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Rev. 12:1 - we see Mary, the "woman," clothed with the sun. While in Rev. 6:9 we only see the souls of the martyrs in heaven, in Rev. 12:1 we see Mary, both body and soul.

2 Thess. 2:15 - Paul instructs us to hold fast to oral (not just written) tradition. Apostolic tradition says Mary was assumed into heaven. While claiming the bones of the saints was a common practice during these times (and would have been especially important to obtain Mary's bones as she was the Mother of God), Mary's bones were never claimed. This is because they were not available. Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven.


2 posted on 08/15/2008 8:19:48 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
More from the Early Church Fathers

IV. Mary’s Assumption into Heaven

“If the Holy Virgin had died and was buried, her falling asleep would have been surrounded with honour, death would have found her pure, and her crown would have been a virginal one...Had she been martyred according to what is written: 'Thine own soul a sword shall pierce', then she would shine gloriously among the martyrs, and her holy body would have been declared blessed; for by her, did light come to the world."
Epiphanius, Panarion, 78:23 (A.D. 377).

"[T]he Apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb; and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; and the holy body having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise: where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary] rejoices with the Lord's chosen ones..." Gregory of Tours, Eight Books of Miracles, 1:4 (inter A.D. 575-593).

"As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him." Modestus of Jerusalem, Encomium in dormitionnem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae (PG 86-II,3306),(ante A.D. 634).

"It was fitting ...that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinised, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory ...should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God." Theoteknos of Livias, Homily on the Assumption (ante A.D. 650).

"You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life." Germanus of Constantinople, Sermon I (PG 98,346), (ante A.D. 733).

"St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven." John of Damascene, PG (96:1) (A.D. 747-751).

"It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God." John of Damascene, Dormition of Mary (PG 96,741), (ante A.D. 749).

"Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten Thy Son our Lord incarnate from herself." Gregorian Sacramentary, Veneranda (ante A.D. 795).

"[A]n effable mystery all the more worthy of praise as the Virgin's Assumption is something unique among men." Gallican Sacramentary, from Munificentis simus Deus (8th Century).

"God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you virgin in childbirth, thus he kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb." Byzantine Liturgy, from Munificentis simus Deus (8th Century).

"[T]he virgin is up to now immortal, as He who lived, translated her into the place of reception." Timotheus of Jerusalem (8th Century).


3 posted on 08/15/2008 8:20:57 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: nickcarraway; Lady In Blue; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; Catholicguy; RobbyS; markomalley; ...
Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

4 posted on 08/15/2008 8:34:29 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
The Early Church Fathers

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The Early Church Fathers on Salvation Outside the Church [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

The Early Church Fathers on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

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The Early Church Fathers on Hell - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

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The Early Church Fathers on The Real Presence - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

The Early Church Fathers on Confession / Reconciliation - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

The Early Church Fathers on the Immaculate Conception - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

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The Early Church Fathers on Contraception - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

The Early Church Fathers on Baptism - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

The Early Church Fathers on The Mother of God - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

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The Early Church Fathers on the Assumption [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

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5 posted on 08/15/2008 8:38:52 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation; Kolokotronis
The doctrine of the Assumption was one that developed over time. It was not something new but rather the logical result of what was already known (Mary’s Immaculate Conception)

It was based on her being immaculate, but not at her conception. The doctirne/dogma of Immaculate Conception came much later and remained unkown/unacceptable in the East.

6 posted on 08/15/2008 10:13:42 PM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50

**and remained unkown/unacceptable in the East.**

Is that still true? If so, why?


7 posted on 08/16/2008 8:21:11 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation; Kolokotronis
The East never believed in the Immaculate Conception, and it was not the official teaching of the West for centuries. This is one of those insurmountable theological obstacles to our reunion since it has been elevated to dogma in the 19th century.

Eastern Mariology is every way comparable to its western tradition, and perhaps even surpasses it in some aspects. Also, the East maintained the belief in her bodily assumption but the Eastern Church does not teach it. In the West it became dogma (i.e. required belief) only in the mid 19th century by papal fiat.

Immaculate Conception was unknown to the Church in the 5th century at the Council of Chalcedon. The following FAQ puts is succinctly:

The same source talks about the Orthodox concept of the original sin

Immaculate Conception "makes sense" from the Augustinian point of view of the original sin, but not that of St. Athanasius, from whom the East teaching gets its doctrine. As the article puts it, the East sees the original sin not as a "stain" but as "absence."

The fact is that the Church existed united despite these Mariological differences because their were not required. Neither the teaching of St. Auguistine or St. Athanasius (the one whose canon the Church accepted in full as the Christian canon) before him was a matter of dogma but of theologoumenna (religious opinions, hypotheses) ; both treated Mary as sinless and the mother of our Lord and God. There is simply nothing in the faith once delievered and believed everywhere and always that makes one or the other teaching truer.

This all changed when the West made the Immaculate Conception a dogma that is binding, and thereby erecting an insurmountable theological wall that bars any possibility of reunion with the East without the penalty of one side being forced to change its teaching. Not a very smart move in my opinion.

8 posted on 08/16/2008 9:54:12 AM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: Salvation

Thanks for all of the Early Church Fathers references.


9 posted on 08/16/2008 10:56:25 AM PDT by rbmillerjr (send concerns to Russian Trade Ministry rustrade@verizon.net Hit Russia in wallet....)
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To: kosta50

I rather like the Eastern Orthodox teaching on the Assumption (or as they refer to it, the Dormition of Theotokos, or God-bearer).

Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel who informed her that very soon, she would die. Over the next couple of days, all of the living Apostles (except one) all miraculously showed up. She died in their presence and they buried her.

Three days later, the late Apostle (Thomas!! ...who else could it be?) asked to see her body. They opened the tomb to find that it was empty, and an angel appeared to inform them that her body had been taken to Heaven.


10 posted on 08/16/2008 5:08:21 PM PDT by BaBaStooey ("Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." Ephesians 5:14)
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To: kosta50

It is my understanding that the doctrine remains unacceptable in the Orthodox Church because of the conflicting views Eastern and Western Christianity have about Original Sin. Is that right?


11 posted on 08/16/2008 7:44:24 PM PDT by lastchance (Hug your babies.)
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To: BaBaStooey
Everything we "know" about Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary outside of the scarce mention in the New Testament comes from the Protoevnagelium (the "Gospel") of James, a second century a pseudoepigraphical book which neither the Orthodox nor the Catholic Church considers scriptural, and as such cannot be used for dogmatic teaching.

The work itself is clearly a Greek forgery. This is clear from the fact that the author uses the Greek translation of the Old Testament, whereas we know that James, the son of Righteous Joseph, spoke Aramaic.

It is through this source that we learn of BEV Mary's parents' names (Joachim and Anna) who are mentioned as saints in every Orthodox divine liturgy at the end of the service. And it is through this source that we learn of her dormotion ("sleeping"—the Orthodox do not speak of "dying," but rather of being "asleep".)

Obviously this 2nd century document could not have been written by James (the Just, the step brother of Christ), who died in 62 AD (he was stoned to death by the Jews for being a "law breaker." So much for the theory that the Jews could not execute Jesus but had to turn him over to the Romans to be put to death!).

Thus, everything we "know" about BEV Mary's death and assumption is based on non-biblical sources which were apparently popular legends and represent an extra-scriptural mythology which the Church found acceptable and believable, and which can neither be confirmed nor denied.

12 posted on 08/16/2008 8:21:25 PM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: rbmillerjr; ELS

They’ve been here for awhile as you can see. Also watch for ELS posts on the audiences with the Pope. There are a lot of linked references there, too.


13 posted on 08/16/2008 8:49:03 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: lastchance
It is my understanding that the doctrine remains unacceptable in the Orthodox Church because of the conflicting views Eastern and Western Christianity have about Original Sin. Is that right?

Yes, absolutely. It is not the "logic" of the dogma that is flawed; it's the premise that we are born "guilty" because of our ancestral sin, which was not the teaching of the Church, but rather St. Augustine's feligious hypothesis (theologoumenon).

His teaching appealed to the legalistic-minded west and became "gospel", giving rise later to such legalistic hypotheses such as St. Anselm's 11th century atonement theology (also unknown to the Church until then) and made even more extreme by the Reformed Protestants.

The East never taught that and consequently, the Immaculate Conception makes no sense from the Eastern theological tradition.

But even though the West already believed in the Augustinian version of the original sin, Pope +Leo I did not argue Immaculate Conception in his rebuttal of the false teachings presented at the Council of Chalcedon regarding Christ's own human nature, because the Church did not have such a doctrine in the 5th century!

The feast of her conception (not Immaculate Conception) was celebrated for the first time in the 9th century England. The doctrine was dormulated in the 11th.

The Scottish Franciscan monks spearheaded the doctrine, while some non-English theologians called it disdainfully "foreign."

At any rate, people like St. Thomas Aquinas held a belief that is perfectly Orthodox, namely that Mary was without sin (by choice), but that she was not given the special grace when she was conceived by her parents.

14 posted on 08/16/2008 9:03:44 PM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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