Today I'd like to take a break from working through the Gospel of Matthew to offer something for the Solemnity of the Assumption. This is a special day in the Marist World, since it's the traditional day for Marist Brothers to make their profession of vows. Yesterday, the Marist Province of the United States was blessed to receive the first vows of Br. David Freiler and Br. Miguel Garcia, our two new temporarily professed brothers. In honor of the day, this blog entry will be on one of my favorite texts for this day: St. John Damascene's Third Assumption Homily.
Although the Catholic Church did not formally define the dogma of the Assumption of Mary until 1950, the Feast of the Assumption has been celebrated on August 15 since at least the sixth century. Among the most beautiful texts ever composed for this day are a series of three homilies written for the Assumption Vigil by John of Damascus.
John of Damascus, or Yuhanna ad-Dimashqi, was an eighth century Christian Arab Syrian who served as an administrator in the Umayyad Caliphate. In the second half of his life, he retired to a monastery in Jerusalem, where he dedicated the remainder of his days to writing and prayer. He is widely considered to be the last of the Church Fathers.
What follows below is my own rendering of John’s third homily for the Assumption, based on the original language.1 It is a loose paraphrase rather than a strict translation.2 I was partly inspired to do this because over the last twelve years, I think we have all come to have a greater appreciation for what a gift Christians throughout the Middle East, especially in Syria, are to the Church and to our own Marist Charism.
Br. Sam Amos, FMS
August 16, 2024
When we love someone, it’s hard not to always be talking about them, not to be thinking about them day and night - so even though I’ve already spoken about it twice, please don’t blame me if I have to preach for a third time on the Assumption of the Mother of God. This won’t add to her grace, but to mine, and yours - the people of this holy community that stand with me. I hope to say something useful and helpful for your souls, as we gather in vigil on this holy night. What I will say won’t be much, but I hope it will feed you.
Mary does not need our praise, but we need her glory. We cannot glorify or enlighten her more than she already has been. We are making crowns, but for ourselves, not her - she already has one. We do this because her Son has said, “I live, and I will glorify those who glorify me.”
Bread nourishes us, wine cheers us, but sweeter than both is the Mother of my God. She occupies my mind and my speech. Awake or dreaming, I see her. She is the mother of the Word, and she supplies words to me now. Born of a barren mother3, she makes barren souls fruitful. Today we celebrate the holy feast of her Assumption. So let us climb the mystic mountain, and for a while leave behind the things of the world and our everyday lives. Let us stand in the holy, ungraspable darkness. Let us stand in its twin, the divine light. Let us stand together to praise the boundless power of our Lord!
He descended into the Virgin’s womb, without ever leaving the arms of the Father. He gained immortality through the mortality of his earthly body when he freely accepted death. After he returned to his Father, he brought with him his Mother, bringing to Heaven her who had held Heaven on Earth.
Today, the living Ladder by which the Most High descended to Earth was assumed into Heaven. Today the earthly Table which held the Bread of Heaven was drawn back to the Divine. Today the Gates of Heaven opened for the Gate through which God had passed. Today the Dwelling of God was transferred from the Earthly Jerusalem4 to the Heavenly Jerusalem. Today she whose firstborn and only-begotten Son was the firstborn of Creation and the only-begotten of the Father dwells with the Church, the sons and daughters of God. The human Ark of the Covenant rests in her Son’s peace. The Gates of Paradise stand open to receive her who bore the Tree of Life, undoing the disobedience of Eve and the death of Adam.
She who made possible the Incarnation of the Word rests in her tomb as in a bridal chamber, waiting for the wedding banquet, where she will reign with her Son and God. She leaves her tomb as a shrine5, decorated not with gold or silver or precious stones, not with silk or purple cloth, but with the radiance of the Holy Spirit. This tomb is sweeter than Eden. The first Eden gave way to exile and death, but this Eden leads to Heaven. This tomb is fairer than the first Tabernacle, for it holds the living Ark. This tomb is holier than Moses’ ark, for it contains what Moses’ ark foreshadowed.
Let demons flee before they are washed away like Pharaoh’s men! We who are saved are saved with dry feet, for we did not need to wade through the waters of sin. Let us sing to honor the Assumption of the Mother of God! Let Mary, who personifies the Church, take up the tambourine like her namesake.6 Let the young women of the spiritual Israel go forth in song. Let kings and judges and rulers, men and women, young and old, all the different nations and languages, sing to the Mother of God a new song! Let the air resound with flutes and trumpets, and let the sun shine on this day of salvation! Let the heavens rejoice, and the clouds rain justice! Exult you apostles, chosen rams of God’s flock, who stand with broad vision on lofty mountains!
But oh, oh! The Church, the people of God, his flock - we must also mourn, for the Mother of our Lord is dead.7 For it is necessary that what is made of earth should return to the Earth, so that what remains may enter into Heaven. Today she begins her second life, through Him who was the source of her first and to whom she gave a bodily beginning.
Rejoice, oh Bethel, for just as Jacob anointed a column in you,8 God anointed the child in her womb with divinity. Rejoice, oh Zion, holy mountain of God, because another, living Zion has dwelt on you, and from you her Son has ascended to Heaven. Let the Apostles gather from the ends of the earth to Zion.9 Who are these men, who gather like clouds? Who is this woman, who rises, shining and resplendent as the sun? Let musicians play, apostles preach, and theologians praise. Let all nations clap their hands and praise the Mother of God! Let the angels minister to her body. Daughters of Jerusalem, follow your Queen as she goes to sit beside her Son.
Come down! Come down Lord, to welcome your Mother! You who on the cross entrusted your spirit to your Father, extend your divine hands to receive your Mother’s soul. Say to her: “Come, my beloved, who shines brighter than the sun. Just as you shared with me what was yours, I now share with you what is mine. Mother, come to your Son. You were poor with me. Now reign with me.”
Depart, Mother, not like Moses, who ascended the mountain to die10, but instead die to ascend! Entrust your soul into the hands of your Son. Leave on Earth what belongs to Earth. Oh People of God, lift your eyes, and see on Mount Zion the Ark of the Lord of Hosts! The Apostles are there, laying to rest the body that bore God. Unseen angels are there, reverencing the Mother of their Lord. God himself is there, for He is everywhere, and through him, all things are there.
See the Virgin Daughter of Adam, the Mother of God. Because of Adam, she gives her body back to the Earth. Because of her Son, she gives her soul to Heaven. Blessed be the Holy City, blessed with eternal blessings. Let the angels accompany the holy Tabernacle, and prepare her tomb. Let the Spirit adorn it with its splendor. Prepare the myrrh, to anoint the most precious body. Let blessings overflow from the cup of blessing. Let the Earth quake at the internment of her body. Let the air crack at the rising of her spirit. Let the winds sweep around her who is full of grace. Let all creation celebrate the Assumption of the Mother of God. Let bands of young people dance in jubilation. Let orators pour out their praises, and philosophers ponder the mystery. Let those with venerable old age become young again at the sight. Let all Creation become a symbol of Heaven, and even then we will not have rejoiced nearly enough.
Come, everyone, let’s go with her. Come, let’s gather around the tomb, and circle around the most sacred bed. Let us sing those sacred words: Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with You. Hail, you who were chosen to be the Mother of God. Hail, you who were in God’s plan before all ages, to be the spark of the divine fire, the masterpiece of the Spirit, the fountain of living water, the garden of the tree of life, the vine of the grape from which the sweetest wine flows. You are the river full of the Spirit’s graces, and the land of God’s wheat. You are the brightest rose, fragrant with grace. You are the lily fit to adorn a royal robe. You bore the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. You are the token of our salvation, more beautiful than the angels, Servant and Mother.
Come, let us circle around that tomb, and bask in the grace. Let us live like Mary, so we may hear the angels singing. Let us enter to worship, so that we can recognize anew the mystery by which Mary returned to her Son. No one stands between the Mother and the Son.
Mary, this is my third sermon on your Assumption, which I have done out of reverence to the Trinity, which you served with the goodness of the Father, the strength of Spirit, and the wisdom of the Son. Accept my attempt, which I know exceeds my abilities. Grant us freedom from vices, healing from sickness, reconciliation with our enemies, peaceful lives, and the illumination of the Spirit. Teach us to love your Son and to lead lives pleasing to him, so that we may be happy with him and with you forever. We ask this through Christ, the Son of God, to whom, with the uncreated Father and the life-giving Holy Spirit, be glory and power, forever and ever. Amen.
Notes
1 i.e. Greek. John’s native language was Arabic, but he used Greek for his Christian writings, which can be found in the Patrologia Graeca series, which is available free online through Google Books.
2 If you would like a more literal translation, Mary Allies’ translation is available online.
3 According to tradition, Mary’s mother Anne had difficulty having children, like her Old Testament namesake Hannah.
4 In Eastern Christianity, Mary is traditionally held to have died in Jerusalem. She is said to have been buried in Gethsemane, at her own request.
5 The Summer 2023 Pilgrimage of Marist Brothers to the Holy Land was actually able to visit the Orthodox Church of the Tomb of Mary in Jerusalem.
6 i.e. Miriam in Exodus 15
7 The Eastern Christian understanding of the Assumption is that Mary died a natural death (which is called the Dormition), was buried, and three days later her body was assumed into Heaven, where her soul already was.
8 Genesis 28
9 According to Eastern Christian tradition, all of the living Apostles except Thomas were able to gather in time to say goodbye to the dying Mary. When Thomas eventually arrived, he asked for the tomb to be opened to say goodbye, and in this way the tomb was discovered to be empty.
10 Deuteronomy 34
