Mary Mother of Our Lord: 15th August, 1999
Revd Dr John Davis, Vicar, St Peter's Eastern Hill
"Most highly favoured Lady."
That refrain from the old carol begins our reflection on the honouring of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, on this date, which is the commemoration of her death. We celebrate today the ending of a particular earthly life and the beginning of a heavenly one. We honour a most extraordinary woman, who as his mother had the most central and intimate of relations with Our Lord.
Wherefore let all faithful people
Tell the honour of her name
Let us weave our supplications,
She with us and we with her
we have sung.
Blessed she by all creation
Who brought forth the world's salvation.
And blessed they for ever blessed,
Who love thee most and serve thee best.
we will sing, at the end of this mass.
It is a special day, a special festival of celebration.
Mary of Nazareth is considered pre-eminent among the saints. In the Scriptures, she features in the birth narratives in Mark and particularly Luke. She is, it is true, largely in the background during the developing ministry of her son, though we certainly see and hear from her at the wedding feast at Cana for instance. We find her at the foot of the cross in John's account of the crucifixion. She is involved in the post-resurrection gatherings recorded in Acts.
The 1995 Australian Prayer Book accords this day Red-Letter day status, for the first time officially since 1549. This is certainly a plus for a parish and a tradition which has for generations observed August 15 with due ceremony. For the western Church, the Assumption is at the top of the Marian festivals. The Eastern Church calls this the Dormition, the falling asleep, of the Blessed Virgin. Unlike for instance February 2nd or March 25th, where the emphasis now is more on the Lord than on his Mother, this is a day about which there is no doubt as to the central figure.
When we consider the various ways of describing and honouring what happened on this day, we are helped by trying to distinguish between the words, phrases and concepts of dying, falling asleep, being assumed into heaven, on the one hand, and the central truth being affirmed on the other. God most wonderfully honours this life of unparalleled discipleship - that is the point of all this. It is the ultimate implication of the teachings concerning what happened on this day that is the important thing. As ever, we need to see and acknowledge first the sign, and then with faith and with intellect, we can look behind and beyond the sign to the truth, which is thus signified.
The formal definition of this doctrine in a definitive way for those in communion with the see of Rome came only in 1950. Pius XII declared as an article of dogmatic faith that "The Blessed Virgin Mary, having completed her earthly life, was in body and soul assumed into heavenly glory."
The Eastern Church has not made the bodily assumption a dogma or a required belief. Neither are Anglicans bound to any particular understanding of what happened to the Blessed Virgin at her death. But on this, her years mind as it were, the Church both east and west, including as well this Anglican Church of Australia, are united in declaring this to be a day to honour and to celebrate.
Really, the teaching about the assumption can be considered under the heading of deductive theology - if such and such a thing was so, then it would make a great deal of sense if such and such else followed. If the Blessed Virgin Mary was the most central human agent in the working out of our redemption and our salvation, through being the mother of Jesus Christ Our Lord, which she was; then does it not follow that she perhaps above all, should be given special glory at her death?
It is certainly true that these matters are not dealt with in the Scriptures. From an Anglican perspective therefore, belief in the bodily assumption of Our Lady is not "necessary to salvation". It was also not found in the teaching of the Church in the earliest centuries. St Ambrose for instance, one of the greats of the fourth century, could write a treatise on the Blessed Virgin without mention the assumption. But from the 6th century, which is still early enough in the scheme of things, the acceptance of the teaching became general.
The basic and fundamental assertion being made is that we may be quite sure that Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, is now, where all Christians shall be, after the general resurrection - that is, to use familiar and traditional language, she is in heaven.
There are two precedents for such a claim and such an understanding which can be found in the Old Testament - the treatment of Enoch in Genesis 5 and Elijah in 2 Kings. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews declared: "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, (because he has pleased God). The celebrated 'chariot of fire' incident in 2 Kings speaks of Elijah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets sharing the glory of not seeing death but instead being taken "up by a whirlwind into heaven". So we are not dealing with a concept that is unscriptural. Simply rather the New Testament record is silent on this as in so many other matters that would be of great interest to us to have more information.
And what is her role now?
An old collect set for this day placed a great store on intercession:
Pardon Lord, we beseech thee, the transgressions of thy servants; that we, who by our own deeds are unable to please thee, may be saved by the intercession of the Mother of thy Son our Lord.
The chosen instrument of the incarnation continues her response and her care by praying for those for whom her son died; for you and for me.
Contemporary collects develop various themes:
May the prayers of the Virgin Mary
Bring us to the salvation of Christ
And raise us up to eternal life.
Or, picking up the theme from our first reading from Revelations:
May the prayers of this woman clothed with the sun
Bring Jesus to the waiting world
And fill the void of incompletion with the presence of her child.
Or, from our own collect this morning:
Grant that we, who are redeemed by his blood,
May share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom.
Mary is the first and foremost of all the saints. The saints are those of earlier generations of Christians from every time and place who have been recognised to be and have been declared to be in a very special and close relationship to God. They are by the example of their lives a focus of encouragement to others who follow. They encourage, they assist, they inspire - they show us ways that we too could follow. There is a saint for every condition and circumstance, and then some. The saints point us towards the one they loved and served, Jesus Christ. They are signposts, they can be road maps, they can be tour guides, and they may even be freeway stopovers. But they are not and never have been the destination. Not one would claim that and certainly not the Blessed Virgin.
Another hymn sums this up well. In answer to the question: what is the place now of Mary, the God-bearer? The answer is clear: her place is higher than that of the cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim - and they are said to surround the throne of God. They worship the risen, ascended and glorified one. And what does she do? "Lead their praises, alleluia", says the hymn. In heaven, as on earth, the Blessed Virgin directs the hearts and souls of the faithful towards her son.
"Most highly favoured Lady".
Amen.
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