The Feast of the Assumption is one of the oldest holy days in the Church, with accounts of celebrations going back to the sixth century. Christians in the East, both Catholic and Orthodox, refer to it as the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, or “the falling asleep of the Mother of God.” The earliest printed reference to the belief that Mary’s body was assumed into Heaven dates from the fourth century, in a document entitled “The Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God.” The document is written in the voice of the Apostle John, to whom Christ on the Cross had entrusted the care of His mother, and it recounts the death, laying in the tomb, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition variously places Mary’s death at Jerusalem or at Ephesus, where John was living, and holds that the Apostles were gathered with her at the time.
Mass times
| Time | Church | |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 14th August (Vigil) | 7.00pm | St Philip Neri, Mansfield |
| 7.30pm | St Teresa, Warsop | |
| Thursday 15th August | 10.00am | St Bernadette, Bolsover |
| 12.10pm | St Philip Neri, Mansfield | |
| 7.00pm | St Joseph, Shirebrook |
St 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 honoured by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God.
