The word Assumption comes from the Latin verb assumere, meaning “to take to oneself.” Our Lord, Jesus Christ took Mary home to Himself where He is. Pope Pius XII, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (Eng. Most Bountiful God) defined the dogma of the Virgin Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven by saying, “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” In the Eastern Christian tradition, the same feast is celebrated on the same calendar date, although typically known as the Dormition (falling asleep) of Mary.
The mysteries of the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception and her Assumption are simply the registers of the power and gratuity of grace in her life, which represent her life’s grace-insured beginning and end (Immaculate Conception and Assumption). In a radical way, Mary was filled with the Spirit as His temple, an action of God, which preserved her from sin and prevented her from the corruption of the grave. St. John of Damascus wrote in a sermon on the Assumption, “that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death,” and “that she, who had carried the creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles.”
Early Christian poetry tells of Mary’s miraculous passing from this life into the next. Much of this poetry remains untranslated for the Western Church. Nevertheless, a small important script, based on early oral versions of the Assumption and written at the beginning of the fifth century, came into use in the West. This text is commonly known as Transitus Mariae and is attributed to Saint Melito of Sardis, which tells of the Virgin Mary’s home-going. “In the presence of the apostles gathered around her bed, also in the presence of her divine Son and many angels, Mary died and her soul, rose to heaven, accompanied by Christ and the angels. Her body was buried by the disciples. Difficulties developed among certain of the Jews who wished to dispose of her body. Various types of miracles occurred to convince them to honor Mary’s body. On the third day, Christ returned. At the request of the apostles the soul of Mary is reunited with her body. Accompanied by singing angels, Christ brought Mary to paradise.”
In addition to teaching about Mary’s perpetual virginity, the Transitus refers to Mary’s body as a glorious tabernacle, a living vessel, and a heavenly temple.
Nature and dignity 