The Assumption of Mary: Contemplating to Preach Hope
“The Blessed Virgin Mary, by the fact that she is the Mother of God, has a certain infinite dignity from the infinite good which is God.”
—Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, q. 25, a. 6.
To contemplate the Blessed Virgin Mary is to enter into the mystery of a woman fully receptive to the will of God. She is the creature in whom grace reached its fullest expression—not through her own merits, but because she knew how to open her heart with humility to the divine plan. In Mary, we contemplate the greatness of God manifested in the simplicity of a woman who never sought the spotlight, but instead allowed her whole existence to proclaim the glory of the Lord.
Her song, the Magnificat, continues to resound in the life of the Church and of every consecrated woman: “For he has looked upon the humility of his handmaid” (Lk 1,48). Mary recognizes that everything is a gift; thus, her life becomes a permanent act of thanksgiving. That is also the attitude that sustains our Dominican vocation: to live with humility, to preach with joy, and to let God accomplish great things through our smallness.
However, Mary’s life was not marked solely by the privileges of her election. She knew the silence of Nazareth, the uncertainty of Bethlehem, the exile in Egypt, and, above all, the indescribable pain of standing firm beside the cross of her Son. Her holiness was forged in daily fidelity, in unwavering trust, and in a hope that never allowed itself to be overcome by darkness. For this reason, the Church contemplates her today as glorified: because she who fully shared in the life and mission of Christ also shares fully in His victory.
Saint John Damascene, one of the great Fathers of the Eastern Church and a chief defender of the doctrine of the Dormition and Assumption of Mary, expresses this mystery with admirable depth: “If Christ, who is truly the way and the truth, says: ‘Where I am, there also will my servant be’ (Jn 12,26), how much more should His Mother share His dwelling place? The death of the saints is always precious before God; but the departure of the Mother of God was far more precious.”
Inspired also by the testimony of Tradition, Pope Pius XII solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (1950): “We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: 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.”
The Assumption is not only a privilege granted to Mary; it is also a promise for the whole Church. In her, we contemplate the glorious destiny to which God calls all who remain faithful to His love. Mary is the firstfruits of redeemed humanity, the woman fully realized in Christ, the sign of hope that animates our journey.
From the cross, Jesus entrusted His Mother to the beloved disciple: “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19,26-27). With these words, Mary becomes the Mother of all disciples and continues to accompany the birth and growth of the Church. She sustains our faith, strengthens our hope, and teaches us to remain alongside Christ, especially when the path becomes demanding.
Saint Bonaventure beautifully summarizes the spiritual richness of Mary when he states: “Just as the ocean receives all waters, so Mary receives all graces. As all rivers flow into the sea, so the graces of the angels, the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, and the virgins gathered in Mary.”
Every Marian solemnity invites us to turn our gaze back to the woman God chose to make His saving plan visible. But the Assumption of Mary takes us even further: it allows us to contemplate the glorious destiny of one who lived fully united with Christ, revealing the goal toward which we all walk: heaven.
A Perspective from Our Dominican Vocation
For us, Dominican Sisters, the Solemnity of the Assumption is an invitation to renew our consecration through Mary’s eyes. She teaches us that all apostolic fruitfulness is born first from contemplation; that there is no true preaching without a deep listening to the Word; and that service to the mission only bears fruit when sustained by a life completely given to God and a close, loving presence toward our neighbor.
Mary is the woman who contemplates, keeps, and ponders everything in her heart before proclaiming with her life the wonders of the Lord. In her, we discover the model of a disciple who lives in communion, walks with the Church, and remains faithful to the end. Her Assumption reminds us that the goal of our consecrated life is not human success, but full communion with Christ. For she who learned to say every day, “let it be done to me according to your word,” will one day hear the fulfilled promise of the Lord: “Come, share your Master’s joy.”
May this solemnity renew in every sister the desire to contemplate more deeply in order to preach with greater authenticity; to live fraternity with joy; to proclaim the Truth with evangelical freedom; and to continue bringing the light of Christ wherever Providence sends us.
Sr. Verónica Agurto Olivari, OP
Dominican of the Immaculate Conception
Chiclayo – Peru
