15 August

For the feast of Our Lady taken up into heaven.

On 15 August the Church celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, into heavenly glory — defined by Pius XII in 1950 and a holy day of obligation in most countries.

The Prayer of the Feast

Almighty ever-living God,
who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
the Mother of Your Son, body and soul into heavenly glory:

grant, we pray, that always attentive to the things that are above,
we may merit to be sharers of her glory.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer for the Day

Mary, taken up into heaven,
what God did for you He intends for us.

You were not spared death or grief,
and you were not left in the grave.

When I am afraid of dying,
remind me what this feast is for.
And pray for me at the hour of my death,
as I have asked you ten thousand times. Amen.

About This Feast

The Assumption is the fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary and, in many countries, the day of the biggest processions of the year. Its doctrinal point is simple and enormous: what happened to her body is what is promised to ours, which is why the Creed ends with the resurrection of the body and not the immortality of the soul.