Why do Catholics believe in the Assumption of Mary?

The dogma of the Assumption affirms that Mary’s body was glorified after her death. In fact, while for other human beings the resurrection of the body will take place at the end of the world, for Mary the glorification of her body was anticipated by a special privilege. While defining the dogma Pius XII avoided using the term “resurrection” and by doing so did not take a position on the question of the Blessed Virgin’s death as a truth of faith. This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the Assumption of Mary:

“Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” – CCC 966

What is the basis of this dogma? Was it “invented” recently by the Catholic Church or is there any other explanation. Let’s start by asking ourselves one question: Is it necessary that an event has to be recorded in the Bible for it to be true? If it were so then Peter and Paul’s journey to Rome and them being martyred there never took place as it is not mentioned in the Bible even though it was still being written. We know that this is not the case. It would only follow that it is unreasonable to dismiss off a dogma, such as the Assumption of Mary, just because it is not explicitly mentioned in the Scripture. Does this mean that there is no scriptural data that points towards the Assumption of Mary? Absolutely not. We do have several verses in the Bible that show that not only is this possible, but that Mary indeed was assumed into heaven.

Can anyone be bodily assumed into heaven? 

In Genesis 5:24 we read – “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him”. Sirach 44:16 sheds light on the destination by saying that “Enoch pleased the Lord and was taken up”. The next time we see the Scripture talking about Enoch’s passing is in Hebrews 11:5 – By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” Though these verses do not say where Enoch was taken it can be said that as he “walked with God” and “pleased God”, he was taken up to heaven.

When it comes to Elijah, the verses are much more clear regarding where he was taken to – Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven (2 Kings 2:11). The same can be found in 1 Maccabees 2:58 – Elijah, because of great zeal for the law, was taken up into heaven.

From this we can say that God did bodily assume people into heaven making the Assumption of Mary a possibility. 

The Ark of the Covenant

The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence among Israelites. It contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant (Hebrews 9:4). Two verses – one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament – point towards the present location of the Ark.

“Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.” Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. – Psalms 132:7-8

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple – Revelation 11:19

Why are we talking about the location of the Ark while discussing the Assumption of Mary? It is because Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant. While the Old Testament Ark held within it the bread from heaven (manna), the symbol of authority (Aron’s rod) and the law (the tablets), Mary on the other hand held within her the true bread from heaven (John 6:32-35), the one with all authority (Matthew 28:18) and the fulfilment of the Law (Matthew 5:17). 

Mary, being depicted as the New Ark of the  Covenant does not end here. Just the way Jesus is presented as the new Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), the new Moses (Exodus 1:22-2:10/Matthew 2:13-18) etc using typology (prophetic symbols) Mary too is presented in Scripture as the New Ark using typology. 

Note: Some other examples of biblical typology would be Peter using Noah’s ark as a type of Christian baptism (1 Peter 3:18-22), Paul explaining that circumcision foreshadowed Christian baptism (Collosians 2:11-12) and Jesus using the bronze serpent as a type of his Crucifixion (John 3:14; cf. Numbers 21:8-9)

The following verses show the parallels drawn by the NT writers between the Ark and the Mother of Jesus to show how Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant.

1. In Exodus 40:35 we see that the cloud settled upon the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The cloud represents the Holy Spirit  and the verb used is a form of the word “episkiazó” which means “to overshadow”. Now let’s look at what the angel says to Mary – “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you”. 
2. The Ark journeys to Beth-shemesh, a city in the hill country of Judea (1 Samuel 6:10-12) and Mary went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country (Luke 1:39).
3. On seeing the Ark of the Lord David says – “How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?” (2 Samuel 6:9). On seeing Mary, Elizabeth exclaims – And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? (Luke 1:43)
4. In 2 Samuel 6:11 we see that the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom for three months. Similarly, Mary remains in the house of Elizabeth for three months (Luke 1:56). 

For a first century Jew, reading these verses from the Gospel of Luke would immediately see how the author is using references from the OT to show the truth about the role of Mary in the new covenant made by Christ. 

The depiction of Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant does not end here. As said earlier, Revelation 11:19 talks about the Ark and instead of going on to describe a gold laden box, St. John talks about a woman clothed with the sun who gives birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:1-5). At first glance it would seem that John is changing the topic abruptly since these verses belong to two different chapters. But in reality, while John was writing Revelation, it was written as a continuous prose. The chapter and verse numbers were added much later. Therefore it follows that John is not changing the subject here but rather is describing the new ark who is a person, the mother of the one who is to rule all the nations – Mary. 

Quotes from the Early Church shows us how Mary looked at:

“At that time, the Savior coming from the Virgin, the Ark, brought forth His own Body into the world from that Ark, which was gilded with pure gold within by the Word, and without by the Holy Ghost” – St.Hippolytus (170 – 236 AD), In Dan.vi., Patr. Gr., Tom. 10, p. 648; Blessed Virgin, p. 77.

“The prophet David danced before the Ark.  Now what else should we say the Ark was but holy Mary?  The Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, but Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament itself.  The former contained in it the Law, the latter the Gospel.  The one had the voice of God, the other His Word.  The Ark, indeed, was radiant within and without with the glitter of gold, but holy Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity.  The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly” – St. Ambrose (339 – 397 AD), Serm. xlii. 6, Int. Opp.; Blessed Virgin, p. 77.

The Bodily Assumption

 From what has been presented here till now it can be said that:

1. The Assumption of Mary is possible
2. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant and that
3. Mary is in heaven

But how does this show that Mary was assumed to heaven along with her body? She could just be present in heaven in spirit, just like the rest of the departed souls of the saints (Revelation 6:9, Hebrews 12:23). The difference between how the souls of the departed saints are present in heaven and that of Mary lies in how they are being depicted in the Scripture. As we all know, souls/spirits do not have physical bodies but when it comes to Mary she is depicted as having the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head (Revelation 12:1). Which means Mary, who is in heaven, has a physical body. It is not a surprise as it was Mary’s body that became the dwelling place for Jesus, who is the fulfilment of the prophetic symbols placed in the Ark of the Covenant.