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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the last of the four Marian dogmas. A dogma is a truth that God has revealed, and that the Church’s magisterium has declared to be binding. The First of the Marian dogmas was established at the Council of Ephesus in 431, where the Church defined Mary as the “Mother of God.” That is, the understanding that the Word of God united himself to Mary and was born of her in His incarnation. At the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 and at the Lateran Synod in 649, the second Marian Dogma, the perpetual virginity of Mary, was declared. Thirdly, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, that Mary was conceived without sin, set apart for her role in salvation history, was declared by Pope Pius IX in 1854. And finally in 1950, Pope Pius XII defines what we know to be true about Mary and her presence in heaven.

“We pronounce, declare, and define it to be 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.”

Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 1950.

Like so many of the beautiful teachings of the church, it’s easy to take it all for granted. To isolate the Blessed Mother as a pawn or all together regard her as insignificant or unimportant in the work and life of Christ is easy to do. It’s tempting to include her in our Nativity scenes and forget her at the foot of the cross. Of course, the story of Christianity is about Christ, our Lord incarnate who died for our sins, Scripture tells us,

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

It’s true, salvation comes from Christ alone. We can follow Christ and leave the Blessed Mother out of it, but why would we want to? At the foot of the cross, Jesus gives us his mother, saying,

 “Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” John 19:26-27

This gift of His mother, should not be brushed aside, but embraced in love and honor. To turn away from the love of the Blessed Mother would be like refusing to make a house a home, or like putting out a vase but not putting flowers in it.

Mary’s role in salvation is anything but incidental and these Marian dogmas help us to understand her role in a deeper way. Mary’s “yes” in her Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is the remedy for Eve’s disobedience and her Immaculate Heart remains a haven for all of us. She opens her arms to us as our loving mother, fully able to share in our joy and our sorrow. She knows the weight of full acceptance of God’s holy will because she walked that road, and she is willing to bear it with us. She’s ready to stand as an advocate for us when our own humanity gets in the way and to comfort us through whatever suffering we may know.

To understand Christ’s gift of his mother to us is to understand the Assumption of Mary. From the Lord’s promise “to put enmity between thee and the woman” in Genesis 3:15 to “a woman clothed with the Sun,” in Revelation 12:1-2, Mary’s role in salvation history is made clear. She resides in heaven with the Father and the Son as queen of heaven and earth, and she loves us like only a mother can.