Did Mary die before her Assumption?
The Apostolic constitution of Pope Pius XII states: “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.” — Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 1950 The question of whether Mary died is significant especially in the context of the Assumption. The story of the Dormition of Mary from the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is…