The Greatness of the Lord
The Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, defined the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In English, Munificentissimus Deus means “God Ineffable” or “God Indescribable.” It states: the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages. (MD #40, 1950)
The actual event of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not recorded in the Bible; however, the feast of the Assumption has already been celebrated since the times of Pope Sergius I (pontificate from 687-701) and Pope Leo IV (pontificate from 847-855). It was only with the proclamation of the Dogma in 1950 that it was elevated to a Solemnity. (MD #19) In fact, the Assumption (or Dormition) has been honored with solemn liturgies both in the Eastern and Western Churches; e.g. Pope Adrian I’s sacramentary (pontificate from 772-795), the Gallican sacramentary (published 700-750) and the Byzantine Liturgy (9th century). These liturgical texts testify that, when the Virgin Mother of God passed from this earthly exile to heaven, what happened to her sacred body was, by the decree of divine Providence, in keeping with the dignity of the Mother of the Word Incarnate, and with the other privileges she had been accorded. (MD #17-18)
After the Protestant churches began to form in the 16th century, opposition to the veneration of Mary began to spread for various reasons; the most common sentiment today is that although Protestants acknowledge Mary as the mother of Jesus, many do not regard her to be worthy of honor or veneration. They seem to ignore the scripture verses which attest to the great dignity which God has bestowed upon Mary. At the Annunciation, God’s messenger, the angel Gabriel, greeted Mary: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you,” and again “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:28, 30) At the Visitation, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when she exclaimed: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43) Mary is not like any other woman; she was singularly chosen by God to be the mother of His Son. Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ – our Lord and our God (cf. John 20:28). How does it make any sense that we should not honor her, when God Himself has given her such great honor and dignity?
The motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the Cross, until the eternal fulfillment of the elect. Taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving office buy by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix. (CCC 969)
The Visitation narrative has fittingly been the chosen as the Gospel reading for the Mass during the day of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the climax of the Visitation narrative is the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). The Magnificat, also called the Canticle of Mary, is an exaltation of God’s saving activity. The following is an explanation of the verses; here, we will use the translation provided by ICEL (International Commission on English in the Liturgy), which is used by those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours in English.
The opening verse, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior” (vv46-47) has similarities with the Prayer of Habbakuk: “I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God” (Hab3:18) and the Prayer of Hannah: “My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted by my God” (1Sam2:1). The opening verse begins the tone of the canticle, which is one of exuberant praise to God.
The next verses “For he has looked with favor on His lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name” (vv48-49) contains a paradox – from the view of the world, how can a lowly person be called blessed throughout the ages? On the other hand, this verse clearly attests to how God chooses the weak and the humble as instruments of His great deeds.
The following verses “He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation. He has shown the strength of His arm, He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty” (vv50-53) has been erroneously interpreted as a political statement. First and foremost, it speaks of the great mercy of God to those who fear Him. The “fear of the Lord” is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. It fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread nothing so much as to offend Him by sin. It is a fear that arises, not from the thought of God’s vengeance or of being cast to Hell, but out of reverence and filial submission to our Heavenly Father. It is the kind of fear that is the beginning of true wisdom, which detaches us from worldly pleasures that separate us from God. In this context, the proud, the mighty and the rich are those who do not have the gift of the “fear of the Lord”; they sit high on their “thrones” of pride, arrogance and conceit. For example, the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21), the proud Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), the wicked tenants (Mark 12:1-9). Regardless of whether one is rich or poor, having social status or not, those who do not have the gift of the “fear of the Lord” will be sent away empty if not in this life, then in the next.
The last two verses “He has come to the help of His servant Israel, for He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and to his children forever” (vv54-55) recall the many times in which God demonstrated His awesome power for the Israelites; but more importantly, however, the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah culminates in these last two verses, and it is so fitting that it is proclaimed by the one who is the Mother of He who is to come.