We celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Wednesday, August 15^th. This is a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses here to fulfill this obligation will be celebrated on Wednesday, August 15^th at 7:30am and 7:00pm.

     The Catholic Church teaches that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven glory.” This doctrine was defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950 in the document Munificentissimus Deus. Whether or not Mary experienced a physical death has not been dogmatically defined by the Church. We celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary on August 15 as a holy day of obligation.

     The Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church celebrate on the same day the Dormition of the Theotokos (“the falling asleep of the God-bearer’). This Eastern Catholic tradition holds that Mary experienced a natural death, upon which her soul was received by Christ. On the third day after her death, her tomb was found empty. Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia in 1969 wrote in Festal Menion: “Mary has passed beyond death and judgement, and lives wholly in the Age to Come. The resurrection of the Body...has in her case been anticipated and is already an accomplished fact. That does not mean, however, that she is dissociated from the rest of humanity and placed in a wholly different category, for we all hope to share one day in that some glory of the Resurrection of the Body which she enjoys even now.”

     I thought you might find this interesting. 

 God Bless ! Fr. Joe Bacevice

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

As the new school year approaches, parents are reminded that their children of grade school age should be receiving formal religious training, either in a Catholic school, or in a parish PSR program. Two years of Catholic instruction is required for First Communion, and Confirmation is administered in the eighth grade. Families with children who need to enroll in our PSR program, are asked to contact the parish office as soon as possible to register.