The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
It was a beautiful November day in Rome in the year 1954.
There was not a cloud in the sky, save for that one cloud that had taken the form of a foot,
because God had decorated the sky with one of the primary symbols of the one who would be honored by the Supreme Pontiff,
Pope Pius XII, this day, when he would proclaim to the universal church,
the dogma of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, into heaven.
And so, today, with the whole church and with all the angels and saints, we truly rejoice.
For today is a joyous day because today we celebrate the departure,
that is, the translation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, into the kingdom of her Son,
to receive from him the crown appointed to her for all eternity.
A crown of immortal glory.
Today, she takes her throne above all the saints and all other heavenly spirits.
She is truly, this day, crowned Queen of Heaven and Queen of Earth,
and receives the title Queen of the whole universe.
For she was appointed from all eternity to be the one who would cooperate with the Son
in crushing the head of the infernal serpent.
And so, today, in this day, we celebrate the departure of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
in the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
we celebrate, in a certain sense, the most glorious of all the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
For in the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul into heaven,
we celebrate all those mysteries and all those virtues
that were exercised in a most extraordinary way by the Mother of God.
We celebrate her immaculate conception.
We celebrate her perpetual virginity.
We celebrate her journey.
We celebrate her journey to St. Elizabeth in order to bring salvation to the home,
as she will journey until the end of time to each and every home of goodwill
that seeks the salvation offered to humanity through the work of Christ
and the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in that work.
And certainly, it is most fitting that she who was preserved from any corruption,
that is, stain of sin, would receive the immortal,
the immortal reward for that sinlessness
and be speedily assumed body and soul into heaven upon her death in this world.
So today, we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under all her titles,
under all her prerogatives, and under all her virtues.
And most especially, we honor her because of her cooperation with the mission of Christ.
And so, we see that this glorification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
is almost essential for every member of the mystical body.
For in the glorification of the Blessed Virgin Mary this day,
we see that the human body will one day be granted to all the faithful
that glorious incorruption that it has taken and assumed this day
with the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But unlike us, the assumption of Mary, her glorification body and soul into heaven is anticipated,
because of who she is.
And so, immediately upon her death in this earthly life,
she is assumed body and soul into heaven.
We will have to wait until the end of time to receive that most glorious prerogative.
And so, we celebrate today that great mystery in which Mary, the new Eve,
was associated with Christ, her son at the foot of the cross,
with the redemptive sacrifice of Christ.
It is fitting that today, we honor her,
in that great moment of her life,
when after her death, she would be associated with the victory of Christ over death.
And so, that victory over death is a joint victory,
for all that Christ did, he did in union with the heart of his mother.
And so, truly, the sacred heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
truly beat as one heart, and they beat as one heart in love for fallen humanity.
And so, they would be associated,
they would be united in the redemptive victory over Satan and sin,
and they would be united in that glorious victory,
by which Christ ascends under his own power into heaven,
and there receives the crown of his kingship from his father.
And this day, he brings his mother to receive her crown and her title,
as the victrix over sin, and the queen,
the queen of the whole dispensation,
and the queen of mercy.
And this doctrine especially becomes very prevalent in our day and age,
for we see today what is truly the glory of the human body,
and it is contrary to the philosophy of our day and age,
which tells us that the body is some sort of machine,
by which we are to use in order to gain as many pleasures as we want and desire in this life.
But today, we learn that what is the true glory of the human body,
in this life, is to exercise those virtues of purity that the mother of God exercised,
those virtue of purity in her whole life,
in which she used her body in order to give glory to the one whom she was most indebted to,
the one whom she tells us herself in today's gospel,
has done great things for me.
And so, she used that body to take the disposition of prayer.
She used that body in works of charity as we see her today.
She did not use that body in a maddening pursuit of pleasure,
for she truly was the mother of God.
And today, we celebrate that definitive proof.
And so, it is fitting that it seems God has not allowed that not one first-class relic
of the Blessed Virgin Mary to have remained on this earth,
for he could not subject that body to what often the relics of some martyrs have been subjected to,
some of the saints, for instance,
the burning of the body of St. Thomas Aquinas and others during the French Revolution
and at other times in the history of mankind.
This body will not be touched, for this body does not dwell in this earth,
because when it dwelled in this earth,
the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a body living not in this earth,
but living with the mind of that kingdom to come.
That kingdom,
she receives today both body and soul and that kingdom that we aspire to.
And so, let us rejoice this day in the doctrine of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven,
for it truly shows forth the dignity of the human person and what we are truly called to.
And so, if we glorify our bodies in this life by taking on the mortifications of Christ
and his most holy mother,
then we will receive that glory,
that we see
the body of the Virgin Mary receiving this day.
And so, we too rejoice this day with all the angels and all the saints,
for today they have received their crown,
and today she has been brought into heaven in order that she may remain,
that she may reign truly as the queen of the mystical body of Christ,
constantly showering us with the dew of God's mercy,
constantly exhorting us to strive always
and everywhere to imitate her virtues,
so that we may give good example to the world,
especially that example by which we use both body and soul for the purpose that it was created.
That is the worship of God,
that purpose that the mother of God exercise from the first moment of her conception
and will continue to do for all eternity.
And so, let us strive to join her and let us also have these words on our lips.
That he has done great things for us,
for when we were at enmity at him,
he and his mother,
his mother who was never at enmity with God,
strove earnestly by their efforts in this world
to acquire for us all that is needed
for our repentance,
our perseverance,
and ultimately the crowning glory that we'd wish to receive
when our bodies too at the end of time
will be called forth by the one who created us out of nothing,
and be judged worthy of either joining the king and the queen in heaven,
or if they have been misused for sinful purposes,
then they will be consigned to that other king,
that king who reigns but does not really reign
because his pride only convinces him that he reigns,
that king whom we should all strive to avoid,
that king who never had any sway over Christ and Mary.
And today,
we rejoice in that fact of salvation,
that in Christ and Mary,
Satan never even had victory,
never even came close to accomplishing victory,
and so today in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Christ is totally victorious,
for if there were no other saints in heaven,
Christ would still be completely victorious,
for one would dwell with him for all eternity,
body and soul in heaven,
and show the complete and absolute victory of Christ and his mother over Satan,
and the annihilation of his kingdom to be supplanted,
to be cast aside in this world,
in order to be replaced by the kingdom of God,
so that souls, always having recourse to God's mercy and to God's grace,
may attain that kingdom for which they were created,
that kingdom of heaven in which we will join the angelic choirs,
marveling at the mysteries,
that perhaps even in heaven are so mysterious and so glorious,
that we will do there what Saint Bonaventure says we should do
in the face of certain mysteries in this life,
and most especially the mystery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
for it would be presumptuous for us to try to possibly think
that we could ponder the full depths of this mystery,
the full depths of the union of the Mother of God with the Savior of the world,
and so,
he says,
we journey through this world in regards to certain mysteries
with a reverential finger placed over our mouth,
as we silently adore it in adoration,
and so we will in heaven perhaps do the same thing,
adore silently as we sing the joyful praises of God for all eternity in heaven,
this complete victory,
this union of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
a mystery truly,
beyond our comprehension in this life,
but a mystery that we will strive always and everywhere to deepen our knowledge of,
so that having a greater knowledge of this mystery,
we may truly love more,
we may truly imitate her more,
so that we become her vessels,
her instruments in the conquest of all souls,
for that kingdom that they have been given through the mercy of God
and the redemptive act of Christ,
and that kingdom that is shown forth in all its glory,
and all its splendor this day,
when she,
who was preserved from all stain of original sin,
receives the just reward for her union with God,
and her acknowledgement that he who is mighty has done great things for her,
and he has done great things for us,
and so let us strive,
not like the proud of this world,
to seek earthly thrones and earthly kingdoms,
but let us always strive to seek that kingdom,
where Christ,
our King,
reigns,
and Mary,
our Queen Mother,
is present.
Amen.