Sermon, Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1990

By Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

Today’s ceremony might be simple, but our hearts should all be in celebration. The feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is certainly one of the most beautiful feasts of Mary, and which is for us faithful who are still on the way to Heaven an occasion of great hope and great support.

If we look for the lesson that the Church gives us in her liturgy today, we will find it in the Collect. We are going to sing presently in prayer the wish that the Church asks for us: That we may always keep the gaze of our bodies, of our souls, of our hearts always directed towards celestial things. The prayer and the Church add: That we may one day be partakers of the glory of Mary.

What more can the Church desire for us? What better advice can she give us? To have our eyes, that is to say above all, to have our whole heart oriented towards the things of Heaven. And if it is something that is difficult for us, since we are afflicted by the consequences of original sin and our soul is somehow blinded by material things, by sensitive things that form a screen between us and Heaven, whereas they should be, on the contrary, a means for us to rise towards Heaven. Well, if there is one thing, one thought that helps us to look towards Heaven, it is to think of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

And this is precisely why this feast of the Assumption is for us filled with hope, joy, encouragement. Because if there is a subject that elevates us to Heaven, it is the thought of Mary triumphant, Mary glorious in Heaven, Queen of Heaven.

During the Ascension, it is said that the apostles remained with their eyes turned towards Heaven. Our Lord had already disappeared, but they were so attracted by this vision which they had seen that their eyes remained fixed towards Heaven. And how understandable that is!

If we too had attended the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, our eyes would have remained fixed towards Heaven, with the hope one day of following our Mother.

And if one can say that a creature is truly celestial, it is of the most holy Virgin that one can say it. And the Good Lord has given proof of this by her Assumption. She is now radiant not only in her soul, but also in her body.

And it is a fact that each time the Blessed Virgin manifested herself here on earth, those who had this great grace of seeing her were in admiration before the splendor of the Blessed Virgin, before her light, her radiance, her celestial state. And these children were so captivated by this vision that their senses were no longer operating.

It is said that Bernadette being in this state of ecstasy before the Blessed Virgin Mary, a candle flame being placed on her hand, she did not even feel it, she was so attracted by the beauty, grandeur, by the sublimity of the vision and presence of the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

Indeed, the Virgin Mary had extraordinary privileges. She can well say in her Magnificat: The Almighty has done great things in me. It is indeed hard to imagine that a creature can carry God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, within its bosom, as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary carried Him.

God remained God. Nothing has changed in God. Nothing was changed in the Holy Trinity. God is immutable. And yet HE wanted to dwell in the womb of the Virgin Mary for nine months. What graces for this creature chosen in a very special way, to be the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Mother of our Savior. Mary is truly heavenly.

And moreover, this feast of the Assumption shows that among the faithful and in the Church in general, the crowds rush to follow the Virgin Mary. Crowds of faithful gather on the occasion of this feast everywhere, either by making processions in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or by going on pilgrimages.

And the feast of the Assumption does not date from the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, i.e., November 1, 1950, when Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption a dogma, a truth that we must believe in order to be truly Catholic. No, the feast of the Assumption dates from the time of the apostles. We celebrated the Virgin Mary—and the best proof is what is inscribed in our cathedrals, in our churches, the prayers themselves speak of the Assumption, of the Blessed Virgin.

The paintings, such as the famous painting of Murillo in the museum of Madrid [c. 1678], are proof of this. For many years, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated on the feast of the Assumption and in particular when in 1638, King Louis XIII consecrated France to the Blessed Virgin Mary, on Assumption Day.

These are all manifestations which show the attachment of the faithful, of the Church to the Virgin Mary in her Assumption, and particularly obviously to the conclusion of this entire history of the Assumption of Our Lady, which is the proclamation of the dogma by Pope Pius XII in Rome, where I had the good fortune to find myself that day.

So, what should be the conclusion for us of these considerations on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary?

Well, we must do everything in order not to prevent our hearts from being oriented towards Heaven, towards the Virgin Mary. We should be able to ask ourselves when we are at home, in our daily life, in our customary activity, that we can think that if the Virgin Mary were there, would she be in agreement with us, with what we do, with what we think, with what we watch, with what we love. We must live with the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and thus we will truly live from Heaven.

It is good to reflect and do something like a little examination of conscience and say to yourself: What would the Virgin Mary think if she were now present with me, for what I do, for what I say, for what I think, for what I love.

So consider allowing the Most Blessed Virgin Mary to be always with you, wherever you are. Wherever we are, may we live with our Mother. That she doesn’t have to leave us, because she can’t stay in our company, because she doesn’t want to accept what we do or what we like.

This, I think, is the resolution we must take if we want to live with the Virgin Mary. And consequently to realize this wish that the Church manifested in her prayer: That we always keep our eyes turned towards Heaven.

What will the Virgin Mary teach us? She will teach us to be holy, as she was holy, to be pure, as she was pure; to love God as she loved Him. And above all to love His Son Jesus Christ. And to teach us that there is no other God but Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwell the Father and the Holy Ghost.

This is above all the great lesson given to us by the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. And this lesson is very important today, because Our Lord is set aside. Our Lord is made equal to all religions. The Most Holy Virgin Mary cannot bear this. It’s impossible! For her, there is only Our Lord Jesus Christ, her divine Son who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, who is the way to Heaven. There is no other. She came to give Him to the world. She was chosen to give Him to the world, this path, this way.

So let us ask the Virgin Mary to stay, that she take us by the hand, that she lead us, that she really be our Mother during this earthly life so that one day, as the prayer says, we may also share her glory in Heaven.