Totus Tuus - To Jesus through Mary.

To impel the beauty of the new evangelization – this is the charism of the Heralds of the Gospel; Its founder, Monsignor João Dias explains."The Heralds of the Gospel is a private association of faithful with a very special charism based essentially on three points: the Eucharist, Mary and the Pope."

The Heralds of the Gospel are an International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right, the first to be established by the Holy See in the third millennium, during a ceremony which occurred during the feast of the Chair of St. Peter (February 22) in 2001.

The Heralds of the Gospel strive to be instruments of holiness in the Church by encouraging close unity between faith and life, and working to evangelize particularly through art and culture. Their apostolate, which differs depending upon the environments in which they work, gives pride of place to parish animation, evangelizing families, providing catechetical and cultural formation to young people, and disseminating religious Iiterature.



Saturday 14 August 2010

The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary




Tomorrow we celebrate the glorious Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,one of the most joyful of our liturgical Solemnities. On that day, the Church on earth and in Heaven join in the great celebration when the Trinity welcomes and crowns the Mother of God. This is the day of Mary's birth in Heaven, a day on which the Holy Church celebrates the triumph of Our Blessed Mother's soul and her body.

The Christian belief in Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary began in the early years of Christianity, particularly in the fifth and sixth centuries, but was formally defined only on November 1, 1950, by Pope Pius XII through the Apostolic Constitution “Munificentissimus Deus.” In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast was known as the Feast of the Dormition, a word which means “the falling asleep.” The Apostolic Constitution asserts 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.”

This Sunday’s celebration gives us a preview of our share in the glory of Christ. We believe that Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul as God’s reward for her steadfastness and faithfulness to His will. Through her close association with the mysteries of Christ’s earthly life, Mary was able to carry out her share in God’s work. We, too, Christians of today, are called to do likewise. Like Mary, we are being invited by God to fulfill our share in His loving plan of salvation through our small acts of goodness and love.

The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary gives us hope that one day, we shall be reunited with God in glory with the company of Mary and the saints in heaven. Vatican II speaks of this in the following words: “In the bodily and spiritual glory which she possesses in heaven, the Mother of Jesus continues in this present world as the image and first flowering of the Church as she is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, Mary shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Peter 3:10), as a sign of certain hope and comfort for the pilgrim People of God” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 68).
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