The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Masses in the Main Church
- 9:00 am
The Solemnity of the Assumption is celebrated every year on August 15, but under the norms of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated when the feast falls on a Saturday or Monday. In 2026, August 15 is a Saturday, so the precept to attend Mass is lifted.
On this day, we recall Our Lady’s being assumed into Heaven. Note that Mary was assumed into Heaven — taken up by the power of God, like Elias and Enoch — while Christ ascended into Heaven under His own power. He took her up because she is His mother, and He loves her; she was able to be taken up because He made her holy — “full of grace” — and did so from the moment of her conception, which we honor on December 8.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the date of Mary’s dormition (her “falling asleep” into death) is placed from anywhere between 3 and 15 years after Our Lord’s Ascension, when she had lived seventy-two years. Most beautifully, the cause of her death was neither disease, nor violence, nor senescence; it was, according to tradition, love — a desire to be reunited with her Son. After three days in the tomb, her body and soul were reunited, and she was assumed by the power of God, whereupon, according to Apocalypse 8:1, “there was silence in heaven, as it were for half an hour.” The site of these events is remembered either as Jerusalem, where her tomb has been placed since around the 6th century, or Ephesus.