Expert: Sal - 5/27/2010

Question
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary was assumed into heaven at the end of her life on earth. Is there any evidence/record to indicate that?

Answer
Dear John:

There is no bible passage that says, “And Mary was assumed into heaven.” While there is no direct evidence for the Assumption there are types that point to it. Assumptions have apparently occurred prior to Mary. Enoch and Elijah were both assumed into heaven (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11). These assumptions happened because of the outstanding holiness of these individuals. So we can see that the assumption of people body and soul into heaven is not an unbiblical idea. The question remains: Was Mary assumed into heaven? The unanimous tradition among the early Church Fathers is that she was assumed. In other words, the people closest to the event say that it did happen. Another indication that it did happen is that no one ever claimed to have a relic of Mary, part of a bone for example. Relics were greatly prized especially in the early Church. Yet no one claimed to have any of Mary’s. It was also a source of great pride to say that a saint’s burial place was in your town. Yet no one ever claimed to have Mary’s burial place. The Assumption of Mary was viewed as a fact by the earliest of Christians.

We know that Mary was a particularly holy woman since Jesus chose her to be his mother. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). The angel told her that she had “found favor with God” (Luke 1:30). While this certainly does not prove that Mary was assumed into heaven it does show that she had the holiness that caused others to have been assumed.

We know that Jesus kept the Ten Commandments perfectly. The commandment that is of interest to our discussion is: “Honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12). In honoring one’s parents one must do whatever one can for them. Since we know that Jesus is God and is capable of taking humans into heaven so that their bodies did not experience decay, he must in justice do the same for his own mother. What kind of son would not want to do this for his mother if he were able to do it?

Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant. St. Luke strongly depicts Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. Let’s take a look at the parallels between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant. Immediately after receiving the news of her cousin Elizabeth pregnancy, Mary sets out traveling the hill country of Judea taking the same route as the Ark (Luke 1:39; 2 Samuel 6:2). When Mary and Elizabeth meet, the babe in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy as did David before the Ark (Luke 1:41; 2 Samuel 6:14-16). Elizabeth then asks, “But who I’m I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” As David asked, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (Luke 1:43; 2 Samuel 6:9). Mary proclaimed, “For he has looked upon his servant in her lowliness; all ages to come shall call me blessed.” David proclaimed, “…not only will I make merry before the Lord, but I will demean myself even more. I will be lowly in your esteem, but in the esteem of the slave girls you spoke of I will be honored” (Luke 1:48; 2 Samuel 6:21-22). Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth for three months as the ark remained in the house of Obededom for three months. Both houses were blessed (Luke 1:56; 2 Samuel 6:11). There is no mistaking that Luke is intent on showing Mary to be the Ark of the New Covenant. As the Ark of God in the Old Covenant carried the word of God in stone so the Ark of God in the New Covenant carried the word of God in the flesh.

With this firmly in mind we turn to the Book of Revelation. Here St. John sees that Ark of the Covenant in heaven. “Then God’s temple in heaven opened and in the temple could be seen the ark of his covenant” (Revelation 11:19). The ark had not been seen in many years. What did it look like? “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). St. John described the Ark of the Covenant as a woman. Just any woman? No, this woman gives birth to the Messiah (Revelation 12:5). This could only be Mary. Finally, the woman of Revelation is described as the mother of all Christians (Revelation 12:17) just as Jesus gave us Mary to be our mother (John 19:26-27).


To review, Enoch and Elijah, both types of Mary, were assumed body and soul into heaven. All the early Christians who speak of the end of Mary’s life say the she was assumed into heaven. Logically it makes good sense since Jesus took other holy people to heaven to prevent the decay of their bodies, why wouldn’t he do likewise for his mother? Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant and is seen in heaven by St. John. I believe that the evidence for Mary’s assumption is very strong.

I hope that this helps.

God Be With You,
Sal