Tuesday, August 15 is a legal holiday in France. It corresponds to the Catholic feast of the Assumption, which celebrates the Virgin Mary. The Assumption, from the Latin “to take up”, in fact designates the episode of the ascent into heaven of the mother of Jesus. If this episode does not appear in any biblical text, we find traces of its celebration from the sixth century in the East. And it is to Napoleon that we owe the establishment of a public holiday in our country.
The Orthodox Church celebrates the Virgin’s ascent into heaven as the “Dormition”. A reference to a post-biblical account that an angel announces to Mary that her death will be like “falling asleep”.
In France, celebrations of the Assumption gained prominence from 1638, during the reign of Louis XIII, who signed an edict dedicating his kingdom to the Virgin Mary. The sovereign then organizes processions on the date of August 15. It was under Napoleon Bonaparte that August 15 became a public holiday, on the occasion of a Concordat signed with Pope Pius VII in 1801.
But it was only in 1950 that the Assumption became an official dogma of the Catholic Church, consecrated by Pius XII: according to this dogma, “the Immaculate Virgin, preserved by God from any attack of original sin, having completed the course of her earthly life, was raised body and soul to the glory of heaven, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, to be thus more fully conformed to her Son, Lord of lords, victorious over sin and death . »
The Assumption, celebration of Mary’s ascent to heaven, should not be confused with the Ascension, which appears in biblical texts, and refers to Jesus’ ascent to heaven, celebrated 40 days after Easter.
