St. Maria Goretti/Assumption of the Blessed Virgin

Q According to the publication The Word Among Us, July 6 was designated the optional memorial to Saint Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr.  I thought that was her feast day.  Please explain the difference.
A Many of us Catholics use the term “feast day” to cover most of the celebrations of the church during the year.  However, a feast day is only one of three categories of celebrations.  The difference between each lies in their importance.
Solemnities are the highest degree of celebrations in the church because they are reserved for the most important mysteries of our faith.  Sundays and holy days of obligation are considered solemnities, along with other significant days such as Christmas and Easter.  Some feast days for saints are also considered solemnities if the saint played an important role in salvation history, such as St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist and Saints Peter and Paul.  
Feast days are next in line.  These are special days set apart to honor events in the life of Christ, Mary and certain saints (such as the apostles and evangelists and other saints of historical importance, such as St. Lawrence).  Examples are the baptism of the Lord, the Nativity of Mary and all of the apostles (except Sts. Peter and Paul).
Memorials are the third category and are either obligatory or optional.  Memorials celebrate a saint or saints.  Some are obligatory, which means the memorial must be observed.  Saints who are of “universal significance” to the church rate obligatory memorials, such as St. Thomas Aquinas.  Others are optional, such St. Maria Goretti.   
Confusing?  Yes, but it can get even more complicated.  Depending on geographical areas, a classification of a saint’s day may change.  For example, St. Benedict is an obligatory memorial in the universal church but a feast in Europe, since he is one of Europe’s patrons.  Then again, he rates a solemnity in the Diocese and abbey of Monte Cassino, Italy, where he is buried.  
 
Q On Aug. 15, the church celebrated The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a solemnity.  Is this in the Bible?  If not, how can we be sure that Mary was assumed into heaven?
A The assumption of Mary is a celebration commemorating the fact that Mary’s body and soul were assumed into heaven after her earthly life ended.  Mary was the mother of Jesus; her body was a tabernacle that held the infant Jesus before his birth.  Her body was assumed into heaven so that it would not decay; this vessel was to remain holy and incorrupt for all time.  
The assumption of Mary is not specifically stated in the Bible but that does not indicate that it did not happen.  The church has never believed that everything we need to believe has to be in the Bible.  The church believes that there are two sources of revelation: Scripture and tradition.  
Tradition is the deposit of faith that is not included in Scripture but we must still believe in it.  St. Paul says “stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by oral statement or by a letter or ours” (2 Thes 2:15).  Even though it is not in the Bible, the church has always taught that Mary was assumed into heaven.  Here are some facts supporting her assumption:
Even though Mary’s assumption is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, there are some New Testament references that appear to refer to it.  Pope Pius XII wrote:  “The scholastic doctors have recognized the assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as something signified, not only in various figures of the Old Testament but also in that woman clothed with the sun whom (St.) John the Apostle contemplated on the island of Patmos (Rev. 12:1ff).  Similarly they have given special attention to these words of the New Testament: ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women’ (Lk 1:28), since they saw, in the mystery of the assumption, the fulfillment of that most perfect grace granted to the Blessed Virgin and the special blessing that countered the curse of Eve” (Munificentissimus Deus 27).
From the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have sought the bones and relics of our saints.  But there are no bones of Mary.  When early Christians asked for relics of Mary, the pope declared there were none because Mary’s body was assumed into heaven.  
Steven Ray, a Catholic convert, speaker, author, pilgrimage guide and frequent guest on EWTN, says this is a “screaming silence.”  Any church or city would love to say they have Mary’s bones but they can’t because they are in heaven.
On Nov. 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: 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.” 
The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices.  This is only one of two times that the pope has declared an infallible teaching of the church.  The other time was regarding the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
Deacon Hooper is a deacon assistant at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs. He can be reached at [email protected].