“So then, the great Mother of God, so mysteriously united to Jesus Christ from all eternity by the same decree of predestination, immaculately conceived, an intact virgin throughout her divine motherhood, a noble associate of our Redeemer as he defeated sin and its consequences, received, as it were, the final crowning privilege of being preserved from the corruption of the grave and, following her Son in his victory over death, was brought, body and soul, to the highest glory of heaven, to shine as Queen at the right hand of that same Son, the immortal King of Ages.” –Pope Pius the XII

August 15 marks the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. Ordinarily this day is a Holy Day of Obligation. This year, in our diocese, it isn’t, but we’ll do our best to make it to Mass anyway in addition to our celebration at home.

The Assumption is one of the many Marian feast days throughout the year. It is a day to commemorate the purity of Mary in her assumption into heaven. It is believed that because Mary was without sin in life it was ordained that her body would not know decay in death. As the New Eve she was taken into heaven body and soul, a foreshadowing of the resurrection of our own corruptible bodies. There is so much depth to the theology of this solemnity that I dare not go any further. It is enough to know, especially for our children, that because Mary was given a special privilege in life, because of her devotion and faith, and because of her role as Mother of the Divine, she was taken up to heaven before any harm could come to her body.

It’s a special day, one given highest honors by the Church. So let’s celebrate it well!

The Plan

Story and Scripture

The Loyola Press Saints for Kids series has write for this day. It focuses on the sanctity of life, that God created us body and soul and Mary’s Assumption is a preview of our eternity. Pre-read it before reading out loud to you children. It speaks of themes in the first paragraph that you may not be ready to introduce to very young children.

Another option is to simply tell the story!

“When it was time for Mary to go to heaven instead of only her soul flying away to be with her Son, God chose to take her whole self. So at her death, Mary’s body and soul were lifted up into the heavens. There she lives with Jesus, her son, and God the Father and the Holy Spirit and all the saints and angels!”

For scripture try Isaiah 61:10:

I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bride bedecked with her jewels.

This verse evokes images of Mary’s position of honor in the heavenly realm and is echoed by her Magnificat!

Prayer

Oh, and I should say music. If you don’t already have a good source of sacred music, please do yourself and your family a favor and get one!!  Or YouTube some 🙂 Here’s a nice one for this day:

Who Is She Ascends So High

Or this:

Ave Regina Caelorum

Or there’s always Immaculate Mary. A good one to know and teach the kiddos.

I’d like to do a whole post on sacred music and these celebrations. Stay tuned…

For your prayer time you can add in a Marian prayer…the Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen or the Ave, Maria Caelorum which is the recommended prayer after Night Prayer on the 15th.

Or here is the prayer from the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Hours for the day:

All-Powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share in her glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever.

Coloring Page

Another great one from Catholic Playground

Craft

I’m linking up a craft that I think would be a lot of fun and have a beautiful result.It’s from By Sun and Candlelight I know I’m getting this out there a little late this time around, so this may be a lot to pull off! But if you do want to do this you could really run with this idea.

It’s a simple craft in which you print out an image of Mary and paste it onto a decorated wooden star. You can find these at the craft store on the aisle with all the wooden products. You could do this on wooden plaques, wooden frames, really any shape you like. Or, for a DIY option, cut out a star or cloud or plaque shape from cardboard or heavy paper. Have the children paint and decorate it and then affix the image of Mary. You’ll have a lovely little wall hanging at the end!

The Treat

On this day in the past I’ve done a couple of different treats. The first year we celebrated I made a blueberry pie. I loved the idea of the color themes there: blue for Mary and ‘white’ crust for heaven.

Last year I made a white cake with blueberry filling and buttercream icing. If I were to do it again I might make a wedding cake and layer with blueberry jam and top it with meringue frosting to evoke more of that cloud-like texture! But for a simple version try this:

Super Easy Assumption Cake

Ingredients:

• Favorite box of white cake mix, plus all listed ingredients
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 1 tub of white icing (or homemade)
• blueberry jam
• fresh blueberries for garnish

Instructions:

• Mix cake mix as indicated adding the almond extract if desired. Bake in two 8 or 9 inch cake pans, following baking directions on box. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and turn out onto cooling rack
• Once cool, assemble. Place one cake round on your serving plate. Spread blueberry jam thick and even all over the surface. Turn second cake round upside down. Spread icing evenly over the bottom (which is facing up!). Stack second round icing side down onto first round. Ice/frost (which is it, anyway?) the stacked cakes as desired. Decorate with fresh blueberries. Slice and enjoy!

You can have fun with this white and blue combination. Other ideas are:

• vanilla ice cream and fresh blueberries
• vanilla cupcakes with white icing and fresh blueberries on top
• really any white cake and blueberries will do!!

 

 

Whatever you choose I hope your celebration is joyful and faithful. Let me know how it goes! #hdahassumption