The Assumption and praying to the dead
Submitted by Heather on February 21 2000 at 23:13:52
In reply to Something about Mary Submitted by Dirk Gently on February 21 2000 at 02:10:12
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"Actually, Catholics believe that Mary did not die physically, but was bodily assumed into heaven, just as Enoch and Elijah were. This didn't become official Catholic dogma until the 19th century . . ." 1950, actually; the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was the nineteenth-century encyclical you may be thinking of. If you'll read through the actual encyclical (linked below), I'm sure you'll be as pleased as I was to note that the popular Catholic view – that Mary did not die – is not fact contained in the dogma itself. The dogma leaves open the question of what exactly happened – it says that Mary's body and soul were assumed "after her earthly life was over" – but the event is said to parallel Jesus' ascension (which of course occurred after his death and resurrection), and various of the Church Fathers that are quoted make clear that they believed that Mary rose to heaven after her death. The Catholic and Orthodox agreement on this is hardly surprising, given that they're working from the same documents. (Now if we could just settle that fiddling filioque matter . . .) I said: "The basic theory behind it, though, is that the communion of saints isn't broken at the time of death, so people on earth can stay in touch with people who have died, by means of prayer." You said: "Ummm, no. The way you've described it, it sounds like necromancy." Hey, give me a break, I was cribbing from Bishop Ware. :) "This chain [the communion of saints] is a chain of mutual love and prayer; and in this loving prayer the members of the Church on earth, 'called to be saints', have their place. In private an Orthodox Christian is free to ask for the prayers of any member of the Church, whether canonized or not. It would be perfectly normal for an Orthodox child, if orphaned, to end his evening prayers by asking for the intercessions not only of the Mother of God and the saints, but of his own mother and father." Of course, if he did, somebody might accuse him of necromancy . . . :) Heather |