Gospel Commentary: A Singular Privilege

By Fr. John Riley
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The Dragon waited … eyes unsleeping and jaws ready to close on his victim. The Maiden before him — how he despised her — had eluded his grasp for all of her life. Now, as she prepared to breathe her last, he could claim his first and only victory over her.

The Brilliant Beast looked back over the life of the Woman he had pursued down the years. She had never been his slave, shackled to sin like the rest of her murderous race. The wide-eyed and innocent little girl had grown into a virtuous young woman, faithful wife and devoted mother. Immaculately conceived, she had always radiantly reflected the image and likeness of the One God, Whom the Dragon had forever rejected, while her being reflected His greatness.

The Seraphic Fool recalled with satisfaction the suffering he had inflicted on the Lady through his assaults on her Son — the rejection he had stirred up among the people; the hardened hearts of the stubborn Sadducees and faithless Pharisees; the blind and brutal "justice" of the Romans. The scourging … the spitting … the crown of thorns … and the crucifixion … how he had wounded and pierced her heart!

And now, though he knew she was ultimately lost to him, the Devil might claim for a time the body of the Virgin Mary when she passed from this life. A short-lived victory it would be, but a victory nevertheless. When her body was laid in the tomb, then he could see ravaged and reduced to dust that physical temple of the perfect soul he so passionately hated.

The Adversary, whose name had once been "Bearer of Light" — "Lucifer," might have done well to ponder, in the darkness of his heart, the words which had been spoken to the young Virgin by another angel many years before… "Hail, Full of Grace! The Lord is with you!" The key word in this gospel verse as inspired and expressed by the evangelist St. Luke, is kecharitomene — a Greek term meaning "having been filled with grace." Perhaps it should have occurred to Satan that the human vessel who had so graciously received "great things" from the Almighty, and who was never sullied by original sin, could also be freed from a number of its effects.

In the Year of our Lord 1950, Pope Pius XII, inspired by the Holy Spirit and speaking with supreme authority as the successor to Peter, recognized a singular privilege granted to Mary, the Mother of God: "… The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death" ("Munificentissimus Deus"). Assumed into heaven body and soul, the Blessed Virgin never suffered for a moment the corruption that has characterized man’s return to "dust" since the Fall. The Dragon was once again deprived of his prey, even though he continues his war on her children.

On the Feast of the Assumption we celebrate this most singular privilege of grace by which Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our mother, was given power over the grave, serving now and forever as the perfect pattern for all who seek to follow her Son. Through the graces won by Mary’s Holy Assumption, may we one day attain the glory Jesus has bestowed on her and which He longs to give to us. Amen.

For further consideration and meditation, see the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12.

Fr. Riley is parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Warrenton and professor of sacred Scripture at Christendom College in Front Royal.

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