What is Assumption of Mary?

The Assumption of Mary, celebrated on 15 August, is a major feast in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches commemorating the belief that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. The doctrine was formally defined as Catholic dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950, though the belief itself dates to early Christianity.

In Eastern Orthodoxy the feast is known as the Dormition of the Theotokos — the "falling asleep" of the Mother of God — and is one of the twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox calendar. The theological emphasis differs slightly: Orthodoxy focuses on Mary's peaceful death before her assumption, while Catholicism traditionally holds she may not have died at all.

The feast coincides with the Italian mid-summer holiday of Ferragosto, which predates Christianity and was established by Augustus in 18 BCE as a festival of rest after the summer harvest. Today 15 August is a public holiday in many predominantly Catholic countries including Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Austria, Belgium, and much of Latin America.