Mary, the first witness

Fr. Livio Tonello, director

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary’s body and soul in heavenly glory after completing the course of her earthly life, is not narrated in the New Testament: it has been celebrated since VIII century and it was dogmatically defined in 1950. The readings for the solemnity of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary (on 15 th August ) provide biblical support to place Mary’s life in the history of Redemption. In the passages excerpted from chapters 11 and 12 of the Book of Revelation we read that two signs appeared in the sky: “a woman who gave birth to a son, a male child destined to rule all - nations” and another sign: “it was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns that stood before the woman about to give birth to devour her child the moment it was born: but the child was taken up to God and the woman was saved by God’s intervention. So the salvation of Jesus was accomplished. It is the history of mankind, in which the Church, that must bring Christ into the world, will always find itself fighting against the devil who wants to prevent this from happening. But…