Abbey-Roads2

Thoughts on death and dying…

As many Catholics know, some people insist that Our Lady did not die - that she was raptured into heaven or something.  They get mixed up on the Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception as well - those mysteries are not the same thing either.

So yeah, Our Lady did die, as Henry Karlson from Vox Nova told me; “I’ve had people tell me, since it says dormition, it means she is sleeping now, didn’t die — showing how literal they are with the word, not realizing how it is used in Scripture to indicate what we normally call death.”

Today’s reading from Ezekiel.

Henry makes these things clear in his post on the Dormition, but for my sola scriptura readers, I want to mention in simpler terms what I think he means by the scriptural understanding of death.  Providentially, today’s first reading at Mass explains it quite well.  First of all, in the reading from Ezekiel the Lord begins by saying:  “As I live” - therefore we know, and as Scripture affirms, God is the God of the living.  Then after further instructing the house of Israel on individual responsibility for sin and calling his people to conversion, the Lord says;  ”Why should you die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God.  Return and live!” - Ezekiel 18: 30-32.  Since all men die a natural death, we understand clearly that the Lord is referring to “spiritual death” in this passage. 

The falling asleep - what we normally call death.

Henry explains it so much better than I could, this is what he wrote:  “For it shows us, through Mary, how biological death and eternity were meant to be related. Her death led directly to her glorification; her innocence did not undermine biological death, but rather, included it, for biological death is not contrary to purity. Sadly, her dormition has been misunderstood by many in the West.  Some believe that she did not die, despite what Catholic tradition has consistently said on the matter.  There are two reasons for this: they do not understand the implications of the immaculate conception, and they misread the declaration of the assumption in Munificentissimus Deus.”

“The first mistake comes from the confusion of biological with spiritual death; they think that if Mary is without sin, she cannot die, since sin is what brings death. However, the death made by sin is spiritual death, not biological. Mary’s death does not lead to spiritual ruin, but glorification. It leads to her eternal glory, and makes final her place in the heavenly kingdom. Indeed, it is surprising that anyone could ever suggest that those without sin cannot biologically die - because, of course, the whole point of Christianity is that Jesus, without sin, died.” - On the Dormition

Links:

Pius XII: Munificentissimus Deus - Defining the Dogma of the Assumption