“Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord come to me?”

Today we celebrate the feast of our Lady’s entry into heaven body and soul.

Some say Mary died, meaning her soul separated from her body, and afterwards was assumed with rejoined soul and body into heaven; others say she simply fell asleep and went to heaven.

Pius XII declared the essential truth to be believed (Munificentissimus Deus, Nov. 1, 1950),
“the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

The feast day of our Lady’s assumption gives us occasion to honor our Lady; it also presents us with an opportunity to reflect upon our own death.

We will all die one day that is sure; few of us, however, have any experience in this area.

It is St. Francis de Sales advice that we, from time to time, lie in bed with a crucifix on our chest and imagine ourselves in our death agony.  What sentiments will I have then?  Our bodies will ache, turn yellow or blue, begin to smell.  There will be a slowness of breath, perhaps coughing fits.  But that is the physical part; what will the soul endure?  Past sins may float before our minds; a secret sin may taunt us, “too late, too late’; so many lost opportunities to advance in virtue may stare us in the face; a litany of wasted or idle time and the poor use of the means of sanctification may parade in our thoughts while demons mock and exclaim, “look, he is mine, he is mine!”

I don’t have experience in death, but I know that if I live well, I shall die well.  "In whatsoever direction the tree shall lean, so when it falls there it will lie."

If I lean towards daily prayer (on my knees); towards frequenting the sacraments; towards avoiding all near occasions of sin; if I avail myself to the sacramentals of holy church (holy water, brown scapular, Miraculous Medal, Saint Benedict’s medal), recite my daily 5 decade Rosary, engage in regular spiritual reading; If I lean towards forgiving my neighbor, or asking for his pardon should I offend; If I obey my parents, avoid complaining when I don’t get my way, embrace my crosses and sufferings - perhaps muster the strength to thank God for them - If I make these exercises a part of my spiritual life then I shall lean myself towards salvation and obtain a future heavenly glory; these are marks of the predestined soul... the soul who shall have a happy death.

My friend and father in the faith, Keith Smith, spent two years with Camaldolese hermits in the Pyrenees of Spain.  Each hermit had his own cell, a hollow in a rock, where he spent most of his time in austerities and contemplation.  Brother monks met for common prayer or to service others in charity.

One day a monk was dying.  His brothers gathered around him and began chanting the prayers for the dying.  At one point, just before the soul passed from this life, Keith thought he smelled roses; he briefly looked about and saw the eyes of his dying brother become radiant with a great happiness whilst a shaft of bright light - a pillar of white - beamed upon his face.
 The experience seemed all too brief and soon the monks, having finished their prayers, returned silently to their cells. 

Several months later a day of recreation arrived wherein the monks could freely converse with one another; every six months the monks had recreation for such relaxations.  By the time recreation day came, Keith had already dissuaded himself that anything unusual had happened.   He thought within himself, “Oh, I must have been imagining things!  I was overcome with religious feeling; I was carried away by the chant and incense and human emotions in seeing my dear brother depart.”
 
And so, although Keith very much wanted to question whether others witnessed the same things, he was too embarrassed at the thought of reprisals and so declined to introduce the matter.

But one monk did break silence, “Did you recall when brother so and so was dying.  Well, and please don’t think ill of me, but did you smell roses?”

To which another monk replied, “Yes, I did, and the light? Did you see the light above our dear brother?”

And for the rest of the day the happy death of the holy brother was the talk of the hermitage.

Let us make Mary our constant companion and dear mother, and at our death we shall have nothing to fear; she will come for her child.

One day St. Stanislaus Kostka was asked if he loved the Virgin Mary.  He raised his eyes to heaven and replied, “She is my mother; what more can I say?”

Later, during his 18th year, as the day of Assumption approached, he said to a priest friend,
“O Father, what a happy day for the saints when our Lady entered heaven!  I feel confident that they celebrate the memory of it every year, and I hope to be present the next time.”

Although he was perfectly healthy until then, after this meeting he became very sick.  On the Eve of the Assumption Stanislaus received the last rites then was asked whether he was prepared to die.  The saint replied, “My heart is ready, O God my heart is ready’ while pressing an image of our Lady to his lips.

After midnight, Stanislaus became increasingly ill.  Towards morning light, as he neared his end, Our Lady came to him.  The lines of pain ceased across his face and instead a radiant light rested there as he gazed sweetly upon the Blessed Mother of God come to bring him Home.

And finally, at the rising of the sun, on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady with a multitude of heavenly virgins, took the soul of Stanislaus to heaven.

“Whence is this that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?”

Let us live well so that we die well.  We shall live well if we have Mary for our mother.  No one could have a better mother; if we are faithful children, she will claim us at the end of our life. 

May God grant us all a happy death; a death wherein we may repeat the words of St Elizabeth, “whence is this, that the mother of my Lord should come to me!”