Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, said yes to God at the Annunciation and stayed faithful through her Son's whole life, standing at the foot of the Cross when nearly everyone else had fled. The Church teaches that at the end of her earthly life she was taken up, body and soul, into heaven — a belief held from the early centuries and solemnly defined in 1950. August 15 is the Solemnity of the Assumption, her greatest feast.
Mary shows us that a life given completely to God is never lost — every sorrow she carried, including watching her own child suffer and die, was gathered up into glory. Her Assumption is a promise for all of us who grieve: that God does not leave the bodies and lives of those He loves in the grave, but raises them whole into His presence.
Mary, assumed into heaven, hold close all our beloved children who have gone before us, and pray for us who miss them, that we may one day be gathered together where you are. Amen.