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<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/615.jpg'>
<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/616.jpg'> 
Feast of the Assumption 
Scott 615-616 (1977)</center>
 
The Feast of the Assumption of Mary is celebrated every year on August 15. The solemnity marks the end of the earthly life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the act of God taking her body and soul directly into heaven. Unlike Jesus, who went to heaven by his own power (Ascension), Mary was taken up by the power of God (Assumption). The two-stamp set shown above comes from a Vatican City release in 1977 dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The first stamp depicts the "dormition" of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is defined as "the 'falling asleep' of Mary, the Mother of God, and her being taken up into heaven." The second stamp shows Mary in glory in Heaven.
 
The Feast of the Assumption, which proclaims that she was assumed body and soul into Heaven at the end of her earthly life, is founded in a belief dating to the early days of Church. It was not until 1950 that it was proclaimed as Church dogma. Pope Pius XII, on November 1, 1950, issued the Apostolic Constitution "Munificentissimus Deus" ("Most Bountiful God"), defining the Dogma of the Assumption. This is the only instance of the use of the doctrine of papal infallibility to date. In this statement, the pope speaks "ex cathedra" ("from the chair") on a matter to be accepted as truth based on faith or morals, as defined by the First Vatican Council.
 
The Assumption is known by the Greek Orthodox as the Dormition of the Mother of God (Dormition of the Theokotos, or Falling Asleep of the Mother of God). Whether Mary died a physical death has not been defined dogmatically. Chapter 44 of the Proclamation by Pius XII states:
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For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that 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.
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<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/143.jpg'>
<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/144.jpg'> 
Proclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption 
Scott 143-144 (1951)</center>
 
The Assumption has been specifically depicted on two stamp issues of Vatican City. The first, from 1951, celebrates the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption. In his article "Stamps of Vatican City", which appeared in the National Philatelic Museum's book for its Marian Year Exhibit in 1954, William Wonneberger describes the stamps released and provides insight into the Declaration of the Dogma of the Assumption:
<blockquote>
[The] Vatican Postal Administration released a set of two stamps on May 8, 1851. A Dogma is the proclaiming of a certain truth by the Pope, and it is to be accepted and believed by all of the Catholic Church. A Dogma never is declared on the spur of the moment. Many months and more often years are devoted to research and study of the article of faith. Theologians and Cardinals examine the Holy Scriptures and all available documents to ascertain the truth of the belief. Both the pros and cons are heard and the evidence carefully weighed. If, after this long study, the article of faith has been proven a fact it is defined and proclaimed by the reigning Pontiff as an infallible Dogma and must be accepted by the faithful. The belief that was defined and promulgated by Pope Pius XII in 1950, was the Assumption: the belief that upon the death of Mary, the Mother of God, her body as well as her soul rose to heaven on a cloud surrounded by Angels. The Blessed Virgin was the only mortal to be brought to heaven in this manner.</blockquote>
In addition to the set issued in 1951, Vatican City also celebrated the Feast of the Assumption with the stamps shown at the top of the article.
 
REFERENCES: 
<li>Apostolic Constitutions, November 1, 1950, <a href= 'http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html'>Defining the Dogma of the Assumption</a> 
<li>Anonymous, Vatican Notes, Volume 6, Number 3, page 8, 1957, <a href= 'http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay2.php?p=038-08&r=0'>Dogma of the Assumption</a> 
<li>Hamilton, James C., Vatican Notes, Volume 64, Number 367, pp. 38-39, 2016, <a href= 'http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay.php?p=64-367-38-39&r=0'>The Proclamation of the Assumption of Mary - 1 November 1950</a> 
<li>William Wonneberger, Vatican, National Philatelic Museum, Volume VII, Number 1, 1954, pages 61-107 
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search

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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary