The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a solemn feast day and a holy day of obligation that we celebrate each year on August 15th, is the Church’s most ancient Marian feast. Christians living in Jerusalem celebrated the “dormition of Mary” (Mary’s going to sleep) from at least the third century—gathering in Palestine to remember the Mother of God, and to honor her as queen of heaven and earth.
Ancient frescoes on the walls of the catacombs in the city of Rome indicate that the early Roman Christians believed in and were devoted to Mary’s assumption into heaven.
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