God's Bounty, Heaven's Peace

A McGrath Institute online class provided Connie Anderson with deeper insights into Mary’s Assumption into Heaven. 

Circumstances surrounding Venerable Pius XII’s infallible proclamation of the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God, body and soul into Heaven hold remarkable insights into the twentieth century’s "Marian Age." The document’s groundswell of support came from "not only individual Catholics, but also those who could speak for nations or ecclesiastical provinces, and even a considerable number of the Fathers of the (First) Vatican Council."  

My family, who lived through two World Wars and the Great Depression, typified those with unscathed faith. My generation, who lived through the 1960s chaos and confusion, was not as fortunate. Subsequent generations have little or no knowledge of this faith-filled era, which helps explain Pius’ dogmatic pronouncement. 

Reading the document for the first time for an online class, I was surprised and delighted by Pius' beautiful words. He thanks Our Lady for protecting his pontificate, and professes his devotion, citing his publicly consecrating the world to her Immaculate Heart and urging the Faithful to share "in the unity of Jesus Christ's Mystical Body." Pius also emphasizes Mary’s “eternal incorruptibility,” foreshadowing Pope St. John Paul's and Pope Emeritus Benedict's writing on human dignity and Christ's Incarnation. 

Historical context for a pope's historical proclamation

From the war's outbreak in 1939, people of all faiths were turning or returning to God. Ecumenical devotion to Mary was also growing. In 1940 during France’s Nazi invasion, Franz Werfel, an Austrian-Bohemian Jew, and his wife found refuge in Lourdes. Hearing about Mary's powerful intercession and title, The Immaculate Conception, which Pius IX had solemnly proclaimed as dogma (1854), Werfel vowed that "if he and his wife escaped, he would put off all tasks and write Bernadette's story into a novel." (Wiki) 

Two years later, Jewish Hollywood producer William Perlberg made Werfel's best-selling novel into one of 1943's top-grossing films. Their collaborative work, Song of Bernadette, won four Oscars the following year, including Best Actress for Jennifer Jones, turning her into a star. The highly successful film also made Werfel’s opening lines famous, “For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.” 

In the horrible aftermath of 1945's nuclear devastation of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), an estimated 226,000 civilians, soldiers, and prisoners of war died outright, not counting those who would later die from radiation poisoning. The Japanese, whose leaders were ready to sacrifice their people until the bloody end, finally surrendered. The date was August 15, 1945, the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven.  

The date the United States officially declared war on Japan and the Axis forces was December 8, 1941, which was also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. For many "ordinary" Catholics around the world, the link between Our Lady's Immaculate Conception and her Assumption into Heaven was more than a mere coincidence. 

The Cold War officially began in 1947, when the United States issued two important documents. The Truman Doctrine pledged aid to war-torn Europe. The Marshall Plan provided democratically elected governments with assistance to protect them from communist takeover. In the West, Faith in God was growing. In the communist East, faith in God was suppressed and persecuted.  

The same year, Father Patrick Peyton, the Holy Cross priest whose local radio Crusade promoted the Rosary throughout the War, launched his Family Theater national radio broadcast. The half-hour plays and presentations promoted family prayer and brought together many of Hollywood's best-known Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish stars to model post-war solidarity and day-to-day holiness. 

When work to define the dogma began in 1946, Pius reached out to the world’s bishops and the faithful for input. The widespread proliferation of nuclear weapons and the outbreak of the Korean War (June 25, 1950) prompted him to finalize his proclamation. Pius issued Munificentissimus Deus, which means "The Most Bountiful God," on All Saints’ Day, November 1, 1950. 

Recognizing Mary as Christ's most faithful disciple

From the beginning of his pontificate in 1939, Pope Pius had worked for peace, offering Christ as the world’s model for truth, justice, and charity. When he declared the historic dogma almost twenty years later, he recognized Mary as Christ’s most faithful disciple, highlighting “the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father's will and to bringing good to others ... (and to make) belief in our own resurrection stronger and render it more effective."  

For countless people who had survived two horrific wars and a devastating global Depression, the ground-breaking apostolic constitution clearly spelled out why Mary, as the sinless Mother of God, was their Heavenly intercessor. Already in Heaven, body and soul, she assisted their prayers for peace. 

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Copyright 2024 Connie Anderson
Images: (top, bottom) Canva; Movie poster by Norman Rockwell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Father Peyton photo courtesy of Holy Cross Family Ministries, all rights reserved; all other images licensed from Adobe Stock by CF Anderson, QH Productions, all rights reserved