The bond between a mother and her child is very close. Science and medicine in recent years have surprisingly shown how this bond is even closer than was previously known. During pregnancy, some cells from the baby in the womb cross through the placenta into the mother (fetal microchimerism). This begins a couple of weeks after conception. While it was first observed in the last century, it is only since the 1990s that it has been studied. These cells from the baby can remain in the mother for decades after birth, even all her life, even if the pregnancy ended early. For the past couple of years, some Catholic commentators have spoken about its implications for Jesus and Mary. They say it means that some cells from Jesus remained in Mary all her life and that she had to be assumed into heaven at the end of her life. If people see it necessitating Mary’s assumption into heaven, surely it necessitates even more the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady so that she would be worthy vessel to carry Jesus.
While this information from science and medicine is fascinating, the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer that we will hear today gives us a reason for Mary’s assumption:
rightly you would not allow her
to see
the corruption of the tomb
since from her own body she
marvelously brought forth
your incarnate Son, the Author of all
life.
The preface sees Our Lady’s assumption as a reward, so to speak, for her being the mother of Jesus. No decay would touch her body because she was the mother of Jesus:
rightly you would not allow her
to see
the corruption of the tomb
since from her own body she
marvelously brought forth
your incarnate Son, the Author of all
life.
In our second reading today from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we heard:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor 15:20)
By her assumption into heaven, Our Lady shares in a unique way in the first fruits of Jesus’ resurrection. The preface to the Eucharistic Prayer today also says:
the Virgin Mother of God
was assumed
into heaven
as the beginning and image
of your Church’s coming
to perfection.
We are promised a glorified body in heaven at the end of time at the general resurrection of the dead (see 1 John 3:1-2) but Our Lady experienced that ahead of time at her assumption into heaven— “the beginning and image of your Church’s coming to perfection.”
When Mary was assumed into heaven, she, so to speak, got no rest. She continues to be the spiritual mother to each of us. Our first reading was from the book of Revelation, also called Apocalypse, a book full of visions and imagery to teach us spiritual matters. That reading described a woman, Our Lady, giving birth. That refers to Our Lady assisting our spiritual birth, helping us grow spiritually to draw closer to Jesus. All through the centuries, many spiritual writers have written about Our Lady helping us from heaven. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical on Our Lady, wrote, “We believe that the Most Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, the Mother of the Church, carries on in heaven her maternal role with regard to the members of Christ, cooperating in the birth and development of divine life in the souls of the redeemed.” (Redemptoris Mater §47) In a document of Vatican II, we read, “In her maternal love, she cares for the brothers and sisters of her Son as they journey on earth in the midst of dangers and hardships, until they are brought safely home to the happiness of heaven.” (Lumen Gentium §62)
As we celebrate the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven today, we are celebrating the fourth glorious mystery of the rosary. Those who go to daily Mass know that a week from today we will celebrate the fifth glorious mystery of the rosary, the coronation of Our Lady in heaven as Queen of heaven and earth. When Mary visited Elizabeth, she gave thanks to God for all he had done for her and for all lowly people. We give thanks to God today for Our Lady’s assumption and we thank her for her continual assistance to us from heaven.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2026
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for August 15: The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven
Our Lady Clothed with the Sun, Standing on the Moon 2021
Our Lady Ark of the New Covenant 2018
Mary the Ark of the Covenant Assumed into Heaven intercedes for us 2007
Assumption of Our Lady and the Rosary
Assumption of Our Lady and her house in Ephesus
First Reading Revelation 12 and Our Lady of Guadalupe 2006
First Reading Jesus in Mary’s womb in Guadalupe 2008
Related: Homilies on Our Lady
Four Marian Dogmas (end of pdf)