Overview

• The feast of the Assumption dates to the sixth-century Eastern observance and has been fixed on August 15 in Rome since the seventh century.
• Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary as a divinely revealed dogma in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950.
• Church teachings draw a clear distinction between the Assumption of Mary and the Ascension of Jesus, which commemorates Christ’s rise to heaven forty days after the Resurrection.
• Marian advocations such as María del Pilar, María del Carmen and María Auxiliadora illustrate the varied devotional titles under which the same Mary of Nazareth is venerated.
• Communities mark the feast through place names like Santa Maria del Camí in Mallorca and through the celebration of name-days that reflect the widespread influence of Marian devotion.