St. Mary the Virgin
- charleseverson
- Aug 15
- 5 min read
Church of the Atonement
Fr. Charles Everson
August 15, 2025
Every Sunday and major feast, we proclaim together that we believe in
one Lord, Jesus Christ, who for us and for our salvation, came down from
heaven, and by the power of the Holy Spirit became incarnate from the
Virgin Mary and was made man. We hear a profound summary of the
Incarnation in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “When the fullness of
time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in
order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive
adoption as children.” The “fullness of time” means that all of God’s
patient preparation, from Abraham to David to the prophets, found its
decisive turning point in the coming of Christ—and it happened through a
woman, Mary of Nazareth.
It is no small thing that Paul leaves her unnamed here. He is making a
theological point—that Jesus is fully human, born of a woman, born into
Israel’s covenant—but the Church, from the beginning, has known her name
and honored her as higher than the cherubim and more glorious than the
seraphim. Today’s feast exists for just that reason: to remember Mary’s
unique role in God’s plan, to rejoice in what God has done for her, and
to see in her a sign of what God intends for us.
In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox calendars, today is kept as
the Feast of the Assumption or Dormition—the belief that at the end of
her earthly life, Mary was taken body and soul into heavenly glory
before or after she died. While The Episcopal Church does not require
this belief as dogma, our liturgical material for today certainly
doesn’t shy away from it. From today’s collect: “O God, you have taken
to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant
that we… may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom.”
That is the point. Whether or not we can describe exactly how Mary’s
earthly life ended, we believe that she is with Christ in glory—and that
what God has done for her is a preview of what God promises to do for
us. Mary’s assumption isn’t really about her at all; it’s a sign to us
and to all generations that God will keep his promise to raise us up to
be with him in glory. The glory we celebrate today did not happen in
isolation; it was the flowering of a lifetime of faithful obedience. To
understand what this feast proclaims, we must look again at the story of
her life—those moments when God’s perfect timing and Mary’s perfect
‘yes’ came together.
Mary’s life is threaded through with the “fullness of time.” The angel’s
visit to her was not a random moment, but the appointed hour in which
God’s plan leapt forward. Her fiat—“Be it unto me according to your
word”—was the opening of the world to its Savior. And in the fullness of
time, she stood by the cross when the hour came for her Son to be
glorified through suffering. If her Assumption is true, then the timing
was perfect at the end as well: when her earthly mission was done, God
gathered her into His presence, body and soul.
Today’s is not just about her. It is about us. Paul says Christ came so
that “we might receive adoption as children.” Through Him, we are no
longer slaves but heirs. Mary is the first to into that inheritance
fully—completely united to Christ in glory. She is not far away, locked
in some celestial vault. She is part of the living communion of saints,
praying for the Church and cheering us on as we run the race set before
us.
Her song, the Magnificat, tells us what kind of God she said yes to: the
God who scatters the proud, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with
good things. In her Assumption, the Magnificat is fulfilled. The lowly
handmaid is exalted; the one who bore the Bread of Life is herself
gathered to the heavenly banquet.
Today’s feast calls us to examine our own readiness for the fullness of
time in our lives. How do we respond when God’s moment arrives—whether
it comes as joy or as challenge? Mary teaches us patience in waiting,
trust in mystery, and faith through suffering. She shows us how to say
“yes” without knowing all the details, how to treasure things in our
heart until God brings them to fulfillment.
Our opening hymn this evening, “Sing we of the blessed Mother,” captures
the essence of today’s celebration: “Sing we too of Mary’s sorrows, of
the sword that pierced her through, when beneath the cross of Jesus she
his weight of suffering knew…” It does not stop with sorrow, but moves
to triumph: “…in Jerusalem above, she beholds her Son and Savior
reigning as the Lord of love.” That is the journey—from faithful
obedience, through suffering love, into glory.
The Episcopal Church’s approach to the Assumption allows us to hold
together Scripture and tradition. We do not claim to know every detail
of Mary’s final hour, but we do affirm that the God who raised Jesus has
exalted His mother. We can rejoice in that without fear of diminishing
Christ, because all of Mary’s glory points to Him. As she said at Cana,
she still says to us: “Do whatever He tells you.”
If we want to grow closer to Mary, there are simple ways to begin. Join
with the church and pray her song, the Magnificat, at Evening Prayer
every day. Or pray the Salve Regina, the hymn we’ll sing at the end of
mass today, at the end of the day. Let the repetitive “Hail Mary’s” in
the rosary be the backdrop to contemplating and meditating on the life
of her Son. And above all, imitate her openness to God’s grace and her
willingness to say yes.
In the fullness of time, Christ came to us through Mary. In the fullness
of time, Mary came to Christ in glory. And in the fullness of time, you
and I will behold Him face to face. That is our hope, the same hope Mary
now enjoys.
Until that day, we walk in faith, nourished by the same Christ she once
bore in her womb and now worships in heaven. In this Eucharist, we
receive Him—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—a foretaste of the glory
that awaits. Mary’s Assumption assures us that this hope is not in vain,
for the God who has done great things for her will also do great things
for us.
So, friends, on this great feast, let us sing of the blessed Mother, not
as a distant figure, but as a loving Mother who constantly prays for us.
And as we honor her, let us follow where she leads – to perfect union
with her son, Jesus Christ, for all eternity. Amen.
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