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Ignatius Theophorus's answer to this question about the assumption of Mary states:


When I heard about the Catholic belief that Mary was sinless and was assumed into heaven, I thought the two beliefs fit together well since death is a consequence of sin. However, if it is taught she did die (or even would have died), how is this reconciled with "the wages of sin is death"?

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A related question: How did a sinless Jesus die? (I suspect the theological difference is that nobody thinks Mary's death was a propitiation for our sins.) Also related:What is the biblical basis for the Immaculate Conception? –  Jon Ericson Jun 4 '13 at 23:25
"sin implies death" does not mean "death implies sin". –  rvf0068 Jun 5 '13 at 0:47
Mary was not sinless. Romans 3:23 - "for ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". –  Matt Jun 11 '13 at 0:14
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3 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Orthodoxy has a Tradition of the Dormition of Mary wherein it is belived that she didn't die but merely fell asleep and was assumed into Heaven. Catholic teaching neither affirms nor contradicts the Dormition but we have another tradition which is written in one of the apocryphal gospels ascribed to St. Thomas but written hundreds of years a after his death.

Here is the ancient document alluded to. And the very ancient and venerable and understandable tradition it is in keeping with is that The Blessed Virgin herself didn't wish to in any way not be a perfect disciple and imitator of her Son. So if he chooses to die, she would choose to die as well.

I've got the same questions as to what it exactly means for Mary to have died, but it is a mystery of the Church and one you can contemplate here and ask about in christianity.stackexchange.hvn in the life of the world to come to get a better answer.


Pope John Paul II - Angelus address on Solemnity of the Assumption (August 15 1998)

In the fullness of time, at the end of her earthly life, he would call her to follow him completely into the reality of resurrection. That is what the Assumption is all about. In Mary assumed into heavenly glory, the little one of Nazareth is now resplendent in the divine light. In her we see our eternal destiny, the destiny of the church.

Most Rev. Peter J. Elliott, KC*HSJ - Retreat Homily - 2009

In some of the writings of the Church Fathers we find Jesus himself described as coming to take his Mother at the time of her death to bring her into heavenly glory. In this way they present the death of Mary as an event of love which conducted her to her divine Son to share his immortal life. At the end of her earthly life, she must have experienced, like Paul and more strongly, the desire to be freed from her body in order to be with Christ for ever (cf. Phil 1:23).

The experience of death personally enriched the Blessed Virgin: by undergoing mankind’s common destiny, she can more effectively exercise her spiritual motherhood towards those approaching the last moment of their life.

Pope John Paul II - General Audience - June 25 1997

The last link addresses very straightforward Our Lady in connection with earthly death and probably succinctly answers the question. Catholic doctrine merely says "At the end of her earthly life" it doesn't say, "shortly after her soul left her body" or "when rigor mortis set in". We wholeheartedly believe that she suffered no decay due to the wages of sin nor would she had she remained on earth after death for 1000 years before being brought into heaven.

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Isn't an appeal to Orthodox tradition an odd thing to do on a question asking about how Catholics reconcile a doctrinal issue? –  Caleb Jun 5 '13 at 8:04
@Caleb we don't discount the Orthdox tradition and are free to believe it (so far as I know). It's just not a defined Catholic dogma like the Assumption is. –  Peter Turner Jun 5 '13 at 12:53
It might be worthwhile working those tidbits into your answer. –  Caleb Jun 5 '13 at 12:56
This answer, while nicely informative, does not seem to address the heart of my question: how the economics of sin and death are reconciled with this teaching. –  Paul A. Clayton Jun 6 '13 at 12:42
This is what my family believes and celebrates. The Dormition (falling asleep) thing. However, it's kind of an odd story. I don't have any sources, this is just my mother telling me the story of this holiday. As it goes, she 'fell asleep' and they buried her. (so she died, but not really). Then a few days later, Thomas shows up and wants to see her body to say goodbye so they dig up her casket, and her body was gone. (assumed to heaven). –  Bobo Aug 16 '13 at 21:23
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OK. Couple of things.

  • First, the death spoken of in Romans 6 is not death of the body, but the death of the soul:


Clearly "life" and "death" in that verse do not refer to this mortal coil.

  • Second, I think it important to note that Christ died a physical death. If Jesus can do it so can Mary. (And to those who object "But Jesus died for our sins," without getting into too much Mariology, I will note that Mary's sufferings are an important part of our salvation too)

Now, I don't remember the source (so this could be completely made up), but I seem to recall hearing some source of at least some reliability (a saint's vision or an ancient legend) which claimed that Mary was given the choice whether to die or not. It then continued to state that Mary chose to die because that would more unite her with Christ.

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Mary's sufferings would also seem unjust if she were not under the curse (being without sin). Such would seem to give weight to the concept of coredemptrix. Is the RCC teaching then that physical death is incidental or at least not caused only by sin (whether inherited or imputed)? –  Paul A. Clayton Jun 6 '13 at 13:00
@PaulA.Clayton why would it be unjust if she freely chose it for herself? –  Peter Turner Jun 6 '13 at 13:09
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It is NOT the official catholic teaching that Mary died. When Pope Pius XII in 1870 defined the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as dogma, he deliberately left open the question of whether Mary died before her Assumption.

... The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.src

So a Catholic can either hold that Mary died, Chose to die or went into a deep sleep. None of these will contradict any of the Catholic teaching or Scripture.

Yes, Scripture too. Justification for this can be found in Ignatius Theophorus's answer.

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