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Assumption of the Virgin
Encyclopedia Article
Assumption of the Virgin (Latin assumere, “to take up”) in the Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox church, the doctrine that after her death the body of Mary, the mother of Christ, was taken into heaven and reunited with her soul. Defined as an article of faith by Pope Pius XII in 1950, the assumption was first commemorated as the Feast of the Dormition (falling asleep) of Mary in the 6th century. This feast later developed into the Feast of the Assumption, now celebrated in the Roman Catholic church on August 15 every year.
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