THE ASSUMPTION AND THE FATHERS
The fact of the Assumption was
first written by three Fathers of the Church of the highest order. The first
was St. Modestus, Patriarch of Jerusalem (634). The second, St.
Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople (733), who fully recorded the details
of the Dormition. He categorically stated that the corporeal
Assumption of Mary is of Divine Apostolic origin and that the absolute
certainty of the belief is outside discussion.
The third is St. Andreas,
Archbishop of Crete (740). St. John Damascene (749) also wrote the complete
theology of Oriental Christianity on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin,
stating that Mary was assumed to heaven corporeally because, firstly, she is
the Mother of God; secondly, she remained perpetually a virgin; and,
thirdly, because of her singular holiness and intimate relationship with the
Son of God.
The doctrine on the Assumption
derives directly from the holy Church of Jerusalem.
(12-15-03)
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