Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on the Assumption and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, in the traditions of the Western and Eastern churches,. and the assurance that she is with is in the most difficult of times. Image: Dormition - УШАКОВ СИМОН, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The pilgrim in Jerusalem will want to visit the Upper Room; it is a very special place. The home of the original Eucharist became the original place of the first Christian lockdown. Scripture shares that the disciples were gathered with Mary in prayer and offering mutual support in the most difficult of times. Pentecost changed all that as that first Christian community were inspired, through the gift of the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel to the whole world.

The pilgrim can move just around the corner from that amazing room and come to the Dormition Abbey; tradition has it that this is the place where the mother of Jesus, Mary, died and was assumed into heaven—this is where she fell asleep. The New Testament says nothing about the death and burial of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, but a strong Christian tradition places her tomb in a dimly-lit church at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The large crypt containing the empty tomb in the Church of the Assumption is all that remains of an early 5th-century church, making it possibly the oldest near-complete religious building in Jerusalem. The location of the Tomb of Mary is across the Kidron Valley from St Stephen's Gate in the Old City walls of Jerusalem, just before Gethsemane. (This is the Orthodox Church of the Dormition)

The hill of Mount Zion, the highest point in ancient Jerusalem, is dominated by the Catholic Church of the Dormition. The location is identified in Christian tradition as the place where the Virgin Mary died — or "fell asleep", as the name suggests.

I think it is entirely fitting that the ancient Church speak of the DORMITION of Mary, of her 'going to sleep.' It is still the case in the Eastern Church, while we, in the West, have tended to sanitise death. Death, for Mary, is seen as simply falling asleep in the arms of the Lord. Pilgrims to Jerusalem will be aware that the Abbey of the Dormition is literally around the corner from the Upper Room.

All of us have been touched by the death of loved ones; each of us will react in a way that helps us; grief is personal and there is no right or wrong way to grieve. Our reaction to COVID-19 is rightly one of fear due to the deathly danger it poses. While we naturally want the isolation to end and pray for the new normal when we can move forward.

In the meantime, let us pause and remember our loved ones who have fallen asleep into the arms of the Risen Lord. As we slowly, very slowly return to some sense of normality, Mary can be our inspiration and guide. Mary is the one who trusted and said "yes"; she is the one who supports and notices when things go wrong. Mary is the one who proclaims the 'greatness of God' in her outpouring of praise in her mission to help Elizabeth. In that same Magnificat, Mary prefigures the mission of Jesus as she seeks to raise up the lowly and fill the hungry with good things. Mary is there at those crucial times in the life of Jesus and at the foundation of the Church. She offers her gentle wisdom, care and support. Today, on her special feast in these unusual times, let us place our cares and worries in her hands , as she still says to the Church, "do whatever HE tells you."

The global pandemic has caused painful deaths and loneliness, let us ask Mary to be with us all "now and at the hour of our death." Pope Francis prayed for the feast:

"Mary accompanies us, struggles with us, and sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of evil. The stupendous reality of Mary's Assumption manifests and confirms the unity of the human person, and it reminds us that we are called to serve and glorify God with all our being, soul and body. To serve God only with the body would be an action of slaves; to serve God only with the soul would be against our human nature." (Pope Francis 15th August 2019)