Catholics around the world celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Aug. 15, honoring the Mother of God’s entrance into heavenly glory. But the feast also offers an important reminder that the Assumption is not an isolated Catholic devotion. It is one of four dogmas about Mary that help reveal her unique place in God’s plan of salvation.
According to EWTN News, the Catholic Church has formally recognized four Marian dogmas: the Immaculate Conception, Mary’s divine motherhood, her perpetual virginity, and her Assumption into heaven.
Together, these teachings point Catholics not away from Christ, but toward a deeper understanding of who He is and what God accomplished through the woman chosen to become His mother.
The Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception concerns the beginning of Mary’s earthly life. It teaches that, through a singular grace from God and in anticipation of the saving merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her conception.
According to EWTN News, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary was “preserved immune from all stain of original sin” and possessed an “entirely unique holiness” from the first instant of her conception.
The dogma was formally defined by Pope Pius IX on Dec. 8, 1854, in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus.
Crucially, the doctrine does not place Mary outside humanity’s need for Christ. Rather, according to EWTN News, Catholic teaching holds that Mary was redeemed through the merits of Jesus Christ in a unique, preceding and perfect manner.
Mary is truly the Mother of God
The second great Marian dogma reaches directly into the mystery of Jesus Christ Himself.
Catholics profess that Mary is truly the Mother of God because Jesus is one divine person possessing both a human nature and a divine nature. The Son whom Mary carried and gave birth to is the eternal Son of God made man.
For this reason, the Church calls Mary Theotokos, meaning Mother of God.
According to EWTN News, this truth was solemnly proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Centuries later, the Second Vatican Council reaffirmed the ancient Christian tradition, teaching in Lumen Gentium that “from the most ancient times, the Blessed Virgin is honored with the title of Mother of God.”
Calling Mary the Mother of God therefore safeguards a truth about Christ: The Jesus born of Mary is not merely a human person associated with God, but the divine Son who truly became man.
Mary’s perpetual virginity
Catholic teaching also professes Mary’s perpetual virginity.
According to EWTN News, the Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin “before, during, and after the birth of Jesus,” a belief rooted in the Catholic faith from the early centuries of Christianity.
Unlike the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, the doctrine was not defined through a single papal declaration. EWTN News notes that Mary’s perpetual virginity was formally defined through the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 and the Lateran Synod in 649.
The teaching expresses the singular nature of Mary’s vocation and her complete dedication to the mission God entrusted to her.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The fourth Marian dogma is the mystery Catholics celebrated just two days ago.
The Assumption teaches that when Mary completed the course of her earthly life, God took her body and soul into heavenly glory.
The Church deliberately does not define precisely how Mary’s earthly life came to an end. What Catholics are called to believe is that the Mother of God was fully glorified, body and soul, in heaven.
According to EWTN News, Pope Pius XII solemnly proclaimed the dogma on Nov. 1, 1950, through the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, affirming that the Immaculate Mother of God was assumed “body and soul into heavenly glory.”
For Catholics, the Assumption also directs attention toward humanity’s ultimate destiny. Mary’s glorification points toward the resurrection and eternal life promised through Jesus Christ.
Mary always leads us to Christ
Understanding these four dogmas is especially important because Catholic devotion to Mary is sometimes misunderstood as competing with devotion to Jesus.
The Church teaches precisely the opposite.
The Immaculate Conception depends upon Christ’s saving grace. Mary’s divine motherhood proclaims the identity of Christ. Her perpetual virginity bears witness to her unique vocation in God’s plan. Her Assumption manifests what God accomplished in her and points toward the eternal life Christ promises His people.
As EWTN News emphasizes, Marian dogmas “do not detract in any way from Jesus Christ.” Instead, they reveal the greatness of God’s saving work in the Blessed Virgin.
The candles and flowers of the Assumption feast may now be disappearing from Catholic churches, but the truths celebrated on Aug. 15 remain.
For Catholics, Mary is never the destination apart from Christ. She is the Mother of God, the faithful disciple, and the woman whose extraordinary life continually points the faithful toward her Son.
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