Assumption of Mary

Culture of origin: Christian · Cultural

Holiday sources: Australia (national) · Canada (federal) · Christianity · Eastern Orthodox (new calendar) · France · Germany (nationwide) · United Kingdom (England and Wales) · United States (federal)

The Assumption is the Catholic teaching that Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was taken body and soul into heaven; Pope Pius XII defined it as dogma on 1 November 1950. The feast itself is far older: Emperor Maurice set it on 15 August in Constantinople in 600, and Rome adopted it about fifty years later. Eastern churches keep the same day as the Dormition, the "falling asleep" of Mary, and Lutherans and Anglicans as a feast of St Mary.