Catholics, so where is Mary's physical body?

Mary had no other children.

Jesus was Mary’s only child and that she remained a lifelong virgin.

By divine power - a Virgin conceived, a Virgin bore, and Virgin she remained

The belief in the corporeal assumption of Mary is founded on the apocryphal treatise De Obitu S. Dominae, bearing the name of St. John, which belongs however to the fourth or fifth century. It is also found in the book De Transitu Virginis, falsely ascribed to St. Melito of Sardis, and in a spurious letter attributed to St. Denis the Areopagite. If we consult genuine writings in the East, it is mentioned in the sermons of St. Andrew of Crete, St. John Damascene, St. Modestus of Jerusalem and others. In the West, St. Gregory of Tours (De gloria mart., I, iv) mentions it first. The sermons of St. Jerome and St. Augustine for this feast, however, are spurious. St. John of Damascus (P.G., I, 96) thus formulates the tradition of the Church of Jerusalem:

St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.

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By promulgating the Bull Munificentissimus Deus, 1 November, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared infallibly that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a dogma of the Catholic Faith. Likewise, the Second Vatican Council taught in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium that "the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things (n. 59)."

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Some people, particularly non-Catholics, feel that the Bible is the only thing that should guide their Christian faith even though the Christian faith existed before the Scriptures and was originally transmitted orally and through tradition.

Sola Scriptura or Bible alone is nowhere to be found in the Bible! If this were to be true, according to Sola Scriptura, then this statement would have to appear somewhere in the Bible in one form or another implicit or explicit.

“Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,”

- St. Jerome.

<<Catholics, so where is Mary's physical body?>>

Isn't that ACTUALLY a question for non-Catholics who claim she did NOT ascend into heaven?

Why can't Protestants (non-Catholic Christians) show Catholics where Mary was buried OR show any historical record of her passing and any historical Christian writings that claims that she WAS buried?

So your question is actually more damaging to a non-Catholic, as Catholics have a very well supported answer for this.

1) Scripture supports that God takes people up into Heaven, body and soul.

2) Scriptures says that the wage of sin is death, showing that those who have not sinned will not taste death.

3) Scripture does not say that everything regarding the faith is found solely and exclusively in Scripture

4) Scripture says that a lot of information was NOT written down, because it would fill volumes

5) The Apostles refer to tradition and their OWN teachings (not writings) numerous times and encourage people to follow their teachings (not writings)

6) It is clear from scripture that Christ gave authority to the Church, not a book. We see this in the authority he gives the Apostles, the special authority he gives Peter, and that Paul tells Christians to settle matters by taking them to the church, NOT scriptures

7) The Christian scriptures (aka NT) did not exist until between 60-90 AD and were largely written by followers of the Apostles who knew their teachings. The Christian canon was not assembled and finalized until the late 4th century. Protestants then re-opened the debate over the NT in the 1500s forcing the Catholic church to convene the Council of Trent to formally, once and for all, close the canon to alteration.

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Secondly..

Either intentionally or out of ignorance, you actually misrepresent Pope Pius's statement.

If you actually read the encyclical, he clearly states that the reason for the infallible statement is based on the fact that this belief has always been a central belief of the Christian faith from the first centuries AD. It was being infallibly stated some 1,900 years later, because there was a lot of confusion about it, among Catholics. BUT, his pronouncement did not create anything new, just re-iterate what had always been the case.

Most often, this is how the Church operates.. a bit retroactively -- clarifying matters of faith and morals as they are needed, restating what has always been the case since the Church can not change its doctrines.

<<Do Catholics believe the Bible or not?>>

YES and the Bible states that God sometimes takes people, body and soul into heaven and that only sinners will taste death.

The Catholic church assembled and protected the bible from those who sought to corrupt it or compromise it over the centuries.

<<Do they believe the Bible plus any story somebody tells them? >>

NO - case in point -- We don't believe your authority to instruct us on how to interpret the Bible nor your inaccurate re-telling of history.

<<Where is Mary's body?>>

INDEED! - that is my question to YOU. WHERE is it? Where is she buried and why is there no record of pilgrimages or veneration of that site like we see for so many lesser Saints and historical figures?

Indeed, this question is something that should cause Protestants to pause.

Catholics KNOW - her body is in heaven.

God Bless

She was assumed, by God, into heaven.

Yes, Catholics believe the Bible. But the Bible came "after" the Church. Something doesn't have to be written in the Bible to be true. The Bible itself does not say it holds all truth and that there is no truth outside it.

Elijah, Enoch and Moses are all said to have been assumed into heaven, body and soul. So we know that God does that.

It has been the teaching of the Church that Mary was without sin, sin is what corrupts the flesh. She was "ever-virgin" -- there is no scripture that mentions Mary had other children. Only scriptures that refer to the brothers and sister of Jesus...which we cannot assume means children of Mary. Brothers and sisters can refer to any relation, not specifically siblings.

The Church has taught from the beginning that Mary was immaculately conceived, ever-virgin and assumed into heaven. These are sacred truths passed on and held intact by the Church. They are sacred tradition, which is on par with sacred scripture.

Mary's assumption was believed by the early Christians, and that truth was infallibly defined centuries later. But the belief has always been a sacred one.

Catholics believe in the assumption of the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven at the end of her earthly life.

John 19:26-27 states:

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple (John) took her into his home.

The minutes of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 C.E. indicate that four or six years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, John and the Virgin Mary came together to Ephesus, and for a short time stayed in the building, a section of which is now under Church of the Virgin Mary today.

Later John moved the Virgin Mary to a house he had prepared for her on Bulbul Dagi (Bulbul Hill). She lived there until the end of her earthly life.

St. John of Damascus (P. G., I, 96) later wrote:

St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.

This ancient belief was just formalized by the Pope in 1950.

http://www.turktour.com/virgin_mary.html

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02006b.htm

With love in Christ.

It's in heaven - that what the "Assumption" means.

First - Mary did not have any other children. The Bible does not indicate that any of the "brothers and sisters" of Jesus were children of Mary. They were either cousins/other family members or may have been children of Joseph's from a previous marriage. So yes, Mary is Virgin. Even the "sola scriptura" Protestant reformers like Luther recognized that. It's an error on your part to think that the Bible says otherwise.

Second - the teachings of Mary's assumption is not explicit in the Bible, but it has been a teaching from the early Church. There is biblical evidence to support that. For example:

Gen. 5:24, Heb. 11:5 - Enoch was bodily assumed into heaven without dying. Would God do any less for Mary the Ark of the New Covenant?

2 Kings 2:11-12; 1 Mac 2:58 - Elijah was assumed into heaven in fiery chariot. Jesus would not do any less for His Blessed Mother.

Psalm 132:8 - Arise, O Lord, and go to thy resting place, thou and the Ark (Mary) of thy might. Both Jesus and Mary were taken up to their eternal resting place in heaven.

2 Cor. 12:2 - Paul speaks of a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven. Mary was also brought up into heaven by God.

Matt. 27:52-53 - when Jesus died and rose, the bodies of the saints were raised. Nothing in Scripture precludes Mary's assumption into heaven.

1 Thess. 4:17 - we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Rev. 12:1 - we see Mary, the "woman," clothed with the sun. While in Rev. 6:9 we only see the souls of the martyrs in heaven, in Rev. 12:1 we see Mary, both body and soul.

2 Thess. 2:15 - Paul instructs us to hold fast to oral (not just written) tradition. Apostolic tradition says Mary was assumed into heaven. While claiming the bones of the saints was a common practice during these times (and would have been especially important to obtain Mary's bones as she was the Mother of God), Mary's bones were never claimed. This is because they were not available. Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven.

Now the point of infallible announcements is not to make up something new, but to clarify and define teachings that have existed from the beginning. The Assumption is not just based on some "story" that was passed on. It comes from understanding that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant (since Jesus is the Word made flesh). It's NOT just about where did Mary's physical body go, but comes from a deeper examination of who Jesus Christ is and what He wants for us. And infallibility is NOT the idea that "I'm right no matter what". Infallibility is understanding that Christ sent the Holy Spirit to protect His church. It helps ensure that ALL of Christ's teachings are passed on.

So yes, Catholics believe in the Bible. But if it wasn't for Sacred Tradition - the oral teachings passed on by the Apostles - we wouldn't have the Bible we have today. It was through these oral teachings that the Holy Spirit led the Catholic Church to know which of the ancient texts were inspired by God and should be included in the Bible. Notice that not once in the Bible did Jesus command anyone to write his teachings down. He did tell them to preach.

So your question really demonstrates a naive approach to the Bible and to theology in general. As I said, the teaching of the Assumption is not so much about where Mary's body is - but shows us the deep link between the Old Testament and the New Testament and how Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Actually if you trace the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth in Luke - it parallels the travels of the Ark of the Old Covenant in the Old Testament. The early Christians recognized that right away - and it's because people have ignore the historical and cultural context of the Bible that people miss things that were obvious to the early Christians. But that's one of the problems people have if they rely only on the Bible - it ends up that the Bible isn't really their authority. It's the person's own opinions about what they think the Bible says that is their authority.

In Heaven -- along with Jesus, Elijah, and Enoch.

Sacred Tradition predates the Bible and was the way that Christian teachings were preserved from generation to generation. The belief that Mary's body and soul were reunited in Heaven after her death dates from the very earliest days of the Church.

I have no problem with that idea for the simple reason that God took Elijah and Enoch to Heaven in their own bodies. Neither one of those men risked their lives to give us our Savior, so why would He let Mary's body rot in the ground?

Incidentally, the belief in Mary's perpetual virginity also dates to the early days of the Church. Other people have explained the basis of that belief, so I'm not going to go over the same ground. Even Martin Luther accepted the doctrine as valid.

Bottom line: many things aren't in the Bible, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a Scriptural precedence for them. Mary's body and soul are in Heaven, along with those of her Son and two Old Testament prophets.

Mary was a Virgin all of her Earthly life those were St. Josephs children from his fist marrage and the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph never had sex they were both chastise for the rest of their lifes. Marys Asumption is in the bible Psalms 132, commemorating the return of the Ark of God to Jerusalem and lamenting its subsequent loss. the psalm says that the loss will be recompensed in the New Covenant, and so it is hopefully prayed, "Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified" (v. 8). Church sees this New Covenant ark in Mary, it understands that she was taken into Heaven in the same manner as the Lord that is, body and soul. Gen. 3:15 "and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." scriptural support of Mary's victory over sin and death as also reflected in 1 Corinthians 15:54: "then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory". If you were still a Catholic you would know better then to question the Pope any Pope when it comes to religious matters. Yes we believe in the Bible 100%. Marys body is in Heaven preserved in time it will never age just like christs is.

1. Catholics do believe in the bible.

2. Belief in the bible does not preclude also believing things that are not in the bible.

3. The authority for belief in anything not written down in the bible must be the Holy Spirit.

2. and 3. are based on the simple statements (which ARE in the bible) from Jesus, to his apostles, that when they are in doubt, they must rely on the Holy Spirit to put the correct words in their mouths. (Notice that he did not tell them to refer to a book; he told them to listen for the Holy Spirit.) This is what authorized Peter and John and the others to add to scripture.

The statement of Paul's, in Timothy, which says that all scripture is suitable for teaching, does NOT say that ONLY scripture is suitable for teaching. Paul also told Timothy to remember what Paul had taught him -- Paul being convinced that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The 'scriptures' to which Paul referred were the Hebrew ones only, the Old Testament -- we know this because Paul says that Timothy had "read them from his youth," therefore they could not include the New Testament.

We also know that over the next few centuries, texts written by apostles did get added to the collection called 'scripture' -- and the authority to add them came from bishops who were very like Pius XII in character and authority.

The testimony that Mary's body was assumed into heaven is attributed to the apostles. It therefore has exactly the same authority, in theory! as the four gospels and the epistles.

The non-Catholic "bible only" is a formal rejection of the authority of any bishops apart from the apostles. It accepts the authority of bishops who decided that such-and-such a text, like the Gospel of Matthew, for example, was truly written by an apostle, but only that. Apart from that, it says "we do not know that these ancient Catholic bishops were also apostles; we do not know that their words are of the Holy Spirit."

The Catholic view differs by saying that bishops ordained by the laying-on-of-hands are guided by the Holy Spirit and therefore their pronouncements, when declared as coming from the Holy Spirit, have the same authority as scripture.

Catholics throughout history have been very respectful to holy people (saints). When a holy person died their burial place became a pilgrimage give respect to their holiness and for prays of intersession to Jesus, as well as places of countless miracles. If Mary had a burial place, we would know where it was. There would have been countless pilgrimages, there would a church built there and so and so on. But there is no such thing. There is a place where she died (or fell asleep) but no tomb. Actually the tomb is empty. Mary was consumed into heaven. We see this image in the book of revelation.

The Assumption of Mary is a purely Roman Catholic teaching. It is found no where in Scripture, but in Church tradition only. Luke the Evangelist records the Apostle Paul's experience in Thessalonica, encouraging all to compare teachings that we hear to the scriptures. The scriptures are the one true, foundational source of doctrine. (Acts 17:10 ,11) Were it not for the scriptures, we would know nothing about God and Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter too, points to the scriptures as an authentic source of doctrine, even more authentic than Peter's words.... 2 Peter 1:15-21

Therefore, if you hear something from a church, or a TV/Radio ministry, or any preacher that is not based in scriptural truth, then you should automatically question it, and dig deeper into the Bible to learn the truth for yourself. In other words, if the doctrine is not in the Bible, then it comes from the corruptible heart of a human being.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God...." 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

The church teachings of Mary's assumption were the first step to raise her above every other human being, and paved the way for Mariology, and her current status with the Holy See as Jesus' Co-Redemptrix. And that dear friend, is heresy.