MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS* THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION BY WHICH IS DEFINED THE DOGMA OF FAITH THAT MARY THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD HAS BEEN ASSUMED INTO HEAVENLY GLORY IN BODY AND SOUL PIUS, BISHOP SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD FOR EVERLASTING REMEMBRANCE THE MOST BOUNTIFUL GOD, Who is almighty, the plan of Whose providence abides in wisdom and love, tempers, in the secret purpose of His own mind the sorrows of peoples and of individual men by means of joys that He interposes in their lives from time to time, in such a way that, under different conditions and in different ways, all things may work together unto good for those who love Him.1 Now, just like the present age, Our pontificate is weighed down by ever so many cares, anxieties, and troubles, by reason of very severe calamities that have taken place and by reason of the fact that many have strayed away from truth and virtue. Nevertheless, We are greatly consoled to see that, while the Catholic faith is being professed publicly and vigorously, piety towards the Virgin Mother of God is flourishing and daily growing more fervent, and that almost everywhere on earth it is showing indications of a better and a more holy Ii.fe. Thus, while the Blessed Virgin is fulfilling in the most affectionate manner her maternal duties on behalf of those redeemed by the blood of Christ, the minds and the hearts of her children *Translated by Rev. Joseph C. Fenton, S. T. D., Catholic University of America. 1 Cf. Rom. 8: ~s. 4 MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEU& are being vigorously aroused to a more assiduous consideration of her prerogativ:es. Actually God,. Who from all eternity regards Mary with a most favorable and unique affection has, "when the fulness of time was come," 2 put the plan of His providence into effect in such a way that all the privileges and prerogatives He had granted to her in His sovereign generosity were to shine forth in her in a kind of perfect harmony. And, although the Church has always recognized this supreme generosity and the perfect harmony of graces and has daily studied them more and more throughout the course of the centuries, still it is in our own age that the privilege of the bodily Assumption into heaven of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, has certainly stood forth most clearly. ' That privilege has shone forth in new radiance since our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the revered Mother of God's Immaculate Conception . These two privileges are most closely bound to one another. Christ overcame sin and death by His own death, and the man who is born again in a heavenly way through Baptism has conquered sin and death through Christ Himself. Yet, according to His general rule, God does not will to grant the full. effect of the victory over death to the just until the end of time shall have come. And so it is that the bodies of even the just are corrupted, and that only on the last day will they be joined, each to its glorious soul. Now God has willed that the Blessed Virgin should be exempted from this general rule. She, by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conceptibn , and as a result she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have to wait until the end of time for the redemption of her body. Thus, when it was solemnly proclaimed that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, was from the very beginning free from the taint of original sin, the minds of the faithful were filled with a stronger hope that the day might soon come when the •Gal. 4: 4. MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS 5 dogma ·of the Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven would also be defined by the Church's supreme teaching authority. · Actually it was seen that not only individual Catholics, but also those who could speak for nations or ecclesiastical provinces , and even a considerable number of the Fathers of the Vatican Council, urgently petitioned the Apostolic See to this...
Joseph Clifford Fenton (Mon,) studied this question.