The Lay Dominicans of the Queen of the Holy Rosary Chapter will be posting meditations for the fifteen Tuesdays leading up to the feast of our Father Dominic on August 8th.   See here for more information on the 15 Tuesdays devotion.

At the end of Mary’s pilgrimage on earth, she was taken body and soul into heaven or, as Eastern Christians would say, she fell asleep in the Lord. Consider the rejoicing throng of angels and saints that greeted her upon her entry into the heavenly Jerusalem. On the feast of the Assumption we hear in the Liturgy of King David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem and all of Israel assembled. “Play musical instruments… and make a loud sound rejoicing.” Mary, the true Arc of the Covenant, was brought to her final resting place, never more to be separated from her Beloved Son.

How fitting it is that on the feast of her Assumption, the end of Mary’s pilgrimage on earth, Our Holy Father Dominic dispersed the brethren to preach in Italy, Spain, and France, thus associating the mission of the Order with her glorious arrival in Heaven. One famous vision of heaven saw numerous saints adoring Christ but no Dominicans among them until Mary lifted her mantle and revealed the Order of Preachers, close to her and under her protection. Bl Sadoc O.P and his companions were martyred in Poland while singing the Salve Regina, and the Dominican custom of continuing to sing that song as the last prayer before the great silence of night pays homage to her as our special advocate, both in this life and in our journey to the next.