Today as we celebrate the very special feast of The Assumption of our Lady, Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 39-56) in which Mary visits her pregnant cousin Elizabeth and responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with her beautiful prayer The Magnificat.
 Fr Paul says the commemoration of the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary is known as the Assumption because of the tradition that her body did not decay but that she was raised up, body and soul, into heaven. This tradition was already present in the sixth century and by the beginning of the twentieth century it was widespread. After consulting the views of bishops all over the world, the Pope formally and infallibly declared the doctrine of the Assumption to be part of the authentic and ancient doctrine of the universal Church. As so on this special day, dedicated to Our Lady, Fr Paul invites us to pray with him: Hail Mary,Full of Grace,The Lord is with thee.Blessed art thou among women,and blessed is the fruitof thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary,Mother of God,pray for us sinners now,and at the hour of our death.Amen.