A meditation with Corregio's Assumption of the Virgin
Holy Father, Benedict XVI says: "Mary is indeed the first fruit of the new humanity, the creature in whom the mystery of Christ - his Incarnation, Death, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven - has ALREADY fully taken effect, redeeming her from death and conveying her, body and soul, to the Kingdom of immortal life." As an aid to mediate on the Assumption I’d like to share with you a fabulous Late Renaissance fresco by Antonio Correggio. He painted this inside the dome of the Cathedral of Parma in Italy. Unlike other famous Assumption paintings, Correggio shows Mary cramped between a lot of human figures. This is to remind us that Mary is one among us. But, by virtue of her extrodinary creation, most intimate and radical discipleship of Christ while on earth, HE chose to honour her, after His ascension to the Father, with a share of his own unique power and glory. So the Catholic Church teaches as an infallible Dogma - that “On her death, Mary was taken up body and soul