Our Lady of the Assumption
"After her life on earth had ended, Mary was reunited with Her Son. Because she was the mother of God she had been kept holy always by a singular gift of God. It was fitting, then, that she who gave bodily birth to Jesus should be with Him bodily in heaven as she adores Him in the glory of His risen body.
As early as around the year 500, the Eastern Church celebrated on August 15 the feast of Mary's"Dormition", her "falling asleep" in the Lord. Thus many centuries of belief and devotion were crowned when the doctrine of The Assumption was formally defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950.
Like all the special graces and privileges bestowed on Mary through the merits of Christ's redeeming love, The Assumption does not separate Mary from the rest of the redeemed People of God, but unites her more intimately with each one of us. Mary, in The Assumption, has not been separated from us. Instead Mary remains a sign of sure hope that each one of us is called to share as she has in the fullness of Christ's glory."
From The Teaching of Christ.