…As Lagos Archdiocese marks Feast of Assumption
The Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos last Tuesday, August 15, 2023, joined the Universal Church to celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with pomp and ceremony. This year’s event, held at the Marian Shrine, St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland Lagos, hosted by the Confraternity of Christian Mothers (CCM), began with nine-day novena and procession; culminating with Mass, had priests, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese attend in their numbers to observe the feast.
Delivering the homily, Very Rev. Msgr. Philip Hoteyin, representing Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, commended the people as he assured them that the Blessed Mother Mary intercedes for them to her son Jesus who will fill them spiritually with His body and blood. Msgr. Hoteyin said Mother Mary has been looking tearfully to her son, presenting the people and their intentions to Him to make life easier for them. He said: “Our Mother has been looking with tears on her face to our Lord Jesus Christ her son, saying, ‘Look at them, for the past nine days, they have been here, through hunger, thirst, they all have their difficulties, ups and downs in life, they face risks,’ and our Lord is assuring His mother, looking unto the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit looking unto God; the trinity in heaven.
Jesus makes a signal to the rest, and answers her, and she says, the doors of heaven has been opened for you.” He assured that the people will have testimonies upon testimonies for their efforts because the Queen has been assumed into heaven as the angels rejoice. He disclosed that the feast being celebrated on that day is not the end of the celebration of the blessed Mother, adding that in the next seven days, the Church will be celebrating the crowning of the Blessed Mother Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. “But all happened again, only the Church has given the gap of celebration. She was taken to heaven and crowned that same day”, he said.
On the history of the feast of the Assumption, Msgr. Hoteyin said in 1570 AD, Emperor Titus came to Jerusalem and destroyed the whole place, including the sepulcher and relics, as the Apostles fled. He added that the destruction of Jerusalem led to the breaking of the chain of history, but things changed with the reign of Emperor Constantine who became a Catholic and restored the history. Speaking on the Apostolic Constitution, which he said is the greatest document in the Church, Msgr. Hoteyin said the Bishops at a point met and agreed that the mother of Christ cannot have died, but assumed into heaven.
He said the people are celebrating the past, present and future, and as they recite the Magnificat, they share in the glory of Mother Mary, singing as they do in the world for the final judgment they are looking forward to after their sojourn on earth. He concluded: “If only you can carry faithfully our Mother Mary with the son, things will be lighter for you. Your problems, all difficulties you have been experiencing will be lifted from you and your prayers will be answered and you shall give testimonies.”
