“IT was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father has taken to Himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who has seen her Son upon the Cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to Him, should look upon Him as He sits at the right hand of the Father. It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she would be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the Handmaid of God.”
~St. John Damascene (c. 675 – 749): Homily 2 on the Assumption, 14.
Reliquary Tabernacle, by Fra Angelico.
Tempera and gold on panel, c. 1430.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.