A mid-summer solemnity is the one we celebrate today - that of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother, a dogma of faith that was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on November 1st, 1950. In his encyclical “Munificentissimus Deus” the Pope solemnly declared “we pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma, that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” More than half the parishes in Malta are dedicated to the Blessed Mother, 10 of them precisely to the Assumption, and today, normally processions are held in each of them. However this year, as was the case last year, they have been suspended because of the coronavirus. The interior celebrations are held just the same with the churches decorated in their best outfit. Among the most priceless paintings of the Assumption of Mary is the above mosaic in the Chapel of the Rosary in Lourdes, one of 20 that depict the mysteries of the Rosary, 15 of them done over 100 years ago, while the last 5 of the Luminous mysteries crafted 10 years ago.
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