On August 15, the Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary—the joyful certainty that the woman from Nazareth who said “yes” and set out for her cousin’s home now fully shares in the life of her risen Son. As the Mother Candida Family, we want to reflect today not only on the dogma, but also on the gesture that makes it understandable: a young woman who gets up and goes, without delay, to meet another woman who needs her. May this feast be, for us as well, an invitation to resolve to go out, to visit, to serve, to sing of who God is, to allow ourselves to be accompanied, and to share in God’s joy…
The Word of God (Luke 1:39–56)
“In those days, Mary set out and went without delay to a town in the hill country of Judea. She entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.
As soon as she heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped for joy within her, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to visit me? As soon as I heard your greeting, the child leaped for joy within me. Blessed are you for believing that what was announced to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.”
Mary then said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, because he has looked with favor upon the humility of his servant. From now on, all generations will call me blessed, For the Almighty has done great things for me—his Name is holy! His mercy extends from generation to generation to those who fear him. He displayed the power of his arm; he scattered those who are haughty of heart. He brought the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the humble. He showered the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed. He came to the aid of Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy, “as He had promised our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
“Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.”
Some points to reflect on today
The Assumption is not a fact mentioned in the Gospels, but a dogma proclaimed by the Church—defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950— to affirm, with the full weight of the faith, something that had already been intuited: that Mary participates in a unique way in the resurrection of her Son, and that her fullness—body and soul—is a foretaste of our own. At its core, this feast tells us that the fullness of life to which God calls Mary is the same fullness of life to which He calls every person .
And it is precisely that “full life” that challenges us most today. Theologian Consuelo Vélez, in her reflection “Mary, the Fullness of Woman, ” invites us to look beyond the image of a submissive or merely silent Mary, to discover the biblical woman who engages in dialogue with the angel before responding, who sings the Magnificat as a prophetic text about how God acts in history, and who plays an active role in accompanying her Son’s mission right up to the foot of the cross.
The Visitation is already a foretaste of that leading role: Mary does not wait to be visited; she sets out on her own to serve. And the Magnificat she sings at Elizabeth’s home is not a quiet, devout prayer, but a cry of hope that heralds a different world: the powerful brought low, the humble lifted up, the hungry filled.
The Smallness That God Sees
There is also something deeply human about this song: it is the joy of a woman who recognizes that God has taken notice of her lowly state. The Magnificat remains as relevant as ever because, every time someone sings it, it opens the door to the daily hope of those who need to know that God pays attention to the humble.
It is precisely that humility that we celebrated last Sunday on the feast of Saint Candida: a woman who sought neither greatness nor recognition, but who allowed God to do “great things” through her simplicity, as Mary confesses in her song.
The humility of the handmaid of Nazareth and that of our foundress shed light on one another: it is not smallness that is celebrated in and of itself, but the trusting openness of one who allows God to act. And it is no coincidence that this same Gospel passage also accompanies another cherished date for our Family: on May 31, the day Saint Candida was born, the Church celebrates the Visitation. It is as if, from her very first day, her life had been marked by Mary’s gesture: setting out without delay to meet the other, bringing God to where she is expected.
Celebrating the Assumption of Mary, then, is not just about looking up to heaven: it is about committing ourselves here and now, as the Cándida Family, to making that full life, that dignity, and that joy possible for all people, in every corner where we are present.
Do you dare to write your own “Magnificat” today? What do your words and your life proclaim about who God is? What would you like to sing about Him at this moment in your life? And what about your community and/or family?
Happy Feast of the Assumption of Mary to the entire Cándida Family!
