The Question of the
End of Mary's Earthly Life
Isidore of Seville is one of the authors most often cited
by those who confront the problem of the end of Mary's earthly existence and
ask whether or not she experienced death. This is his point of view on the
question:
Some say that Mary departed this life by passing through
the coarse torments of martyrdom, since the just man Simeon, holding Christ in
his arms, was prophesying when he said to his Mother: "A sword will pierce
your heart" (Lk 2:35). But it is not certain whether he was speaking of a
material sword or if he meant the word of God, which is stronger and more
cutting than any two-edged sword. In any case, no particular historical
narrative tells us that Mary was killed by the stroke of a sword, since one
reads nothing about it, and nothing about her death either. However, some say
that her tomb is to be found in the valley of Josaphat. (Cf. I. Bengoechea,
"Doctrina", 178)
From this text, it appears that Isidore thought that Mary
did indeed die. This is evidenced by the fact that he chose to include this passage
in his work that speaks of the birth and death of the Fathers. There is also
the reference to Mary's tomb, which, according to tradition, is to be found at
Jerusalem, in the valley of Josaphat. However, the bishop of Seville refrains
from offering a hypothesis on how the Blessed Virgin met her death. Following
the thought of St. Ambrose, he limits himself to rejecting a literal
interpretation of Simeon's prophecy about the sword. Beyond that point, Isidore
aligns himself with the oldest tradition of the Fathers of the Church, choosing
not to lift the veil of mystery that covers the end of Mary's earthly life. Nor
did Pius XII wish to lift this veil. When he defined the dogma of the
Assumption, he left the faithful free to believe as they wished about the
question of whether Mary died before she was taken up into heaven, body and
soul. Today, as is well known, theologians prefer to accept Isidore's point of
view. For, after the original sin, death entered the world and became part of
man's eschatological destiny; in addition, Christ himself willed to face death,
in order to be like us in all things and to bring about the salvation of the
whole human race. (Luigi Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The
Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought [trans. Thomas Buffer; San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999], 375-76
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