In the course of our exposition the reader has been able
to note that the Holy Scripture holds but a secondary place in the
argumentation of the Fathers and theologians. In celebrating the glories of the
risen Mary the Fathers, however, like to comment on certain texts, such as
Psalm 131, 8: “Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place; thou and the ark which
thou hast sanctified.” and Psalm 44, 10: “The daughters of kings have delighted
thee in thy glory. The queen stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing.”
Or again three texts taken from the Canticle of Canticles: 3, 6: “Who is she
that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of
myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?” 6, 9: “Who is
she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the
sun, terrible as an army set in array?” 8, 5: “Who is this that cometh up from
the desert, flowing with the delights, learning upon her beloved?” Referring to
the Assumption, Pope Alexander III recalls, the “Hail, full of grace” of the
Annunciation; and certain writers comment on two verses of the Apocalypse, 11,
19: “And the temple God was opened: and the ark of his testament was
seen in his temple;” and 12, 1: “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a Woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars.” But from the way in which these texts are used and commented on,
it appears that they do not serve to establish the Assumption but to illustrate
the belief. (Joseph Duhr, The Glorious Assumption of the Mother of God [trans.
John Manning Fraunces; London: Burns Oates, 1950], 73-74, italics in original)
Scripture, even with the comments of the Fathers, does
not seem to us to give a true proof of Mary’s great privilege. We think there
is a single exception, the text of Genesis 3, 15, not by itself but as
clarified by the ordinary magisterium, which establishes a strict connection
between the Redeemer and His Mother. Only this passage, we think, offers a
scriptural basis for belief in the Assumption. (Ibid., 74, italics in original)
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