Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636) on the Question of the End of Mary's Earthly Life

  

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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