The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. [LG 59; cf. Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950): DS 3903; cf. Rev 19:16.]

 
"The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:
 
"In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death." [Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th.]"
 
 - (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #966).

Did Mary Die?

It's an open question in Catholic theology (note how carefully the definition is phrased); but most theologians think she did, hence the ancient title of the feast of the Assumption, the "Feast of the Dormition", i.e., Mary's "falling asleep" in death).

Is the Assumption in Scripture?

Ludwig Ott, author of the excellent book Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma candidly says, "Direct and express scriptural proofs are not to be had."  But there is plenty of indirect evidence, which we'll explore.

What about John 3:13, "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man"?

The name "Assumption" is important, and one should be careful not to mix expressions here; in Catholic terminology, the "Assumption" is something that God did to Mary in bringing her into heaven, over which she had no control, while "Ascension" is what Jesus, being divine, did under his own power.

When is the last time Mary is directly mentioned in Scripture?

See Acts 1:14, and Gal 4:4.

Why is she not mentioned much?

It's not that surprising, because Mary was alive when most of the New Testament was being written, and her humble nature may well have led her to shun the limelight.  Her role was to bring the Messiah into the world and nurture and teach him, and the focus of much of the New Testament is primarily the life of Jesus and the apostolic ministry which followed his resurrection.

What happened to her after Pentecost?

Mary the mother of Jesus was given into John's care (John 19:26-27), and John was a "pillar" of the Church in Jerusalem for some time (Gal 2:9), before living in Ephesus until his exile to Patmos.

Biblical Precedent: Who has been assumed into heaven?

There is good Biblical precedent for someone who is close to God being assumed bodily into heaven.

Elijah
Elijah is a good example - he was assumed bodily into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11).
Enoch
Similarly, as Gen 5:24 says, Enoch "walked with God; and he was not, for God took him".  He "was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him" (Heb 11:5; see also Sirach 44:16).
Moses
Jude gives us a hint about what may have happened to Moses after his death, and refers to the Assumption of Moses (a non-canonical book, but one which obviously contained information important to Jude), in Jude 9 ("the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses").  It seems fair to speculate that Moses was taken up to heaven bodily, given that at the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8), Moses appeared with Elijah, who we are told explicitly was assumed into heaven.
Some Other Old Testament Saints?
Matthew 27:52-53: "the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many".  There is no record of these Old Testament saints dying and having to be buried again.

Who will be assumed into heaven?

At the Second Coming we know that "the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thes 4:16-17).  The Assumption can be thought of as an example of what will happen at "The Rapture".
 

There are also the two witnesses of Revelation 11.  John prophesies that they will be assumed into heaven three and a half days after they are killed: "And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud" (Rev 11:12).

Mary and the Ark of the Covenant in the Book of Revelation

Read Rev 11:19 - 12:5 (and maybe a bit before, to get context).
 

In Revelation 11:19 the Ark of the Covenant is seen in heaven.  If you are familiar with Biblical typology, you may know that many scholars see the Ark of the Covenant as a "type" of Mary.
 
The Contents of the Ark
We know the contents of the ark from Heb 9:4 (and various passages in the Pentateuch).  The ark held:
1. the tablets with the Decalogue, the ten Words of God, which were a "type" of Jesus, the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1);
2. it held the manna, the bread from heaven, another "type" of Jesus, the true bread from heaven (John 6:32);
3. and it held Aaron's high priestly rod, the token of Aaron's Levitical high priesthood, another "type" of Jesus, our Great High Priest (Heb 4:14).
Other Clues
Mary held Jesus in her womb, so she is the ark's "antitype", or fulfilment, the New Testament Ark of the Covenant.  There are also some interesting parallels between 2 Samuel 6 (which talks about David's attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem) and Luke 1 (which talks about Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth).  The ark was in Judah, and Mary went to Judah; David asked "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" and Elizabeth asked "Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"; the ark stayed in the house of Obed-edom for three months, and Mary stayed in the house of Zachariah for three months; David leaped and danced before the ark, and the baby John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth's womb when she heard Mary's greeting.

 
In John's revelation the ark is replaced by a woman who gives birth to the male child, who apparently is Jesus (based, among  other things, on Rev 12:5, "one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron", which corresponds closely with the messianic implications of Psalm 2:7-9).  This means the woman is Mary (it is important to note though that this is a "polyvalent" passage, with the woman being symbolic of not only Mary, but also of the Church, and of Israel).  Since the ark is seen in God's temple in heaven, and since Mary's physical body is the New Testament ark, Mary is physically in heaven (not just her spirit, cf Heb 12:23).

Historical evidence

In the early Church the relics of saints and martyrs were zealously sought after and prized, but no one ever claimed to have the bones of Mary.  In fact, St John Damascene tells us:
"St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon [AD 451], made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven" (St John of Damascus, in Migne's Patrologia Graeca Cursus Completus 96:1).

 
Many Christian apologists have pointed out that the First Century Jewish or Roman authorities could have quickly squashed the early Christian faith in Christ's resurrection by simply producing the body of Jesus; similar reasoning can be applied with respect to Mary's Assumption.  The fact that there is no hint in history of a claim to the possession of her relics is a good point in favour of the doctrine.

Why is the Assumption not much mentioned, compared with other doctrines?

The very early Church was preoccupied with resolving Christological questions, particularly about Christ's incarnation and his divine and human natures and wills.  Once these more important doctrines were hammered out, the Church gradually was able to turn its attention to Mary and explore what it meant for a woman to be chosen as Theotokos, and in what ways it would have been fitting for God to honour her.

Summary

Mary is in many ways the "prototype" of the Church; what happened to her prefigures what will happen to Christians when we die and go to heaven, or at the Second Coming.  For example, she was preserved by God from sin, and in heaven we will not sin; her glorified body was caught up to heaven, and on the Last Day the glorified bodies of all the saints will be taken into heaven.

 
The doctrine of the Assumption is also based largely on the "fittingness" of the privilege given to her by God.  Grounds for this include the fact that she was chosen to be the Mother of God the Son, and her perfect acquiescence to God's will.  Since Jesus, who fulfilled the commandments perfectly, would have honoured his mother perfectly, it is not unreasonable to posit the Assumption as one of the ways in which she was honoured by her son.  It is "fitting" then that she should be given the full effects of the Redemption, which is the glorification of the soul and body.  The doctrine of the Assumption points us toward the glorious promise that awaits us co-heirs of God's kingdom, and it illustrates and reinforces the dignity we have as sons and daughters of God.

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