Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons - August 16th 2026

Master of the Cini Madonna - Dormition of the Virgin

In England and Wales this year, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1. Mary in our Christian journey.

Where did you first discover a love and devotion to Our Lady, Saint Mary the mother of our Saviour? In our Catholic tradition it is not difficult to discover her either in image or devotion because she is so deeply rooted in our faith, particularly in forms of popular expression as Our Lady of a title such as Joy, Hope, Tenderness - or venerated as patron of such and such a place, where she is honoured by pilgrimage and prayer - for example as Our Lady of Walsingham in England or Lourdes in France and Einsideln in Switzerland, places where we ask her focussed intercession for the healing of our minds, bodies or spirit.

Her cult remains widespread, even in our United Kingdom where the 16th century Reformation saw much connected with her medieval, cult destroyed and images of her removed. Even so her absence becomes a presence, for the spaces left behind, such as empty niches in lady chapels, and the dedication of churches to her name remain as silent witnesses to some thing visceral and very real in faith. Instinctively we gravitate to Mary as a friend, mother, sister and confidante, there is something tangible about her because she if fully one of us. Mary is part and parcel of our faith journey, a constant comforting presence right until the 'hour of our death'. But to go back to my question, where did you first discover her?

2. Our relationship to Mary

The answer to my question will help you approach in a more personal manner this beautiful Feast of the Assumption, or as is anciently known in the East, the Dormition, her falling asleep in death and reception by Christ in heaven. This is of course something as yet outside of our experience for death and resurrection still await us, but in Mary we touch with the help of others, the great and lasting hope of salvation, and we claim our relationship with her as no divine being but one, highly blessed, of our human race. My own insight is that many of us, those particularly brought up in our faith through childhood, were introduced to Our Lady at an early age!

I owe my deep and rather unsentimental love for her in no small way due to the influence of my French grandmother. She did not fill my head with pious tales or those rather saccharine tales of what 'miracles' Our Lady did for others, rather introduced me to 'somebody' who was an important part of my family. Even now one of the first things I do when I return to France is to say a prayer, almost a hello, to the wayside statue at the entrance to the family village and then when I can, go and light a candle in front of the 15th century image of her as Notre Dame de Fondateur in the great Collegiale of St Hippolyte in Poligny in the Jura, our town parish church.

Our Lady in my own lived experience has always been this accompaniment of loving care, which has never distracted me, nor taken me away from the faith I hold. In fact trying to understand her and how she means so much to so many has only enriched my love of the scriptures, patristic writings, the liturgy and above all of gratitude for the spiritual reality of her friendship. She has never diminished Jesus, only opened my eyes and heart to see Christ in my world, particularly in the little ones.

3. Mary of the Assumption

Many of you may have similar experiences, others different, but it seems to me we are all recognising a basic truth of the Incarnation, that Mary's acceptance of the Holy Spirit in her womb, was the only way Christ becomes human and is an act of selfless love, drawing us in with her, to become with her part of Him. The Assumption is the fulfilment of this connection, a sign and symbol that through the resurrection of Christ all is forgiven, that death is not an end but that Mary's dormition and assumption clearly shows salvation and eternal life is really ours! It is as Paul tells us; " And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:c

"Death is swallowed up in victory". (I Cor 15: 54)

This victory is also hinted at in the first reading and in the responsorial psalm for this feast, where the symbol of the Ark of the Presence is juxtaposed in our minds, with Mary, the Ark, container of Christ our true God who brings to us the New and Everlasting Covenant, by simply being God's humble servant, container of God's love. And that is the point; in all things she points us towards the Christ! The sheer stark quality of our Gospel, where Jesus says in reply to somebody blessing his mother, is a reminder not to overload her with our pious and sentimental extravagances but stick to the essence of her own ministry and mission; "He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Lk 11: 28)

:I want to end with one of the most beautiful poems about Our Lady I know, Paul Claudel's The Virgin at Noon. In it he writes:

"And in her final glory,
Just as she came forth from God in the morning
Of her original splendour.

Ineffably intact because you are
the Mother of Jesus Christ,
Who is the Truth carried in your arms, and the only hope
And the only fruit.

Because you are the woman,
The Eden of the old forgotten tenderness,
Whose glance finds the heart suddenly
And makes the pent-up tears overflow".

These words form the second part of the poem, 'The Virgin at Noon' and here we see him meditating on the uniqueness of Mary, she is the New Eve, giving us through her life and gift, a glimpse of all God's creation in its "first dignity," before the fall. Mary is also God's creature "in her final glory," for in through the falling asleep in death ( Dormition) and in her rising with Christ (Assumption), we glimpse the dignity of each and every human person, destined to share in the Resurrection of the Body.

Lectio

Responsorial Psalm 132:6-7, 9-10, 13-14

R. (8) Lord, go up to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your holiness.
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us enter his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your holiness.

May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
reject not the plea of your anointed.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your holiness.

For the LORD has chosen Zion;
he prefers her for his dwelling.
"Zion is my resting place forever;
in her will I dwell, for I prefer her."
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest, you and the ark of your holiness.

The Virgin at Noon by Paul Claudel

It is noon. I see the church, open. I must go in.
Mother of Jesus Christ, I do not come to pray.

I have nothing to offer and nothing to ask.
I come, Mother, only to look at you.

To look at you, to weep for happiness, knowing that
I am your son, and that you are there.

Just one moment while everything stops.
Noon!

To be with you, Mary, in this place where you are.

Not to say anything, but only to sing
Because the heart is too full;
Like the blackbird that pursues its idea
In impromptu couplets like these.

Because you are beautiful, because you are immaculate,
The woman at last restored in Grace,

The creature in her first dignity
And in her final glory,
Just as she came forth from God in the morning
Of her original splendor.

Ineffably intact because you are
the Mother of Jesus Christ,
Who is the Truth carried in your arms, and the only hope
And the only fruit.

Because you are the woman,
The Eden of the old forgotten tenderness,
Whose glance finds the heart suddenly
And makes the pent-up tears overflow.

Because it is noon,
Because we are in this moment, today,
Because you are there, always,
Simply because you are Mary,
Simply because you exist,

Mother of Jesus Christ, thanks be to you!

Translation by Corinna Laughlin