The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

15th August

The Maltese celebrate the feast of Saint Mary on the 15th of August in grand style. This feast is celebrated in seven localities in Malta and Gozo: Għaxaq, Qrendi, Gudja, Mosta, Attard, Imqabba and Victoria, Gozo. Saint Mary is also celebrated in Dingli, Imġarr, Malta and Żebbuġ, Gozo, on the following Sunday. The well-known sanctuary Ta’ Pinu in Gozo is also dedicated to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This feast is known the Feast of the Assumption because Mary was given the singular privilege of being raised to heaven with both body and soul.

Talk with the children about Mary, Mother of God.

Ask them:

What do you know about Mary, Mother of Jesus?

Get them to identify stories from Mary’s life that we find in the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles:

  • The Annunciation of the Lord
    • The Visitation of Mary
    • Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem
    • The Presentation in the Temple
    • Jesus is lost in Jerusalem
    • Mary at the Wedding at Cana
    • Mary at the Foot of the Cross
    • Mary at Pentecost

What do we admire in Mary?

Listen to the children’s ideas. Get them to realise, maybe for the first time, that everything started when Mary, a girl a bit older than them, believed in the words of Angel Gabriel and she said “YES” to what God wanted from her.

The Feast of Assumption is God’s prize to this Mother that BELIEVED and with lots of love and humility, kept on living the words she told Gabriel: “May it be done to me according to your word.”

In prayers, let the children mention a story from Mary’s life that you have already mentioned. If the children are very young, greet Mary with the Hail Mary prayer. If they are older, pray the fourth Glorious mystery of the Rosary: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.

On this day we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Mary reminds us and teaches us that we should resemble Christ in everything that we do. This feast is very important to the Maltese because on this day 78 years ago, a ship full of food arrived in Malta and because of these, the Maltese did not starve during the War. The Maltese used to pray a lot to the Virgin Mary and this was a special blessing.

Today we are going to the past! During the war, a time that we surely do not remember but that our grandparents or great-grandparents cannot forget!

Watch these two videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju2pnJGFyig u https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWT8m4I1if4), and then ask your grandparents or great-grandparents to tell you if they remember this event. If so, encourage them to tell you more about it. Pray the prayer the Hail Mary together as a family.

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Saints of the Church. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the holy life, helping you to connect the saints to daily life in a meaningful way.