Catholic Dogma on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Titians Assunta

Pope Pius XII issued an encyclical Deiparae Virginis Mariae in 1946.  He asked all the Bishops if there was a need for clarification on the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.  The response from the Bishops was yes the dogma of the Assumption should be defined.

In response, on November 1st 1950 Munificentissimus Deus was released by the Pope.  

An excerpt is included below: 

44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: 

that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

45. Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith.

Pope Pius XII and Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Pope Pius also sought the Help of Our Lady.  In 1939 he placed his pontificate under the maternal care of Our Lady of Good Counsel.  He also composed a prayer to her.