🎉 Join us for a fun & heartfelt Children's Message from Oct 26, 2025, at Alive in Christ Lutheran Church! Kids explore jump ropes & barrettes to learn it’s not about our works, but God’s grace alone! 🙏 A perfect Reformation Day lesson for families.

Watch now: https://zurl.co/qWd7L

#ReformationDay #GodsGrace #ChildrensMessage #LutheranChurch #GraceAlone #FamilyFaith #MaranaChurch

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

This is 1 of the 4 Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII gave its definition on November 1, 1950 with his apostolic constitution named Munificentissimus Deus as the Assumption of Mary, body & soul, into Heaven. It’s celebrated on August 15th.

Munificentissimus Deus mentions several Holy Fathers, theologians, & Doctor of the Church who held to the Assumption of Mary are: Adrian I, Sergius I, Leo IV, John of Damascus, Amadeus of Lausanne, Modestus of Jerusalem, Anthony of Padua, Albertus Magnus, Thomas of Aquinas, Bonaventure, Bernardino of Siena, Robert Bellarmine, Francis de Sales, Peter Canisius, Francisco Suarez, etc.

It’s debated between theologians, clergy, & laypeople whether Mary actually died or whether she was raised up to eternal life without bodily death.

In Eastern Christianity, they have an equal belief called the Dormition of the Mother of God, or the “Falling Asleep of the Mother of God.” In Lutheran churches, August 15 is celebrated as the Feast of St. Mary. Some Anglican denominations observe August 15 under a variety of names, including the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin or the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the Passing of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this is credited to Joseph of Arimathea, 1 of the apostles (often pictured as Thomas the Apostle, of Doubting Thomas fame), wasn’t there at the time of Mary’s death. But he gets there late. This brought about a reopening of Mary’s tomb. Only Mary’s grave clothes were found in the empty tomb. Just like her son, Jesus. Subsequently, Mary drops her girdle down to the apostles, from Heaven, as proof of the event happening.

The feast was commanded for Constantinople on August 15 by Emperor Maurice in 600. About 50 years later, it was introduced in Rome & is mentioned in a papal decree of Sergius (687-701), who started a procession for the feast.

Pope Leo IV gave the feast a vigil & an octave to solemnise it above all others. An octave is the 8th day after a church festival, including the day of the festival. Pope Nicholas I placed it on a par with Christmas & Easter. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith.

In the 12th century, a German nun Elisabeth of Schonau was allegedly granted visions of Mary & Jesus. This had a far-reaching influence on the Western Church’s tradition. In her work Visio de resurrectione beaten Virginia Mariae, she tells how Mary was assumed in body & soul into Heaven.

On May 1, 1950, Gilles Bouhours, who was a Marian seer, reported to Pope Pius XII a supposed message that the Virgin Mary would have ordered him to tell the Pope on the dogma of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary.

It’s said that Pius XII asked God for a sign that could reassure him that the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was ACTUALLY wanted by God. This just happened to be during the Holy Year of 1950.

When Gilles communicated the message to Pius XII, the Pope considered this message the hoped for granted to Gilles by the Pope. Pius XII himself said the dogma of the Assumption of the body & soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.

Some Catholics believe that Mary passed away before being assumed. But they believe that she was miraculously resurrected before being assumed. This is a moralistic interpretation. Others believe she was assumed bodily into Heaven without dying first. This is an immoralistic interpretation. Either interpretation can be held legitimately by Catholics, with Eastern Catholics observing the Feast as the Dormition.

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church on August 15th. The Eastern Orthodox & Eastern Catholics celebrated the Dormition of the Mother of God on this date. This is also called the Dormition of the Theotokos, the “falling asleep of the Mother of God. It’s preceded by a 14-day period of fasting.

Eastern Christians believe Mary died a natural death, that he soul was received by Christ upon death, that her body was resurrected after her death, & that she was taken up into a Heaven bodily in anticipation of the general resurrection.

Views differ within Protestantism. They are those with a theology closer to Catholicism sometimes believing in a bodily assumption. Most Protestants don’t believe this.

The Lutheran Church kept the Feast of the Assumption of Mary after the Reformation. They designated August 15th as a lesser festival named “Mary, Mother of Our Lord” or “St. Mary, Mother of our Lord.”

While in Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary is accepted by some & rejected by others. It disappeared from Anglican worship in 1549. It partially returned to Anglo-Catholic tradition during the 20th century under different names.

A Marian feast on August 15th is celebrated by the Church of England as a non-specific feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast is called by the Scottish Episcopal Church it’s a feast called “St. Mary the Virgin.” Other Anglican provinces have a feast of the Dormition. The Anglican Church of Canada’s Book of Common Prayer (1962) marks the day as the “Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Assumption Day on August 15th is a nationwide public holiday in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chile, Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, East Timor, France, Gabon, Greece, Georgia (the country), Republic of Guinea, Haiti, Italy, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of North Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro (Albanian Catholics), Paraguay, Philippines (Maragondon, Cavite), Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, To go, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tahiti, & Vanuatu. It was also in Hungary until 1948.

It’s also a public holiday in parts of Germany (parts of Bavaria & Saarland), Switzerland (in 14 of 26 countries), & Bosnia & Herzegovina. In Guatemala, it is observed in Guatemala City & the town of Santa Maria Nebaj. Both cities claim her as their patron saint. In Costa Rica & parts of Belgium, the day is combined with Mother’s Day.

Prominent Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, & Oriental Orthodox countries in which Assumption Day is an important feast day but isn’t a public holiday recognized by the state include the Czech Republic, Ireland, Mexico, the Philippines, & Russia. In Bulgaria, the Feast of the Assumption is the biggest Eastern Orthodox celebration of the Holy Virgin. In Eastern Orthodox churches following the Julian Calendar, the feast day falls on August 28th.

In the Maronite church, the Assumption of Mary is known as the “Assumption of the Holy Mother of God.” It’s celebrated on August 15th.

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#1May1950 #1November1950 #12thCentury #1549 #1948 #1950 #1962 #20thCentury #600 #687 #701 #AdrianI #AlbanianCatholics #AlbertusMagnus #AmadeusOfLausanne #Andorra #AnglicanChurch #AnglicanCommonPrayer #Anglicanism #AngloCatholic #AnthonyOfPadua #ApostolicConstitution #AssumptionOfMary #August15 #August28 #Austria #Bavaria #Belgium #BernardinoOfSiena #BlessedVirginMary #Bonaventure #BosniaHerzegonvina #Bulgaria #Cameroon #Cantons #CatholicChurch #Catholicism #Catholics #Cavite #CentralAfricanRepublic #Chile #Christmas #ChurchOfEngland #Constantinople #CostaRica #CoteDIvoire #Croatia #CzechRepublic #DoctorOfTheChurch #Dormition #DormitionOfTheMotherOfGod #DormitionOfTheTheotokos #DoubtingThomas #Easter #EasternCatholics #EasternChristianity #EasternOrthodoxChurch #EmperorMaurice #FallingAsleepOfTheBlessedVirginMary #FallingAsleepOfTheMotherOfGod #fasting #FeastOfStMary #FeastOfStMaryTheVirgin #FeastOfTheAssumption #FeastOfTheAssumptionOfTheBlessedVirginMary #FrancisDeSales #FranciscoSuarez #Gabon #Georgia #Germany #GillesBouhours #Greece #Guatemala #GuatemalaCity #Haiti #HolyVirgin #HolyVirginMary #HolyYearOf1950 #Hungary #Ireland #Italy #Jesus #JohnOfDamascus #JosephOfArimathea #JulianCalendar #Lebanon #LeoIV #Liechtenstein #Lithuania #LutheranChurch #Luxembourg #Madagascar #MarianDogmas #MaroniteChurch #MaryMotherOfOurLord #Mauritius #Mexico #ModestusOfJerusalem #Monaco #Montenegro #MotherSDay #MunificentissimusDeus #Paraguay #PassingOfTheBlessedVirginMary #PeterCanisius #Philippines #Poland #PolishArmyDay #PopeLeoIV #PopeNicholasI #PopePiusXII #Portugal #Protestantism #Protestants #Reformation #RepublicOfCongo #RepublicOfGuinea #RepublicOfNorthMacedonia #RobertBellarmine #RomanCatholicChurch #Romania #Rome #Russia #Rwanda #Saarland #SantaMariaNebaj #ScottishEpiscopalChurch #Senegal #Sergius #SergiusI #Seychelles #Slovenia #Spain #StMaryMotherOfOurLord #StMaryTheVirgin #StMaryTheVirginMotherOfOurLordJesusChrist #Switzerland #Syria #Tahit #Tahiti #ThomasOfAquinas #ThomasTheApostle #Togo #Vanuatu #VirginMary #VisioDeResurrectioneBeatenVirginiaMariae #WesternChurch

Church of Norway apologizes to LGBTQ+ community for 'discrimination and harassment'

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/world/church-of-norway-lgbtq-apology

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine of Hippo was a theologian & philosopher of Berber origin & the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. Hippo Regius is in modern-day Annaba, Algeria. He was born I 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in the Roman province of Numidia.

His mom, Monica/Monnica, was a devout Christian. His dad, Patricius, was a pagan, who converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Augustine, in his writings, mentions his identity as a Roman African.

His writing deeply influenced the development of Western philosophy & Western Christianity. He’s viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Church.

Patristics, a.k.a. Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings & teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st-8th century AD.

St. Jerome said of Augustine: he “established anew the ancient Faith.”

In his youth, he was drawn to the Manichaean faith & later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism. After his conversion to Christianity & baptism in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy & theology, that had a variety of methods & perspective.

Believing the grace of Chris was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin & made significant contributions to the development of just war theory.

The just war theory is a doctrine of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just.

When the Western Roman Empire began to fall apart, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City of God, which is distinct from the material Earthly City.

There’s a segment of the Church that follows the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea & the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustine’s On the Trinity.

Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran church, & Anglican church. He’s also a Catholic “Doctor of the Church.” And he’s the patron of the Augustinians. His feast day is on August 28th, the day he passed away. The Church of England also celebrates August 28th as his feast day. In the Greek & Russian Orthodox Churches, his feast day is June 15. He’s the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, & a number of cities & dioceses.

Many Protestants, especially Calvinists & Lutherans, consider Augustine one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation & divine grace.

In the East, Augustine’s teachings are disputed. The most controversial doctrine associated with him is the filioque. It was rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Other disputed teachings include Augustine’s views on original sin, the doctrine of grace, & predestination. Despite this, Augustine is considered mistaken on some points, he’s still considered a saint.

Filioque is a Latin phrase meaning “and the Son.” This was added to the Nicene Creed by the Western Church to clarify that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father & the Son.”

In 1842, a portion of Augustine’s right arm (cubitus) was secured from Pavia & returned to Annba. It now rests in St. Augustin Basilica within a glass tube inserted into the arm of a life-sized marble statue of the saint. It’s considered a relic.

Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim. He was later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII.

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😊 Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Austin Texas

💙 https://nickoprints.com/featured/gethsemane-lutheran-church-in-austin-texas-digital-painting-nicko-prints.html 💙

#gethsemanelutheranchurch #church #churchpainting #Austin #Austintx #austintexas #Texas #churchart #lutheranchurch #texaslandmark #cityscape #building #architecture #art #contemporaryart #artforsale #artist #painting #wallart #fineart #interiordesign #artbuyer #buyintoart #ayearforart #buyart #beautifulart #print #poster

The German Church, or Tyska kyrkan, in Stockholm, at sunset - watercolor 😎👍
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-german-church-or-tyska-kyrkan-in-stockholm-at-sunset-watercolor-nicko-prints.html

#gamlastan #oldchurch #stockholm #oldtown #gothicrevival #gothic #lutheranchurch #sweden #orange #blue #painting #wallart #print #poster #digitalart #art #artwork #ayearforart #buyintoart #buyart #watercolor #watercolorart

Anti-Trans Lutheran Thinks Personal Pronouns are a “Sinful Delusion”

For my own sake, I do my best to avoid the LCMS entirely, but sometimes the world likes to tempt me by dropping pieces of anti-trans Lutheran literature directly in my lap. This is one of those times. This week I had the privilege of reading a free booklet distributed by Concordia Publishing House entitled “In the Image of God: Gender & Sexual Identity.” If you want to spare yourself from a discussion of the unmasked disgust with gender-expansive people that lies within these pages, just know that it says exactly what you think it says, and go about your day. Who wrote this? Nowhere in this booklet or on the CPH website is the booklet’s author ever made clear. All we know about the author is that they are a “middle-aged dad” and not a “twenty-five-year-old surfer dude.” And based on their fervent belief that one must identify as the gender they were assigned at birth, and their deliberate misunderstanding of personal pronouns, I’m fairly certain that the author uses he/him pronouns. See how easy that was to discern? But the anonymous author here would like to have you think that understanding people’s pronouns is a cosmic mystery. In the image of God? I’m getting ahead of myself. Rather, I want to start by talking about the title of this booklet, “In the Image of God.” This part of the title is so large on the cover that you might not notice at first that it has anything to do with gender. But why call it that? Based on the context of what the booklet is about, I can only guess that perhaps the author is implying that trans people are not made in the image of God? This is peculiar because it implies that God is cisgender, which means he has a biological sex. But God (not Jesus) pretty clearly does not have a physical body. He doesn’t have a penis, XY chromosomes, or small gametes. And yet he is described primarily as male because…why? Trying to disentangle the meaning of this title, or the gender of God, for that matter, would be quite the tangent that I’m not very well equipped to take, but I recommend this intriguing video which reinforces the fact that the title makes no sense. Being trans is fake news, or something The booklet starts with the question, “How can this world be […]

https://sheseeksnonfiction.blog/2023/07/30/anti-trans-lutheran-thinks-personal-pronouns-are-a-sinful-delusion/

#anti-trans-lutheran #bible #christian #christianity #lcms #lutheran #lutheran-church #lutheran-church-missouri-synod #trans #transphobia #transphobic

Anti-Trans Lutheran Thinks Personal Pronouns are a “Sinful Delusion”
For my own sake, I do my best to avoid the LCMS entirely, but sometimes the world likes to tempt
https://sheseeksnonfiction.blog/2023/07/30/anti-trans-lutheran-thinks-personal-pronouns-are-a-sinful-delusion/
#LGBTQ+Equality #SocialJustice #TheLutheranChurch—MissouriSynod #anti-translutheran #bible #christian #Christianity #lcms #lutheran #lutheranchurch #lutheranchurchmissourisynod #trans #transphobia #transphobic

The Lutheran Church Goes ‘Woke’: Will Start Excommunicating White Supremacists/Neo-Nazis
Missouri Synod, its president, vice-presidents and all 35 district presidents, along with its ministerium and congregations, categorically reject the horrible and racist teachings of
https://newsviews.online/2023/02/27/the-lutheran-church-goes-woke-will-start-excommunicating-white-supremacists-neo-nazis/
#Religion #ChristianNationalists #hate #LutheranChurch #MAGAts #neo-Nazis #WhiteSupremacists