We unfortunately do not have any video footage of the Blessed Virgin Mary after the Ascension so we can't just go to YouTube and watch a video of her. And even though we don't have a whole book of the Bible like the Acts of the Apostles to dictate to us what happened to Sts. Peter and Paul and the others, thankfully, we DO have some firm and compelling insights into her last years in this world.
Several powerful insights into her life are revealed from the Scriptures themselves. In the Acts of the Apostles, we have a direct note from St. Luke that Jesus' mother was physically present at the very moment of Pentecost when the Apostles and disciples were together praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had commanded them. Mary was there! She was praying right along with them. So, we know for sure that the Blessed Virgin Mary was very prayerful during those last years. Her prayer was quite effective... even able to call down God the Holy Spirit from heaven to earth!
A second text from Scripture comes from the Gospel of St. John. When Jesus is on the cross near death, in His last moments, He sees His mother standing next to St. John and profoundly declared, “Woman, behold, your son…Behold, your mother.” In these brief words Jesus puts John into Mary’s care, and Mary into John’s care. The more profound significance of His words of course is that the Mother of the Redeemer, to our great amazement became the Mother of the redeemed as well...Mary became our Mother!
But regarding our inquiry about Mary's whereabouts after the Ascension, the second part of Jesus’ words is quite telling, that Mary was entrusted to St. John. Saint John immediately notes in his Gospel that "from that hour he took her into his home." Because of this, we can be confident that from the moment of the crucifixion onwards, the Blessed Virgin Mary was always cared for and protected by St. John. Wherever St. John went, we assume the Blessed Virgin Mary went with him.
So, if we want to know what happened to Mary after the Ascension, it would be helpful to know where St. John went. There is a strong tradition that when the Church was persecuted in Jerusalem and St. John's brother, St James, was killed, he fled to the city of Ephesus in modern-day Turkey. Interestingly, if one were to travel to Ephesus today, outside of that ancient city, only a couple miles away, is a quiet, peaceful little home that historians and archaeologists agree could have been the very home of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I got to visit that home about one month ago and I was amazed.
It is understood that the Blessed Mother would have lived there for perhaps five to 10 years until the end of her days. In this amazing place, Our Blessed Mother spent her days in quiet prayer, attended Mass and received the Holy Eucharist from St. John each day, and likely welcomed guests into her home like St. Luke and St. Mary Magdalene and the other Apostles and disciples. And when she had finished her time on earth, as they were taking her to bury her, as Holy Mother Church teaches us without any doubt, her body was taken by the holy angels up into the glory of heaven.
A third place we can turn to in the Scriptures to find out more about Mary's life after the Ascension is the Book of Revelation. There, in the 12th chapter, we see in the visions of St. John the Evangelist the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing in the sky, clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and, on her head, a crown of twelve stars. Of course, this book of the Bible was written by St. John, so we know his witness is true. In this passage, he gives proof to us that after the Ascension, Our Mother Mary was assumed into heaven and was crowned as queen for all eternity. That's where she is to this day.
Fr. John Paul Gardner is parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck. If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to [email protected] with “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.