God called Moses to lead His Chosen People into freedom after years of oppression in Egypt. He then instructed Moses to make a special case which the Israelites carried into the Promised Land. This was the Ark of the Covenant, a sign of His presence with them. Eventually, when David’s son Solomon was king, he built a Temple into which he placed the Ark (see 1 Kings 8: 1-21). The Ark disappeared after the Israelites rebelled against God who then allowed surrounding nations to destroy the Temple and take the people into exile.
The Ark of the Covenant contained some of the holiest relics of Israel: the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron, and a jar containing some of the manna which God had sent as bread from heaven to sustain the Israelites on their journey through the desert (see the Letter to the Hebrews 9: 4).
Why are we discussing the Ark of the Covenant on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Because she is the Ark of the New Covenant. Commenting on the Hail Mary prayer, the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” states: “Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells” (#2676). In her womb was not manna, but the Bread of Life, and not the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant, but the Lawgiver Himself who established a New Covenant. And Jesus did not allow this Ark to disappear. Rather, He brought her body and soul into the Temple of Heaven.
Hence there are not and never have been relics of Mary’s body nor a tomb in which such relics could be found. We celebrate this mystery of our faith, Mary’s Assumption, with the greatest solemnity, praying both the Gloria and the Creed at Mass. Jesus, in Risen Glory, did not allow any of the corruption that accompanies death to touch the body of His Mother. In the Preface at Mass we address God the Father: “Rightly You would not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb since from her own body she marvelously brought forth Your incarnate Son, the Author of all life.”
This is a mystery that has significance for us in our daily lives. As the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” states: “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians” (#966). While Jesus is, as St. Paul wrote, “the first fruits” of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15: 20-23), and Mary is a “second fruit,” we are the fruits of the harvest that will follow at the end of time.