Pope emeritus Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus last year with the faithful gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo at noon on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In remarks ahead of the Angelus, the Holy Father explained that Mary's assumption, body and soul, into heaven at the end of the course of her earthly life -- though only dogmatically defined in 1950 by Pope Pius XII -- is something that Christians throughout the world have always believed, confessed and celebrated. The Pope called on all the faithful to ask Mary be the star that guides us on our way to meet her Divine Son.
