Dear Okka:

Very good question. Let me do a little background first.

The Marian Doctrines -- Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth, Perpetual Virginity, and Assumption -- are all concerning the nature of the sacred.

Mary is the ark of the covenant. As such, in order for our Lord to reside within her womb, she had to be sinless, untouched, and undefiled.

We learn about the nature of the sacred (something set aside for God) in the Old Testament. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament had to be made of pure materials. It had to be untouched. It had to never be used for ordinary purposes after it was consecrated. It had to not be allowed to decay. All this was required because the very presence of God resided in the Ark.

Mary, as the Ark of the New Covenant, must be all these things too. Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant that held our Lord God in her womb had to be pure, unblemished, and untouched -- thus the virgin birth. Since her womb was made precious and sacred by the presence of God within it, her womb had to be pure, unblemished and untouched forever. It would not be proper to take something that held the presence of God and use it for ordinary purposes.

Most of us would cringe at the thought of the Sacred Chalice that contains the Blood of Christ being used as an ordinary cup for supper. Or taking the vessel that holds the Eucharist in the Tabernacle and use it to hold paper clips. Or take the Tabernacle and give it to my granddaughter to use as a doll house. These are unthinkable blasphemies.

So, would it too, be a blasphemy if the tabernacle of God, that is Mary's womb, was used for ordinary purposes of sex or birthing other children.

Mary was set aside in a special way for God. Her's is a singular and unique grace given by God precisely because she was to hold within her the most precious being in the world -- our Lord God Jesus Christ.

That is the reason for the Marian Doctrines of the Immaculate Conception (which protected her from the stain of original sin), the Virgin Birth (providing a pure vessel (tabernacle) for our Lord), Perpetual Virginity (maintaining the sacredness of the tabernacle that held our Lord), and the Assumption (not allowing the sacred vessel (tabernacle) to fall into the ordinary decay of death).

Thus, all this has to do with the nature of the Sacred.  If you understand the meaning and nature of the Sacred, then the rest makes perfect sense.

Now as to her dormition.

The doctrine is formally stated by the promulgation of the Bull Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950. Pope Pius XII declared infallibly that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a dogma of the Catholic Faith. Likewise, the Second Vatican Council taught in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium that "the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things (n. 59)."

There are different theories as to whether or not Mary actually died and was then immediately assumed into heaven or that she was assumed at the point of death, but did not die. Either way, as the sacred vessel of our Lord God, her body that contains the Ark of the Covenant could not be allowed to decay. She is "preserved from sin and the corruption of death (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary, ever virgin)" (CCC 2853).  Thus, she was assumed body and soul into heaven.

As stated in the Catechism:

966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.

This is why there are no relics of her. Her body does not exist in this world. Until the Resurrection at the end of time, Mary is the only person in heaven whose body and soul are present. The rest of us must await with our souls separated from our bodies when we die until the Resurrection in which our bodies and souls will be reunited and we enter the rest of eternity.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary