By St. Gregory of Tours
(from The Glory of the Martyrs 4)
Then, after the wonderful glory of the Lord's ascension, which inspired the minds of believers to contemplate heavenly affairs by bruising the head of diabolical evilness, the holy apostles of our Lord and Savior gathered with the blessed Mary, his mother, in one house and always shared everything in common. No one said that something was his own, but each always possessed everything in charity, as the holy pen of the Acts of the Apostles narrates [Acts 4:34]. Then they were sent throughout different regions to preach the word of God. Although the blessed Mary had already been called from this world, finally the passage of her life was completed, and all the apostles gathered from their particular regions at her house. When they heard that she must be taken from the world, they all kept watch with her. And behold, the Lord Jesus came with his angels, and after taking her soul he gave it to the angel Michael and left. At dawn the apostles lifted her body on a bed, placed it in a tomb, and kept guard over it, in anticipation of the arrival of the Lord. And behold, again the Lord approached them. He took the holy body in a cloud and ordered it to be brought to Paradise, where, after regaining her soul, Mary now rejoices with his elect and enjoys the goodness of eternity that will never perish.
