Festive service

Archbishop Lackner on the feast day in the cathedral

Festive services are held throughout the province of Salzburg on Assumption Day. Salzburg's Archbishop Franz Lackner invites you to a pontifical mass in Salzburg Cathedral. It begins on Thursday at 10 am.

On August 15, the Catholic Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary, an important solemnity that focuses on Mary's bodily assumption into heaven.

This idea that Mary was taken to God with her body after her death is not clearly documented in the Bible, but is supported by certain passages and Old Testament accounts. The belief in the Assumption of Mary has existed since the 5th century and was proclaimed as dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950.

In the depiction, Mary is venerated as the mother of Jesus and mankind and as a model of faith and the Church. An important custom on this day is the blessing of herbs, the origin of which goes back to a legend from the 13th century. Bouquets of herbs are blessed to provide protection from illness and harm. This custom dates back to the 5th century.