Dormition, Resurrection, Assumption 

    After being shown a vision telling her the year of the Blessed Virgin Mary's death, given as 48 years after the 

Birth of Christ, Blessed Anne Catherine was shown the number 13 and then two full moons. She interpreted 

this to mean that Mary died 13 years and 2 months after Christ's Ascension. However, her interpretation of 

the vision is in error. She was already told the year of the Virgin Mary's death, the 48th year after the Birth of 

Christ. Thus, the next numbers must indicate days and months, not years. 

    If the Virgin Mary had died 13 years after Christ's death, and also 48 years after Christ's Birth, then the 

length of Christ's life would be (48   13 = 35) 35 years, not the 33 years which was revealed to her by God (see 

chapter 2).

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  Also, she must have, at another time, seen a vision of 14 plus two months, because she also 

stated Christ lived for 14 years and two months after His Ascension. She contradicts herself and Saint Bridget, 

so her interpretation of the vision must be mistaken. 

    The correct interpretation of the vision is the following. First God showed Blessed Anne Catherine the 

number 48, to indicate the year of the Virgin Mary's death, then God showed her the number 13 and 2 full 

moons, to indicate the month and day of the Virgin's death. The second set of numbers was not a redundant 

indication of the year. The reason she was shown 13 plus 2 full moons (meaning 2 full months), but at another 

time was shown 14 plus 2 full months, is that the number of days can be counted two different ways. 

    One can count inclusively, counting both the day of the Ascension and the day of Mary's death, which gives 

us 14 days plus 2 months. Or, one can start the count with the day after the Ascension, that is, count the 

number of days since  the Ascension to the Virgin Mary's death, which gives us 13 days plus 2 months. As 

concluded in chapter 3 of this book, Jesus ascended to Heaven on May 18 of 

A.D.

 19, sometime before 

noon.

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 Counting inclusively, so that the remainder of the day of Christ's Ascension is the first day, there are 

14 days to the end of the month (May 18 to May 31). But if you start the count at the first full day after the 

Ascension, May 19, then there are only 13 days to the end of the month. 

    The count of the number of days must bring us to the end of one month, so that two more full months can 

then be added. So the numbers 13 or 14 complete the month of May, then June and July are the two full 

months. Blessed Anne Catherine was not shown a vision that added another day after the 2 full months. The 

numbers she was shown encompasses the total number of days. Therefore the date of the Virgin Mary's death 

was not the first day of August, but the last day of July. 

    One could also count the exact length of time. From the Ascension of Christ in late morning (on May 18) to 

the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in mid afternoon (on July 31) is 2 months, 13 days, and a few hours. In any 

of these methods of counting the length of time, the answer is the same: the Virgin Mary died on July 31. The 

Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurred on July 31 of 

A.D.

 34, a Saturday. The length of time that the 

Virgin Mary lived in the world from Christ's Ascension to her own death was 15 years, 2 months, 13 days, and 

a few hours. 

    Notice also  that this interpretation agrees with the conclusion that Jesus Christ died on April 7 and rose 

from the dead on April 9. If Christ had died on any other day of March or April (at the start of Passover, 

which falls approximately between March 22 and April 23), adding 13 or 14 days to the date of the Ascension 

(40 days inclusive from Easter Sunday) would not bring us to the end of a month, so that two full months 

could then be added. 

    When Blessed Anne Catherine was shown the number 64, indicating the length of the Virgin Mary's life 

from conception to death, she was also informed that Mary died some number of days short of 64 full years. 

 She reached the age of sixty four years, all but three and twenty days . 

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 In other words, the Virgin Mary 

did not die on the same day and month that she was conceived, but a number of days prior to that date. 

Although July 31 is not 23 days prior to the date of the Immaculate Conception on Nov. 8, there are 23 days 

from the 8th to the 31st of any month. Perhaps this vision of  three and twenty days  was meant to convey 

information about the day of the month, not a length of time. Another possibility is that the  three and twenty 

days  is actually three months and twenty days. The exact length of time from the day and month of Mary's 

Birth on August 5, to the day and month of Christ's Birth on Nov. 25, is three months and 20 days. 

    The Virgin Mary's age, counting from conception to the time of her death, was 63 years, 8 months, 23 days, 

plus several hours.

576

 Perhaps Blessed Anne Catherine was shown the number 23 in reference to Mary's exact 

age at her Dormition. 

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