# At what age did Virgin Mary die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967 "2004-08-15T18:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/1 "2004-08-15T18:01:42Z")
Was it 59 years old? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/2 "2004-08-15T18:10:13Z")
Why 59? ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/3 "2004-08-15T18:16:25Z")
Thats what the priest said today, but I think she died older. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/4 "2004-08-15T18:26:52Z")
Did she remain a Virgin her whole life? If not, then why is she stilled called the Virgin Mary and not something like Mary, Mother of Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/5 "2004-08-15T18:32:59Z")
What kind of priest was this? (Not a Catholic one, I presume…) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/6 "2004-08-15T18:34:27Z")
The dates of her birth and death aren’t recorded. According to the [Catholic Encyclopedia](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm), the best guess is that she died in AD 48, with no guess as the year of birth. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/7 "2004-08-15T18:37:49Z")
I have a Catholic Bible which has an essay on the life of Mother Mary stating that Church tradition has her passing away/assumed into Heaven about 20 years after Jesus died & rose. So lets say she was 14 when she had Him, plus the 33 years He lived, and then 20 more. That would make her about 67. Tradition also has it being in Ephesus, under the care of Apostle John. And in Catholic & Orthodox doctrine, Mary was a virgin all her life (the “brothers & sisters” of Jesus being either cousins or step-sibs from a prior marriage from which Joseph was widowered.) Martin Luther & some early Reformers (including later on John Wesley) believed in Mary’s lifelong virginity also, but many (perhaps most?) of my fellow Protties today believe she & Joseph did have kids after Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/8 "2004-08-15T18:48:14Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > What kind of priest was this? (Not a Catholic one, I presume…) He was a greek orthodox priest. Today (August 15) is the death of Virgin Mary. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/9 "2004-08-15T19:00:16Z")
Or in RCC terms, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/10 "2004-08-15T19:03:53Z")
Nobody knows for sure. There are some who say she died within a few years of Jesus. Some say many years later. Some say she never died at all but ascended to heaven without suffering a physical death. There is a tomb in India that is supposedly where she is buried etc… etc… Oh there are even a few that doubt she ever lived in the first place. Her death is not recorded in the scriptures. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,\_the\_mother\_of\_Jesus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_the_mother_of_Jesus) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/11 "2004-08-15T19:04:10Z")
Today is the [Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary](http://www.wf-f.org/Assumption.html), but > [@](#): > > We have no real knowledge of the day, year, and manner of Our Lady’s death. The dates which have been assigned to her death vary between three and fifteen years after Christ’s Ascension. Both Jerusalem and Ephesus claim to be the place where she died. (By tradition, Mary lived at Ephesus after the death of Jesus.) Mary’s tomb was presumably found in Jerusalem. It is believed that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that after her burial, her tomb, when opened, was found empty. Therefore, they concluded that her body had been taken up (assumed) into heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/12 "2004-08-15T19:05:49Z")
Today is the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin Mother in the Anglican Communion, and the Feast of the Assumption in Catholicism. Thanks to the Julian Calendar, it’s 11 days since the Orthodox celebrated the Feast of the Dormition. All three commemorate her going to Heaven; Anglicans and Orthodox believe she died first, while Catholics think she was taken up while bodily alive. Other than that, what **Friar Ted** said is very much on target. There are grounds for reading Scripture either way, and some early traditions that would indicate she remained virgin lifelong. It might be added that it’s a very old tradition that she became close friends with St. Luke after his conversion, that he painted her portrait (which is supposedly preserved somewhere as a relic), and that the extensive detail about Jesus’s conception, birth, and early life in his Gospel are the product of what she told him. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/13 "2004-08-15T19:06:45Z")
> **[Assumption of Mary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary)** > > The Assumption of Mary (name in full Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) is the bodily taking up of Mary, the mother of Jesus, into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. The analogous feast in the Eastern Churches is known as the Dormition of the Theotokos. > In the churches that observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, commonly celebrated on 15 August. In many countries, the feast is also marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary i... forgot one 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/14 "2004-08-15T19:12:40Z")
Thanks everybody! I didn’t know about the assumption/dormition thing between catholic and orthodox churches ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/15 "2004-08-15T19:57:26Z")
The Virgin Mary didn’t die, but was assumed bodily into Heaven. Paragraph 996 of the Catechism: > [@](#): > > “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.”[506] > 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.[507] > > 506 LG 59; cf. Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950): DS 3903; cf. Rev 19:16. > 507 Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/16 "2004-08-15T20:01:41Z")
Since many of you on this thread know a lot of Scripture and church history, could you explain to me why Mary is such a big deal? I mean, she bore Jesus, raised him, and put a mother’s stamp on his personality. (Although, if you accept his divinity, then he probably would have had the same personality no matter what kind of home environment he had.) But beyond that, she didn’t do much, didn’t she? She was always hanging around with Jesus and this disciples, but she didn’t preach or perform miracles or expound doctrine or anything. Why is she so important? Why is she the “Queen of Heaven”? The way some Catholics venerate Mary, it’s like the religion is all about her and God is a footnote. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/17 "2004-08-15T20:09:44Z")
As our priest explained today, to bear the incarnation of God a very special woman was needed. Mary was conceived without sin and never did sin in order to be worthy of giving birth to the Son of God. In the Bible? No, this is church tradition. The tradition is that at the end of her life, she was taken into heaven, body and soul. Whether she actually died is carefully avoided, that is a mystery we shall learn after death. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/18 "2004-08-15T21:40:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Since many of you on this thread know a lot of Scripture and church history, could you explain to me why Mary is such a big deal? I mean, she bore Jesus, raised him, and put a mother’s stamp on his personality. (Although, if you accept his divinity, then he probably would have had the same personality no matter what kind of home environment he had.) But beyond that, she didn’t do much, didn’t she? She was always hanging around with Jesus and this disciples, but she didn’t preach or perform miracles or expound doctrine or anything. Why is she so important? Why is she the “Queen of Heaven”? The way some Catholics venerate Mary, it’s like the religion is all about her and God is a footnote. The official line is all in [the Catechism](http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/ccc.html). In particular, there’s a whole section on [Mary](http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/church6.html#Mary). ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/19 "2004-08-15T22:24:53Z")
The scriptures are mum on the subject of Mary’s death, so we don’t know when she died. There’s a LOT of stuff said about Mary that the scriptures blatantly contradict “church tradition” as well. Of course she had other children. No, she wasn’t conceived without sin, she was a plain human being like everyone else and needed a Savior just like everybody else. And why anybody would call her the Queen of Heaven is beyond me because that is the name of a false god in Jeremiah that the Jews were bringing offerings to during one of their heathen phases. Mary is never referred to as the Queen of Heaven in the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967/20 "2004-08-15T23:08:34Z")
I thought she didn’t die, but went directly into heaven. At least, that’s the Assumption. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-virgin-mary-die/259967.md?page=2)