ASSISTANTS IN PUBLIC WORSHIP: The
historical functions of those whose place it is to assist the principal minister in divine service belong largely to the development of the various
KULIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Assemani Assurance
orders (see Orders, Holy). In the modern Roman Catholic Church the celebrant at high mass is assisted by a deacon and subdeacon who are usually priests. The minor functions are performed by acolytes, usually laymen and boys. A priest is not allowed to celebrate even a low mass without at least one person to make the responses. In the Anglican prayer-book the clergymen who read the epistle and gospel are designated not deacon and subdeacon, but epistoler and gospeler. See also Lay-Reader.
ASSMANN, os'mon, JOHANN BAPTIST MARIA: German Roman Catholic; b. at Branitz (80 m. s.e. of Breslau) Aug. 26, 1833. He was educated at the University of Breslau, and after his ordination to the priesthood in 1860 was assistant in Katscher from 1861 to 1864, and a mission priest and military chaplain in Kolberg in 1865-68. From the latter year until 1882 he was divisional chaplain at Neisse, and was then provost of St. Hedwig's, Berlin, and delegate of the prince-bishop for six years. In 1882 he was consecrated titular bishop of Philadelphia, and since the same year has been field provost of the Prussian army and navy, being also the recipient of numerous orders and decorations.
ASSOCIATE CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA.
See Presbyterians.
ASSOCIATE REFORMED SYNOD OF THE SOUTH. See Presbyterians.
ASSUMPTION, FEAST OF THE: A festival of the Roman Catholic Church, commemorating the assumption, or corporal translation, of the Virgin Mary into heaven after her death. This doctrine, which the Greek Church also teaches (Synod of Jerusalem, 1672), has never been made the object of a dogmatic papal definition, but the attitude of the Church toward it and the general teaching of theologians class it among those truths which it would be rash to deny; at the Vatican Council over two hundred bishops desired a decree making the Assumption an article of faith. The Assumption can not be proved from Holy Scripture, and is based entirely upon tradition, though the scriptural prerogatives of Mary are invoked to prove the propriety of such an occurrence. About the year 600 the emperor Maurice ordered the celebration of the feast on Aug. 15; and at about the same time Gregory the Great fixed the same date for the West, where it had previously been observed on Jan. 18, for a reason which can not now be ascertained. The Gallican Church held to Jan. 18 down to the ninth century. The most that can be said for the antiquity of the feast is that its general solemn observance in East and West at the end of the sixth century would seem to justify the belief that its beginnings date from at least a century earlier. The word " assumption," at one time applied generally to the death of saints, especially martyrs, and their entry into heaven, has come to have an exclusive application to the Blessed Virgin. See Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
John T. Creagh.
ASSUMPTION, AUGUSTINIANS OF THE (known popularly as Assumptionists) : A religious con-
gregation of men, founded at Nimes in 1845 by Emmanuel d'Alzon (1810-80), and finally approved by the pope in 1864. The rule is that of St. Augustine, supplemented by special constitutions. The purpose of the society is the sanctification of its members, devotion to God, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Church, and zeal for souls. The activity of the Assumptionists has been displayed in many fields. A large part of their energy has been devoted to the poor and working classes, in asylums, schools, and technical institutions. In 1864 the Little Sisters of the Assumption were organized to assist in this work, and later, to secure still more effectively the spiritual and material relief of the needy, three pious confraternities of laywomen were affiliated to the Oblates — the Servants of the Poor, the Sisterhood of Our Lady, and the Daughters of St. Monica. In 1863 Father d'Alzon was sent by Pius IX to Constantinople to take up missionary work, and to-day about 350 members of the society are laboring in Turkey, Bulgaria, Asia Minor, and Palestine, in schools, seminaries, hospitals, and general missionary work. The demands of this field led to the founding of the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption. Perhaps the best known work of the Assumptionists is the Oeuvre de la Bonne Presse for the dissemination of good literature. This undertaking which was attended by a remarkable degree of success, resulted in numerous newspapers and magazines, and almost countless other publications. La Croix du Dimanche had a circulation of 510,000. Dissolved by a decree of the Court of Appeal of Paris, Mar. 6, 1900, the Assumptionists were doomed to exile or dispersion, but still maintain their corporate existence, with a central house at Rome, and establishments in Belgium, Spain, Italy, England, Australia, Chile, and the United States. They count at the present time about 1,000 members. The habit is a black robe with long, flowing sleeves, a black cape and cowl, and a leathern cincture. John T. Creagh.
ASSURANCE : The doctrine that those who are truly converted know beyond doubt that they are saved (cf. Col. ii, 2; Heb. vi, 11; x, 22).
The doctrine may easily be made to contribute to spiritual pride. The degree of its objectionableness depends upon the interpretation placed upon it. It is particularly objectionable when it assumes to deny a state of salvation to those who are troubled by doubts, and in its exaggerated form easily leads to Antinomianism (q.v.). The doctrine was taught by both Luther and Calvin, and has been generally held in Protestantism. Indeed, the Westminster Assembly was the first Protestant synod to declare assurance not to be of the essence of faith. In connection with the belief in unconditional election, the doctrine in Calvinism (cf. Westminster Confession, art. xviii) takes the form of assurance of final salvation (see Perseverance of the Saints). In Methodism it means full confidence of present, not eternal, salvation. In this form the doctrine was advocated by Wesley, who connected it with the witness of the Holy Spirit; and it is still generally held by Methodist theologians (see Methodists).
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