Catholics believe that Mary’s body is not buried in the earth but, rather, is in Heaven. This belief, referred to as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a long-standing tradition that was formalized into a dogma of faith by Pope Pius XII.

In the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, he wrote that Mary, “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” In other words, if you are looking to find the place where Mary’s body is laid to rest, you won’t find one.
As a mom, I’ve come to understand the Assumption in a new way. When you are a parent, you spend hours looking after the needs of your child’s body: feeding, clothing, bathing, bandaging up wounds. I like to think that when Mary was at the end of her life, Jesus saw the Assumption as a way that he could care for his mother’s body after all the ways that she took care of his. Taking that body up to heaven was one very tangible way that he could say thanks.