Today, the 15th of August, is a national holiday across Croatia, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Great Assumption is a holiday when the Catholic faithful remember the dogma of their faith that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after the end of her earthly life, was taken up to heaven in soul and body in the company of her resurrected son Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of Mary's ascension into heaven was proclaimed on November 1, 1950 by Pope Pius XII, and the official proclamation was preceded by a long tradition of celebration, as old as Christianity itself.