Mary’s Death Doesn’t Mean She Sinned

You ask a good question because, as you say, Scripture teaches us that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). While not formally defined by the Church, there is almost universal acceptance in Church history that Mary died.

If the Blessed Mother did die, does that prove that she had sinned, or at least been stained by original sin? No, it does not. The Church recognizes that Mary needed a Savior like everyone else, as she proclaims in her “Magnificat” (Luke 1:47). But she was preserved from original sin through the singular gift of her Immaculate Conception, “in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race,” as Pope Pius IX infallibly defined in 1854 (Ineffabilis Deus 1).

Mary’s death need not be understood as proof that she sinned. Rather, so closely united with her divine Son’s mission, she also experienced death. And yet, like her sinless Son who died for our transgressions, Mary didn’t undergo bodily corruption, because she too was sinless—in her case by God’s grace and her cooperation—whereas Jesus could not have sinned, since he is God (see Acts 2:27).

For more on Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Assumption, see this Catholic Answers tract.