- autumn Easter, how to prepare for it and how to spend it, Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov talks about the event of the holiday.
The main and greatest monastic laurels and monasteries in Rus' are named in honor of the Dormition
Quickly, as it always happens, alas, the gracious, bright, fine days of the Assumption Lent flew by, sometimes, however, punctuated by autumn rain. Left behind is an imperishable radiance, the non-evening light of the holiday. And now - the Assumption - the autumn Russian Easter, as this wonderful day is called. It is wonderful that our people consider the Dormition of the Lady Theotokos a special celebration. Otherwise, why are the main and greatest monastic laurels and monasteries named in honor of the Assumption? Assumption Pochaev Lavra, the destiny of the Mother of God on earth - the Assumption Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the main temple of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Pskov-Pechersky Assumption Monastery, where these days are so solemn and beautiful that almost all of the people flock here Russia in order to help the monks and workers of the monastery lay out a path of fresh flowers along which the priesthood will carry the ancient miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, in any parish church, dear friends, if you want to actively outwardly express your love for the Queen of Heaven, you can take part in this holiday. I'll tell you exactly how to do this.
Work hard for the Mother of God - take part in laying out a path of fresh flowers along which Her icon will be carried
For the Assumption, the temple is usually decorated with white lilies and roses. Lilies frame the icon of the Assumption itself; in vases, these royal flowers are fragrant with a delicate aroma, creating a special atmosphere. In the center of the temple there is a shroud with the image of the Mother of God, who had just surrendered Her immaculate soul into the hands of Jesus Christ, who appeared to Her, as is typical for the Son of God, who during his earthly life was in complete obedience to His Mother, until He went out for public preaching . So, according to your wealth, according to your desire and will, bringing one, two, three lilies or roses to the temple, you will feel that incorruptible beautiful flowers of paradise are opening in your heart, which will not be touched by earthly withering, because the Mother of God none of Her benefactors, those who honor Her virginity and Her heavenly glory are not left without consolation, without help, without reward. If you happen to be in some Russian monastery - the Tolga convent on the banks of the beautiful Volga, in the Pskov-Pechersky monastery I mentioned, I suggest you take part in laying out the path. In Pechory, they begin this holy task within a few days, and of course, with clean hands, and most importantly, with pure thoughts. If any of you wants to quit smoking, but can’t part with the evil passion that has ingrained itself under the skin like a poisonous larva, if you are tired of your own irritability or struggling with despondency, if you want to gain those qualities with which the Queen of Heaven Herself shines ... And She, remember, completely exuded grace. Her lips were anointed with peace and understanding, her heart was never troubled by any thought of hostility. Friendly, smiling, quiet and taciturn, She knew how to console every person who came to Her in accordance with his age: with babies she was gentle, like a mother; respectful to old people; She brought chastity to the young men with Her outer image alone, for the atmosphere of virginity hovered over Her; she taught spouses to live a temperate life with mutual care for each other; For the apostles, She was a teacher, thanks to Whose instructions they were not embarrassed by any persecution and malice, Jewish or pagan, but with great boldness they glorified the risen Lord and preached the news of His rising from the dead.
So, taking part in this sweet earthly task, in these efforts to decorate the monastery, laying out a path of fresh flowers, pray mentally: “, Lady Theotokos, I want to be Your pure son... grant me the grace to be Your pure daughter... help me return home , into the circle of household members, into your home changed/changed so that the mind is not darkened by earthly vanity, the lips are not mired in condemnation and idle talk, and the heart has finally learned to preserve that blessed peace, that peace and quiet with which it is imbued here in Your abode . Mother of God, I will work a little and decorate this path along which the priesthood will pass, holding the icon of the Assumption in their hands, and You help me, because I am tormented by pressure, its changes, sometimes thick, sometimes empty, ischemia, palpitations, tormenting me and migraine, and gout…” – each of us, dear friends, as you well know, has our own set of ailments, our own medical record. It’s a long way from the doctor, and the medicines are expensive. Of course, we are not canceling therapy at all, what medicine prescribes to us. But on the Dormition days we deeply believe that the Mother of God will stretch out Her invisible right hand to us, touch with Her tender, incorruptible fingers the aching body and wounded soul, and we will gain the strength and strength that people who touched with faith the bed of the Mother of God then gained. in Jerusalem, in the 1st century after the Nativity of Christ.
According to legend, the Queen of Heaven passed away at the age of just over 70 years. I would like, dear friends, to remind you that a few days and hours before the Lord called His Most Pure Mother to the heavenly villages, on the Mount of Olives under the canopy of olive trees, where Her Son and God once spoke with intimate, sublime conversations, with the teaching of Kingdom of Heaven to the apostles, the Mother of God kneeled, watering Her face with tears, prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ that He would release Her soul from the body and would release Her from the visions of unclean spirits. Such was the humility of the most honest cherub and the most glorious without comparison seraphim, who surpassed the angels with her purity and surprised heaven with her moral perfections. Such was Her humility, Her humble self-esteem, that She asked the Creator to deny fallen spirits access to Her immaculate soul. The Queen of Heaven knew that the ascent from earth to heaven is the final exam, a test that you and I will certainly undergo, one sooner, the other later, but we all must die once and appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is why the Feast of the Assumption is very important for each of us.
If we give ourselves the trouble not to be late for the all-night vigil and, like a candle spreading light and warmth, we pray at the shroud of the Mother of God, looking at Her radiant face, contemplating this beauty of lilies and roses; let us begin the Divine Mysteries at the Assumption Liturgy, and having partaken, we will maintain the solemn mood of the heart, we will not allow any worldly malice, vain curiosity, intemperance in food and drink, over-judging the shortcomings of others to steal the beads of Divine grace from our hearts, then, undoubtedly, they will intercede for us at the hour of our own death. Read the Canon on the Exodus of the Soul (it can be found in large prayer books), and you will see how these words are pronounced on the face of a dying person: “O Queen of Heaven, I tremble and do not know where to turn my gaze: evil spirits frighten me and try to drag me down. the bottom of hell, but You, like a meek dove, spread Your grace-filled wings over me. Accept me as Your child, fired from all sides, wounded by demonic cackling and laughter, protect me from these predatory dogs and birds, but send me guardian angels who will lead my soul to the gates of the Mountainous Jerusalem, and through Your intercession may I be worthy to see Christ the Savior and enjoy His face, so that the dark forces are crushed and do not find a single flaw or dark part in me.” This, dear friends, is how we should pray in advance. He who is forewarned is forearmed. The one who honored the Dormition of the Mother of God will himself be honored by the Virgin Mary and will not be put to shame at the hour of exodus.
And if, God forbid, one of us becomes hardened, loses faith, begins to defile his lips with unclean curses hated by the Queen of Heaven, corrupts himself with carnal sins and remains unrepentant, then is it not about such unfortunates that it is said: “The death of sinners is cruel”?
The Feast of the Assumption serves as our best preparation for our own death.
That is why the Feast of the Assumption serves for us, dear friends, as the best preparation for our own death and at the same time gives us hope that God, through the intercession of the Mother of God, will add to us hour by hour, day by day, month by month, year by year, so that we, Having repented of all their sins, they glorified the name of the Lord with deeds of repentance, deeds of faith and love.
Returning to the historical outline of the Feast of the Assumption, let us remember that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary in the Garden of Gethsemane, the one who, from Her tender years, from her youth, from the shrouds of her infancy, spiritually led the Virgin Mary and with his presence marked the main milestones of Her life. It was from his hands, according to legend, that the Queen of Heaven once ate the immaterial heavenly bread daily while staying in the silence of the Jerusalem Temple. Archangel Gabriel, as you remember, the Immaculate Virgin Mary about the riches of God's Providence - that, in the event of Her humble consent, the Spirit of the Lord will descend on the Virgin and weave together under Her heart in the immaculate womb a beautiful Fruit - the Holy Son of God, in whose face it is wonderful Humanity and Divinity will unite. Here too, shortly before the Dormition, the Archangel Gabriel appears to Mary the Mother of God, who has already labored in establishing the Church of Christ on earth, having already visited Athos when the idols fell and demons fled in horror from this lot of the Mother of God. And the archangel handed over a luminous paradise branch, which became a sure sign of notification of Her approaching blessed death.
Tradition testifies - whoever does not believe or wants to check, please read the detailed account of the Feast of the Dormition of St. Demetrius of Rostov - it can be in Russian, it can be in Church Slavonic, it can be in English, as you wish - that this branch was placed in the Zion upper room , near the bed, where the Most Pure Virgin lay down with a luminous face, having managed to convey Her blessing to the apostles, gathered by the invisible power of God in the Zion upper room at the hour of Her departure. The incredible, the impossible happened: it was as if the roof of this building had opened, and in Heavenly Glory the risen Christ, surrounded by archangels and angels, appeared here, stepping on the stone slabs of this room, and received into His hands, like a pure, immaculate dove, the soul of the Most Holy Theotokos. Look at the icon of the Assumption, and you will see: the Queen of Heaven lying down, Her virgin and incorruptible body, and above Her in the mandorla, that is, surrounded by heavenly powers, the Son of God, and in His arms it is as if a child, swaddled in clean linen swaddling clothes. What kind of child is this? And this is the soul of the Most Holy Theotokos, who has never been separated from the Heavenly Father, neither in word, nor in deed, nor even in thought.
On this, dear friends, we probably need to complete our reflection, because we are all children of God. All ages are submissive to Divine love. And best of all, it is best to enter the Feast of the Dormition under the arches of the church with a soul of childlike faith, kindly, joyful, friendly towards everyone, forgetting completely insignificant and unnecessary grievances, having outlived suspiciousness, shaking off the dust of despondency from one’s feet, so that, with ardent, sighted faith, love With trembling and trust in the heavenly help of the Mother of God, approaching Her icon, hear the words of the Dormition troparion: “In the Dormition you did not forsake the world, O Mother of God.”
The Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on August 28. This Orthodox holiday has ancient traditions and history that believers observe to this day. You will learn about all this from our article.
Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Every year on August 28, one of the most important Christian holidays is celebrated - the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Why is the last day of the life of the Virgin Mary called a holiday and where does it get its name? In the Bible, unfortunately, you will not be able to find answers to all these questions, since, miraculously, it does not indicate how the days of the earthly life of the Mother of God ended, just as it does not indicate that she did not die. But the apocrypha tells of the miraculous events of that day.
According to legend, the Virgin Mary learned from Archangel Gabriel about her imminent death during one of her prayers. Then she began fasting and prepared to transfer her soul into the hands of Jesus Christ, as Archangel Gabriel promised her. She also prayed that all the apostles who were preaching at that time in different parts of the earth would be with her on this day.
From the apocrypha it is known that all the disciples of Jesus Christ were gathered in front of the house of John the Theologian, to whom Jesus entrusted the care of her before his death on the cross. All the apostles were brought to Jerusalem by clouds. During their farewell to the Mother of God, a miracle happened: the room lit up and angels appeared along with Jesus Christ. The Virgin Mary seemed to fall asleep, and Jesus lifted her soul in his arms into the Kingdom of God. It was this event that gave the name to the holiday.
Church customs of the holiday
There are a number of icons depicting the event of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Most of them show the apostles surrounding and mourning the Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary lying on her deathbed, and Jesus Christ surrounded by angels. In his hands you can see the soul of his Most Pure Mother. It is to these icons that believers pray on the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.
All-night vigils are held in churches, which clergy advise every believer to attend. After all, this holiday shows what benefits a person is awarded if he leads a righteous lifestyle. Also, it shows the immortality of the soul and the fact that after the end of earthly life a person does not completely cease to exist.
Where is the Virgin Mary buried
In Jerusalem there is the Mount of Olives, which is considered the burial place of the Virgin Mary. It is located in Gethsthymania. Now in this place there is a temple in honor of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, which most Jerusalem pilgrims strive to visit. According to legend, the Apostle Thomas arrived only on the third day after the event of the Assumption and asked to open the tomb to say goodbye to the Mother of God. But the body of the most pure Virgin Mary was taken to heaven, and the tomb was empty.
The day after the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the Nut Savior is celebrated, which is actually not a holiday.
All the best.
Published 08/27/16 20:31Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2016: what you can eat, what you cannot do - read this and much more in the TopNews material.
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2015: what date?
On August 28, 2016, Orthodox believers celebrate the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This holiday belongs to the 12 most important days revered by the Russian Orthodox Church after Easter.
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2016: history of the holiday
The Dormition was one of the first among the holidays dedicated to the Mother of God. This day began to be celebrated in Byzantium in the years 592-602, although the Holy Scriptures do not speak about the circumstances of the death (dormition) of the Mother of God, it is known from Church Tradition and a number of apocrypha.
Believers consider this day both sad and joyful at the same time, because the Virgin Mary left intkbbee this world, but she was reunited with her Son Jesus Christ in heaven.
After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the Mother of God was in the care of the Apostle John the Theologian. For a long time she prayed at the Holy Sepulcher, and during one of them the Archangel Gabriel informed her of her imminent death, presenting her with a branch of paradise as a symbol of victory over death.
Anticipating her outcome, the Virgin Mary prayed surrounded by the apostles. Suddenly they saw a very bright light: it was Jesus himself, accompanied by angels, who descended from Heaven. At this moment the death of the Mother of God occurred.
She was buried in Gethsemane, next to her parents - Saints Joachim and Anna. The Jews wanted to interfere with the funeral procession, but they could not do this: an angel cut off the hands of the Jewish priest Athos. Later he received healing, repented and accepted Christianity.
The Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated for one day and several more are spent in sub-celebrations. Two weeks before the celebration, the Assumption Fast begins, and on the eve of the date itself, an all-night vigil is held in churches.
After this, the rite of burial of the Mother of God is performed in churches, the shroud is censed, after which it is carried around
What can you eat on the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
If the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on Wednesday or Friday, then believers are allowed to eat fish. In this case, breaking the fast is postponed to the next day. If the Assumption falls on other days of the week, then fasting is not required.
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: what not to do?
During the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sharp objects must not be inserted into the ground. On this day, one should begin to harvest vegetables, and to improve the harvest, it was customary to leave a few ears of bread in the fields. And.
Also, you can’t quarrel on the Assumption. On this day you need to give love and kindness to people.
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: traditions and customs
The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos coincides with the end of the harvest, so in the minds of the people on this day Orthodox traditions and pagan beliefs were combined.
In Rus', in the old days, the so-called “Dozhinki” or “Ozhinki” - holidays in honor of the grain harvest - were timed to coincide with the Day of the Assumption. This day was also called “Mistresses”.
On this day, Christians dressed the “last” sheaf in a sundress, and then carried it to the village with songs and placed it under the icons, after which they started a feast.
Basically, signs and sayings about the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary were associated with the harvest season and the weather. According to signs, on this day “the young Indian summer begins, and the sun goes to sleep”, “from the Assumption the sun goes to sleep”, “See off the Assumption, welcome autumn”, and if a rainbow appears on this day, then this indicates that the coming autumn will be lingering and warm.
At Christmas she preserved her virginity, at the Dormition she did not abandon the world, to the Mother of God, she reposed herself to the Belly, Mother of the Being of the Belly, and through Your prayers you delivered our souls from death..
The Dormition of the Mother of God is the last twelfth feast of the church year (August 15/28). It is preceded by a two-week fast.
From the New Testament we know that the Mother of the Lord occupied a place of honor among the apostles (Acts 1:14). She lived in the house of John (John 19:27) in Jerusalem. Later, traces of Her are lost. Some legends connect the end of Her earthly journey with Ephesus, where John moved, others point to Gethsemane. Both here and there there are churches dedicated to the Assumption. The earliest apocrypha, telling about the Assumption, was written on behalf of John the Theologian. Some historians date it to the 5th century, but most place it a century and a half later. Patriarch Modest of Jerusalem (beginning of the 7th century) already knew the legend that all the Twelve Apostles gathered to accompany the Most Pure One on her final journey. The saint professes faith in Her integral immortality, which came before the general resurrection. “The All-Glorious Mother of the Author of life and immortality, Christ our Savior God,” he says, “is revived by Him in order to bodily share eternal incorruptibility with Him who brought Her out of the tomb and received Her to Himself in a way that is known to Him alone.”
Therefore, the death of the Mother of God is surrounded not by sadness, but by joy. Her death is just a short sleep, followed by resurrection and ascension. This faith is shared by both the Western and Eastern churches, but among Catholics (since 1950) it is expressed in a dogmatic formula.
Many Russian cathedrals are dedicated to the Feast of the Assumption (in Moscow, Kyiv, Vladimir and other cities).
The veneration of the Virgin Mary in the early Christian era is evidenced by an inscription in one of the Nazareth churches of the 2nd century, as well as frescoes in the catacombs.
Since ancient times, the Church has seen in the Mother of God the great Prayer Book for the human race. Participant in the mystery of Redemption. The names of Her icons express deep faith in Her cover stretched over the world. She is “The Diligent Intercessor”, “The Unbreakable Wall”, “The Joy of All Who Sorrow”, “The Healer”, “The Helper of Sinners”. She is the refuge of all mothers in the world. It teaches us to live in complete devotion to the will of the Heavenly Father. She who, amid trials, “kept in her heart” divine verbs, shows us an example of fidelity, love and service.
Kontakion of the holiday:
In the prayers of the never-sleeping Mother of God and in intercessions, the immutable hope, the grave and mortification cannot be restrained: just as the Mother of the Belly was placed in the womb of the Ever-Virgin One..
According to custom (imported from Western Russian regions), the day after the Assumption, the service of “Burial of the Mother of God” is performed, during which the “shroud” of the Holy Virgin is placed in the middle of the temple, and then it is carried around the church.
Holy Fathers and theologians about the Assumption
“What does it mean that death has become a subject of celebration?” - Filaret of Moscow
[The Church], as if pointing out, tells us: here is the real, quick, obvious experience of the resurrection in the person of the Mother of the Lord, of which Christ was the firstfruits; by the grace of Her Son and God She became so completely ripe on earth for heaven that the earth could not hold Her body until the time of the general resurrection: behold Her empty tomb and rejoice in the hope of life beyond the grave. The thought of death, hitherto darkened by fear and sadness - from our imperfection and weakness, is now illuminated by the joy of hope - from the power of God's grace. Now death appears to us not terrible or sad, but joyful and solemn; not a destroyer of life, but a guide to the eternal life: when she breathes on us not with the heavy air of corruption, but with the fragrance of incorruption; when directly behind the dark door of the tomb she opens the bright door of heaven; when the stomach promises death; when she, so as not to confuse us even with the sound of her name, was transformed and renamed into dormition, that is, tranquility, similar to peaceful sleep, and into repose, that is, as if an easy shift from place to place, from a place in the visible world to the state of the invisible world . —The power of grace-filled holiness is visible here. She turns death into life, and then sadness into joy.
What an extraordinary sight we see at the tomb of the Mother of God! Usually before the grave there is light and clarity, beyond the grave there is darkness and uncertainty: but here it is quite the opposite. Until the grave - what high dignity and virtue, in what deep secrecy and obscurity! Beyond the tomb - what light and glory, what a solemn tribute to dignity and virtue!
Now rejoice, full of grace, and from now on forever rejoice inviolably; not only rejoice, but also be blissful; not only rejoice, but also be blissful; not only the Blessed One, but also the Most Glorified One!
We know nothing about the Assumption of the Virgin Mary - Epiphanius of Cyprus
Let them search the Scriptures, and they will find no information about the death of Mary, nor about whether she died, nor about the fact that she did not die, nor about whether she was buried, nor about the fact that she was not buried. And when John undertook a journey through Asia, it is also not said anywhere that he took the Holy Virgin with him; but Scripture simply kept silent about this due to the extreme nature of the miracle, so as not to amaze the human mind. I do not dare to speak, but reflecting on the matter, I remain silent. However, perhaps we will find traces of the holy and blessed Virgin somewhere, when nothing can be found about her death. For in one place Simeon says about her: and a weapon will pierce your very soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed(Luke 2:35), and in another, in the Apocalypse of John, it says: and the serpent rushed on my wife, who gave birth woman: and she was given the wings of an eagle, and was taken she's off to the desert, so that the serpent does not kidnap her (Apoc. 12, 13-14). Maybe it happened on her; but I do not confirm this definitively, and I do not say that she remained immortal; but I don’t claim that she died either. For Scripture stands above the human mind and has left it unknown, since the Virgin was an honest and most excellent vessel, so that no one would remain in the assumption of anything carnal about her. And so whether she died and was buried, we do not know.
Mother of God, but not a goddess - John of Damascus
Knowing this Virgin as the Mother of God, we celebrate Her Dormition, but do not call Her a goddess - away from us such tales of Hellenic stupidity; After all, we also proclaim Her death, but we know Her as the Mother of God, because God became incarnate [from Her], teaches John of Damascus in “Three words of praise on the Dormition of the Theotokos,” probably the main patristic work on the Dormition. Here's another quote from them:
Oh, how is the source of life brought to life through death?! Oh, how She who at Christmas rose above the limits of nature now falls under its laws, and the immaculate body is subject to death! For he must put aside mortality itself and put on incorruption(1 Cor. 15:53), after all, Her Master Himself did not turn away from the trials of mortals; He dies according to the flesh, and through death He destroys death, through corruption He bestows incorruption, and He makes mortification the source of resurrection. Oh, how the sacred soul, separated from the God-receiving tabernacle, is received with His own hands by the Creator of the whole [world], rendering lawful veneration to the One Who, by the nature of a servant, He, in the unsearchable depths of His love for mankind, economically made the Mother, truly incarnate, invisibly incarnated. And [all] this, according to legend, was seen by the upcoming formations of angels, who expected Your removal from people.
Oh, the most beautiful departure that the coming to God gives! For, although this is granted by God to all his [faithful] servants and to all God-bearing [people] - and we believe that it is granted - the difference between the servants of God and His Mother is immeasurable. Therefore, what name will we give to the Sacrament that was performed on You? Death? But even if, according to the laws of nature, Thy most sacred and blessed soul moves away from Thy glorious and immaculate body, and [the] body itself is given over to lawful burial, then it still does not remain in the region of death and is not destroyed by corruption - in She Who, after birth virginity remained indestructible, and the body remained unharmed after repose; and [now] it passes on to a better and divine life, which is no longer interrupted by death, but endures for endless centuries.
For just as the all-luminous, multi-luminous sun, when it is briefly hidden by the body of the moon, it seems to disappear, become darkened and instead of shine it takes on darkness, but in itself it is not deprived of its inherent light, for it has within itself an ever-flowing source of light, as the creator established His God, so You are an inexhaustible source of true light, an inexhaustible treasury of Him Who is life itself, an abundantly flowing spring of blessings, the cause and giver of all good things to us, although for a while you are covered with bodily death, you generously pour out continuous, pure and inexhaustible streams of boundless light, immortal life and true bliss, rivers of grace, sources of healing, eternal blessing. What are you an apple tree among the forest trees... and Your fruits are sweet to the throat(Song 2:3) believers. Therefore, I will not call Your sacred Dormition death, but repose or departure, or, more precisely, installation. After all, when you leave the body, you are at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).
“Death is a common destiny, and glory after death is the property of faith, pure and living” - Theophan the Recluse
“Death is a common destiny, and glory after death is the property of faith, pure and living. […] So this is where the key of life is in Christ Jesus our Lord! In living hope! […] Hope is the most subtle feeling. To our consolation, the image of his acquisition is simple and tangible. If you want to be adorned with hope, begin to work for the Lord by fulfilling his commandments, and you will give birth to hope and grow in it. Just as a servant, faithful to the master, is confident that the master has favored him and will not leave him in any way, so one faithful to God cannot help but carry a feeling of His favor and confidence in the readiness of rewards on His behalf. On the contrary, a son loses confidence in his father’s benevolence when he transgresses his explicit will in some way, and the hope of those who lived holy is extinguished when they deliberately violate the explicit commandment of God.”- St. preaches. Theophan the Recluse.
“The Universal Mother is faithful and close to the human race even in the hour of death” - Sergei Bulgakov
The completed Mother of God also presupposes the glorification of the Mother of God, which is Her Dormition. However, the first impression of this event is not glorification, but some humiliation: why was the Mother of God, the holiest of all creation, destined to taste death when Elijah and Enoch passed this fate even in the Old Testament? Why did She Who appeared as the inspired Temple, the Throne of heaven, turn out to be guilty of death? One can here cite a religious-practical motive that involuntarily suggests itself: With Her death, the Most Holy Virgin, following Her Son, passed through the gates of death, which all humanity is doomed to pass through. She sanctified this path and did not want to separate here from the entire human race, of which She is the Matter, after adopting it to Her at the cross in the person of John. And according to the teachings of the Church, the Mother of God meets the departing soul on this terrible path, and her last dying prayers are addressed to Her (see Canon of prayer for the departure of the soul to the Most Holy Theotokos). The Universal Mother is faithful and close to the human race even in the hour of death. Along with this boundless love of the Mother of God for people, we must remember here Her boundless humility, to which She remained faithful to the end. “All the glory of the Tsar’s Daughter is within (Ps. 44:14), it is said about Her in the prophetic psalm, “is hidden by humility.” Is it possible not to be amazed that the Mother of God, in Her great humility (like Her relative, the Forerunner), did not perform miracles on earth, at least within the framework of the Gospel narrative, and only once asked Her Son (and even then indirectly) to perform a miracle in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1). And if Her Son humbled himself to a free death out of love for the human race, then could His Most Pure Mother separate from Him in this? This gives at least some partial answer to why the Mother of God did not escape death in some special, extraordinary way.
“How could She die?” - Veniamin (Fedchenkov)
What is marvelous for Her is not what happened, that is, that She, having died, is alive in heaven. This is how it should be. On the contrary, something else is marvelous: HOW COULD SHE DIE?
Here is a “new miracle”! What a “strange sign”! She carried the LIVING GOD in her adolescent womb and should not have died completely!
But She is “Adam’s daughter,” and must experience the common fate of death.
However, we, the “earth-born,” REJOICE: for this “Adam’s daughter” is presented to heaven, according to the prophecy of David:
- Rise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou, and the Ark of Thy Holiness (stichera on the verse of the forefeast), that is, the Mother, called “Ark.” And he does not simply repose into heaven, as was the case with other saints, but completely exclusively:
She is the highest of heaven, more glorious than the cherubim, and most honorable of all creation...
Why? - Because she was the Ever-Existing, that is, before every creature that was, the Creature was a friend - a receiver...
And this happened for the sake of another exceptional reason: much for the sake of Her purity (stichera on the verse of the forefeast, glory even now).
And such a one will now betray his soul to the Son of God. That’s why we don’t cry, but rejoice: both for Her and for ourselves. For Her: She ascends to a higher state; for ourselves: for now She also grants us great mercy (ibid.).
Divine service for the Feast of the Assumption
« Come, people, let us glorify the Most Holy Pure Virgin, for from Her was inexplicably born the incarnate Son, the Word of the Father; Let us glorify Her by calling and saying: Blessed are You among women, blessed is the womb that contains Christ. Having given your soul to His holy hands, pray, Most Pure One, for the salvation of our souls“- the Church cries today. We gave a quotation from the Russian translation of the Holy Martyr Theophan (Adamchenko) from his “Divine Service Collection”. In Church Slavonic read the Menaion.
Krasovitskaya in “Liturgics” writes about the service of the Assumption:
“What themes appear in worship? First, the miraculous meeting of the apostles who were transported to Jerusalem by air. In the icon they appear to be flying on clouds to the place of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Other themes also appear: the dying conversation, the repose, the burial of the Most Holy Theotokos. Separately, it is said about the Apostle Thomas: he was late, the tomb was opened for him and they saw that the body of the Most Holy Theotokos was gone, that She and her body had been taken to Heaven.
The texts of the festive service very touchingly describe the farewell of the apostles to the Most Holy Theotokos (stichera on Psalm 50):
“When the repose of Your most pure body was being prepared, then the apostles, standing still in their bed, saw Thee with trembling, and then, looking at the body, they were overcome with horror, while Peter cried out to Thee with tears: O Virgin, I see Thee clearly stretched out simply, the Life of all, and I am surprised that the pleasure of future life is infused in Neizha. But, O Most Pure One, pray diligently to Your Son and Your God that Your flock may be saved unharmed.” Peter is perplexed, amazed at the discrepancy: She who was the container, the house, the temple, the ark of the Life of all, is also subject to the law of death. How is this possible?
The luminary of this holiday is interesting:
“Apostles, having copulated here from the end, bury My body in Gethsemane, and You, My Son and God, receive My spirit.”
It is absolutely clear that the hymnographer put these amazing words into the mouth of the Most Holy Theotokos; it is She who tells the apostles to bury Her body in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then turns in prayer to Her Son and God.
In general, in our worship there is a lot of direct speech. We will not find such words either in the Gospel, or in Tradition, or in legends, but the hymnographer dares to compose them, putting them in the mouth of one or another person participating in the events of the holiday. These texts show us the amazing breadth, freedom, and boldness of liturgical creativity and teach us a lot.
The Feast of the Assumption is associated with the tradition of performing a special service - the burial of the Shroud of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This service is not indicated in any way in the current edition of the Typikon, but is mentioned in the Church Eye. There is discrepancy in the appointment of the day of this service from church to church: somewhere the burial is performed on the day of the Assumption, somewhere on the next day, somewhere on the day of dedication, everywhere in different ways.
The burial service of the Shroud of the Most Holy Theotokos is commemorated in the Church Eye, in the edition of the Rule of Jerusalem, which was translated in Constantinople by Athanasius Vysotsky with the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the 14th century. - this is the most complete, authoritative and detailed Charter. We must constantly turn to it, since our Typikon has been edited, revised, supplemented many times and is not as logical as the Church Eye. This service was mentioned there, but not in its current form. The modern Greek Typikon does not know the rite of burial of the Mother of God, but in some churches it is still performed. The service that we know appears quite late and is performed in the temple in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, where this event actually took place. At the end of the 19th century. this service appears in Russia. At first it was performed only in the Gethsemane monastery near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, but in the 60s of the 20th century. has already become widespread.
This service is built symmetrically to Matins of Great Saturday, when the burial of the Shroud of our Lord Jesus Christ takes place.
The question arises as to how legitimate and appropriate this is (not to mention how talented it is), because the Holy Saturday service, apparently, should be one of a kind. But there is another opinion: how good, what a wonderful imitation of such a high example. According to the Eye of the Church, the rite of Burial is necessarily performed in the Churches of the Mother of God (in others “if the rector deigns”) and consists in the fact that at the festive matins, after the 6th hymn, the Immaculate Ones were sung with three choruses - “praises”, one for each article.” .
Many significant days for religious people. This time we will talk about the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2016 among Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2016
August 15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic tradition. This day is dedicated to the remembrance of the death of the Mother of God Mary and Her bodily ascension into heaven. In the Catholic tradition, the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary has the status of a celebration of the highest degree in the hierarchy of Catholic holidays and is celebrated every year on August 15. In the East and West, this holiday has different names. But in general the essence is “Diving into Sleep”, as well as “Taking the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heavenly Glory.”
The story of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is not described accurately, but most texts mention the following plot: after the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven, the Virgin Mary lived in Jerusalem under the tutelage and care of John the Theologian, praying in anticipation of meeting her Son. Three days before the death of the Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her and announced the imminent transition to the blessed Dormition. She called all the apostles to say goodbye. Her body was buried in Gethsemane near Jerusalem, between the graves of her parents and Joseph the Betrothed. Three days later, the Apostle Thomas, who was absent in Jerusalem on the day of Her death, came to the grave, but instead of the body of the Virgin Mary, there were roses in the tomb. Like other holidays honoring the Mother of God, on this day it is obligatory for believers to attend mass and perform prayers.
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Ever-Virgin Mary
In the Orthodox tradition, the holiday of August 28 is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is one of the most important dates in the religious calendar of Orthodox Christians. The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos takes place after the Dormition Fast (the period from August 14 to 27), which was popularly called spozhinki (or mistresses), since the feast of the Dormition marked the end of the harvest - to reap meant to finish the harvest.
Also on this day, schoolchildren receive communion before going to school, so in churches you can see many children being blessed for good studies.
Now you know the most important points about the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2016. We recommend that you also read the material about.
