Orthodox Church celebrates Dormition of the Theotokos

Icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Photo: blagovist.info

On August 28 (August 15 on the Julian calendar), the Orthodox Church celebrates the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos – one of the most important feasts of the Church year, sometimes called a “second Pascha.” The feast concludes the two-week Dormition Fast and reminds believers that for a Christian, death is not the end but a passage into eternal life.

According to Church tradition, the Most Holy Virgin Mary received word from the Archangel Gabriel that her death was approaching and reposed in Jerusalem surrounded by the apostles. When the Apostle Thomas arrived at the tomb on the third day and the apostles opened it, the body of the Mother of God was no longer there – she had been taken up into heaven, body and soul.

For someone far removed from the Church, celebrating someone’s death may seem strange. Yet the Apostle Paul wrote that Christians preach “Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:23), and it is precisely this seeming foolishness that reveals the highest wisdom – the victory over death. The very word “Dormition” comes from the Church Slavonic term for a peaceful death resembling sleep and conveys the Greek concept of “repose,” or “falling asleep.” The feast therefore combines the natural human sorrow of parting with joy: the Theotokos did not simply die but, as it were, fell asleep in order to awaken to eternal glory.

Theologians explain the special veneration of the Virgin Mary by the fact that in her the created and the uncreated came together: by receiving the incarnate Word of God, she became the meeting place of the Creator and all creation. According to Church tradition, from the Cross Christ addressed his Mother and the Apostle John the Theologian with the words, “Behold thy son” and “Behold thy mother,” on the basis of which the Church teaches that in the person of the Apostle John, the Theotokos took all Christians as her children. Her passing, like the birth of the Savior, was painless, and according to the testimony of the apostles, her body did not see corruption. St. Gregory Palamas described the Theotokos as exalted above all creation – the one through whom God became man and humankind received adoption by God.

As the UOJ reported, the Dormition Fast began for Orthodox Christians on August 14 and ended on August 27, preceding the feast of the Dormition. It is considered one of the strictest fasts of the Church year.

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