Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The feast of the Dormition or Falling-asleep of the Theotokos is celebrated this coming Friday on the fifteenth of August. This feast, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ\u2019s mother. It proclaims that Mary has been \u201cassumed\u201d by God into the heavenly kingdom of Christ in the fullness of her spiritual and bodily existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with the nativity of the Virgin and the feast of her entrance to the temple, there are no biblical or historical sources for this feast. The Tradition of the Church is that Mary died as all people die, not \u201cvoluntarily\u201d as her Son, but by the necessity of her mortal human nature which is indivisibly bound up with the corruption of this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Orthodox Church teaches that Mary is without personal sins. In the Gospel of the feast, however, in the liturgical services and in the Dormition icon, the Church proclaims as well that Mary truly needed to be saved by Christ as all human persons are saved from the trials, sufferings and death of this world; and that having truly died, she was raised up by her Son as the Mother of Life and participates already in the eternal life of paradise which is prepared and promised to all who \u201chear the word of God and keep it\u201d (Lk11.27\u201328).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn giving birth, you preserved your virginity. In falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. You were translated to life, O Mother of Life, and by your prayers, you deliver our souls from death.<\/p>\nApolytikion<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\nNeither the tomb, nor death, could hold the Theotokos, who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions. For being the Mother of Life, she was translated to life, by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb.<\/p>\nKontakion<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The services of the feast repeat the main theme, that the Mother of Life has \u201cpassed over into the heavenly joy, into the divine gladness and unending delight\u201d of the Kingdom of her Son (Vesperal hymn). The Old Testament readings, as well as the gospel readings for the Vigil and the Divine Liturgy, are exactly the same as those for the feast of the Virgin\u2019s nativity and her entrance into the Temple. Thus, at the Vigil we again hear Mary say: \u201cMy soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour\u201d (Lk 1.47). At the Divine Liturgy we hear the letter to the Philippians where Saint Paul speaks of the self-emptying of Christ who condescends to human servitude and ignoble death in order to be \u201chighly exalted by God his Father\u201d (Phil 2.5\u201311). And once again we hear in the Gospel that Mary\u2019s blessedness belongs to all who \u201chear the word of God and keep it\u201d (Lk 11.27\u201328).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus, the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is the celebration of the fact that all men are \u201chighly exalted\u201d in the blessedness of the victorious Christ, and that this high exaltation has already been accomplished in Mary the Theotokos. The feast of the Dormition is the sign, the guarantee, and the celebration that Mary\u2019s fate is, the destiny of all those of \u201clow estate\u201d whose souls magnify the Lord, whose spirits rejoice in God the Saviour, whose lives are totally dedicated to hearing and keeping the Word of God which is given to men in Mary\u2019s child, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally it must be stressed that, in all of the feasts of the Virgin Mother of God in the Church, the Orthodox Christians celebrate facts of their own lives in Christ and the Holy Spirit. What happens to Mary happens to all who imitate her holy life of humility, obedience, and love. With her all people will be \u201cblessed\u201d to be \u201cmore honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim\u201d if they follow her example. All will have Christ born in them by the Holy Spirit. All will become temples of the living God. All will share in the eternal life of His Kingdom who live the life that Mary lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this sense everything that is praised and glorified in Mary is a sign of what is offered to all persons in the life of the Church. It is for this reason that Mary, with the divine child Jesus within her, is called in the Orthodox Tradition the Image of the Church. For the assembly of the saved is those in whom Christ dwells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the custom in some churches to bless flowers on the feast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Services this week which precede the Dormition include Paraklesis Services that will take place this Monday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm Great Vespers for the Dormition of the Theotokos will be celebrated on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm, and services for the Dormition Itself will take place on Friday; the Orthros will begin at 9:00 am followed by the Divine Liturgy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most Holy Theotokos Save Us! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Much Love in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fr. Anthony Savas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protopresbyter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The feast of the Dormition or Falling-asleep of the Theotokos is celebrated this coming Friday on the fifteenth of August. This feast, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ\u2019s mother. It proclaims that Mary has been \u201cassumed\u201d by God into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoral-letter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7983,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7982\/revisions\/7983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}