SS. Cyril & Methodius
Bulgarian Orthodox Mission
McLean, VA
Dormition of the
Mother of God
Sunday, August 24, 2008
SS Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Mission
Orthodox Church in America
Diocese of Washington and New York
The Falling Asleep – or Dormition – of
the Mother of God
The Dormition of our Most
Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary: After the Ascension of the Lord, the
Mother of God remained in the care of the Apostle John the Theologian, and
during his journeys She lived at the home of his parents, near the Mount of
Olives. She was a source of consolation and edification both for the Apostles
and for all the believers.
The reverence of the Apostles for the Most Holy Virgin was extraordinary. After
the receiving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Apostles remained
at Jerusalem for about ten years attending to the salvation of the Jews, and
wanting moreover to see the Mother of God and hear Her holy discourse.
During the persecution initiated by King Herod against the young Church of
Christ (Acts 12:1-3), the Most Holy Virgin and the Apostle John the Theologian
withdrew to Ephesus in the year 43. The preaching of the Gospel there had
fallen by lot to the Apostle John the Theologian. The Mother of God was on
Cyprus with St Lazarus the Four-Days-Dead, where he was bishop. She was also on
Holy Mount Athos. St Stephen of the Holy Mountain says that the Mother of God
prophetically spoke of it: "Let this place be my lot, given to me by my
Son and my God. I will be the Patroness of this place and intercede with God
for it."
According to Tradition, based on
the words of the Hieromartyrs Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), Ignatius
the God-Bearer (December 20), St Ambrose of Milan (December 7) had occasion to
write in his work "On Virgins" concerning the Mother of God:
"She was a Virgin not only in body, but also in soul, humble of heart,
circumspect in word, wise in mind, not overly given to speaking, a lover of
reading and of work, and prudent in speech. Her rule of life was to offend no
one, to intend good for everyone, to respect the aged, not envy others, avoid
bragging, be healthy of mind, and to love virtue."
All Her days She was concerned with fasting: She slept only when necessary, and
even then, when Her body was at rest, She was still alert in spirit, repeating
in Her dreams what She had read, or the implementation of proposed intentions,
or those planned yet anew. She was out of Her house only for church, and then
only in the company of relatives. Otherwise, She seldom appeared outside Her
house in the company of others, and She was Her own best overseer. Others could
protect Her only in body, but She Herself guarded Her character."
According to Tradition, that from the compiler of Church history Nicephorus
Callistus (fourteenth century), the Mother of God "was of average stature,
or as others suggest, slightly more than average; Her hair golden in
appearance; Her eyes bright with pupils like shiny olives; Her eyebrows strong
in character and moderately dark, Her nose pronounced and Her mouth vibrant bespeaking
sweet speech; Her face was neither round nor angular, but somewhat oblong; the
palm of Her hands and fingers were longish...
The circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God were known in the
Orthodox Church from apostolic times. Already in the first century, the
Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite wrote about Her
"Falling-Asleep." In the second century, the account of the bodily
ascent of the Most Holy Virgin Mary to Heaven is found in the works of Meliton,
Bishop of Sardis. In the fourth century, St Epiphanius of Cyprus refers to the
tradition about the "Falling Asleep" of the Mother of God. In the
fifth century, St Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem, told the holy Byzantine
Empress Pulcheria: "Although there is no account of the circumstances of
Her death in Holy Scripture, we know about them from the most ancient and
credible Tradition." This tradition was gathered and expounded in the
Church History of Nicephorus Callistus during the fourteenth century.
At the time of Her blessed Falling Asleep, the Most Holy Virgin Mary was again
at Jerusalem. Her fame as the Mother of God had already spread throughout the
land and had aroused many of the envious and the spiteful against Her. They
wanted to make attempts on Her life; but God preserved Her from enemies.
Day and night She spent her time in prayer. The Most Holy Theotokos went often
to the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord, and here She offered up fevent prayer. More
than once, enemies of the Savior sought to hinder Her from visiting her holy
place, and they asked the High Priest for a guard to watch over the Grave of
the Lord. The Holy Virgin continued to pray right in front of them, yet unseen
by anyone.
In one such visit to Golgotha, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her and
announced Her approaching departure from this life to eternal life. In pledge
of this, the Archangel gave Her a palm branch. With these heavenly tidings the
Mother of God returned to Bethlehem with the three girls attending Her
(Sepphora, Abigail, and Jael). She summoned Righteous Joseph of Arimathea and
other disciples of the Lord, and told them of Her impending Repose.
During this conversation the Apostle Paul also appeared in a miraculous manner
together with his disciples Dionysius the Areopagite, St Hierotheus, St Timothy
and others of the Seventy Apostles. The Holy Spirit had gathered them all
together so that they might be granted the blessing of the All-Pure Virgin
Mary, and more fittingly to see to the burial of the Mother of the Lord. She
called each of them to Herself by name, She blessed them and extolled them for
their faith and the hardships they endured in preaching the Gospel of Christ.
To each She wished eternal bliss, and prayed with them for the peace and
welfare of the whole world.
Then came the third hour (9 A.M.), when the Dormition of the Mother of God was
to occur. A number of candles were burning. The holy Disciples surrounded her
beautifully adorned bed, offering praise to God. She prayed in anticipation of
Her demise and of the arrival of Her longed-for Son and Lord. Suddenly, the
inexpressible Light of Divine Glory shone forth, before which the blazing
candles paled in comparison. All who it saw took fright. Descending from Heaven
was Christ, the King of Glory, surrounded by hosts of Angels and Archangels and
other Heavenly Powers, together with the souls of the Forefathers and the
Prophets, who had prophesied in ages past concerning the Most Holy Virgin Mary.
Seeing Her Son, the Mother of God exclaimed: "My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God My Savior, for He hath regarded the
low estate of His Handmaiden" (Luke 1:46-48) and, rising from Her bed to
meet the Lord, She bowed down to Him, and the Lord bid Her enter into Life
Eternal. Without any bodily suffering, as though in a happy sleep, the Most
Holy Virgin Mary gave Her soul into the hands of Her Son and God.
Bewailing their separation from the Mother of God, the Apostles prepared to
bury Her all-pure body. The holy Apostles Peter, Paul, James and others of the
Twelve Apostles carried the funeral bier upon their shoulders, and upon it lay
the body of the Ever-Virgin Mary. St John the Theologian went at the head with
the resplendent palm-branch from Paradise. The other saints and a multitude of
the faithful accompanied the funeral bier with candles and censers, singing
sacred songs. This solemn procession went from Sion through Jerusalem to the
Garden of Gethsemane.
With the start of the procession there suddenly appeared over the all-pure body
of the Mother of God and all those accompanying Her a resplendent circular
cloud, like a crown. There was heard the singing of the Heavenly Powers,
glorifying the Mother of God, which echoed that of the worldly voices. This
circle of Heavenly singers and radiance accompanied the procession to the very
place of burial.
Unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken aback by the extraordinarily grand
funeral procession and vexed at the honor accorded the Mother of Jesus,
complained of this to the High Priest and scribes. Burning with envy and
vengefulness toward everything that reminded them of Christ, they sent out
their own servants to disrupt the procession and to set the body of the Mother
of God afire. An angry crowd and
soldiers set off against the Christians, but the circular cloud accompanying
the procession descended and surrounded them like a wall. The pursuers heard
the footsteps and the singing, but could not see any of those accompanying the
procession. Indeed, many of them were struck blind.
When the procession reached the Garden of Gethsemane, then amidst the weeping
and the wailing began the last kiss to the all-pure body. Only towards evening
were the Apostles able to place it in the tomb and seal the entrance to the
cave with a large stone.
For three days they did not depart from the place of burial, praying and
chanting Psalms. Through the wise providence of God, the Apostle Thomas was not
to be present at the burial of the Mother of God. Arriving late on the third
day at Gethsemane, he lay down at the tomb and with bitter tears asked that l
he might be permitted to look once more upon the Mother of God and bid her
farewell. The Apostles out of heartfelt pity for him decided to open the grave
and permit him the comfort of venerating the holy relics of the Ever-Virgin
Mary. Having opened the grave, they found in it only the grave wrappings and
were thus convinced of the bodily ascent of the Most Holy Virgin Mary to
Heaven.
On the evening of the same day, when the Apostles had gathered at a house to
strengthen themselves with food, the Mother of God appeared to them and said: "Rejoice! I am with you
all the days of your lives." This so gladdened the Apostles and everyone
with them, that they took a portion of the bread, set aside at the meal in
memory of the Savior ("the Lord's Portion"), and they exclaimed :
"Most Holy Theotokos, save us". (This marks the beginning of the rite
of offering up the "Panagia" ("All-Holy"), a portion of
bread in honor of the Mother of God, which is done at monasteries to the
present day).
The most-pure body of the Mother of God was buried in the family tomb.
Christians honored the sepulchre of the Mother of God, and they built a church
on this spot. Within the church was preserved the precious funeral cloth, which
covered Her all-pure and fragrant body.
Accounts have been preserved,
that at the end of the seventh century a church had been built atop the underground
church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, and that from its high
bell-tower could be seen the dome of the Church of the Resurrection of the
Lord. Traces of this church are no longer to be seen. And in the ninth century
near the subterranean Gethsemane church a monastery was built, in which more
than 30 monks struggled.
Great destruction was done the Church in the year 1009 by the despoiler of the
holy places, Hakim. Radical changes, the traces of which remain at present,
also took place under the crusaders in the year 1130. During the eleventh to
twelfth centuries the piece of excavated stone, at which the Savior had prayed
on the night of His betrayal disappeared from Jerusalem. This piece of stone
had been in the Gethsemane basilica from the sixth century.
But in spite of the destruction and the changes, the overall original cruciform
(cross-shaped) plan of the church has been preserved. At the entrance to the
church along the sides of the iron gates stand four marble columns. To enter
the church, it is necessary to go down a stairway of 48 steps. At the 23rd step
on the right side is a chapel in honor of the holy Ancestors-of-God Joachim and
Anna together with their graves, and on the left side opposite, the chapel of
St Joseph the Betrothed with his grave. The right chapel belongs to the
Orthodox Church, and the left to the Armenian Church (since 1814).
The rite of the Burial of the Mother of God at Gethsemane begins customarily on
the morning of August 14. A multitude of people with hierarchs and clergy at
the head set off from the Jerusalem Patriarchate (nearby the Church of the
Resurrection of Christ) in sorrowful procession. Along the narrow alley-ways of
the Holy City the funeral procession makes its way to Gethsemane. Toward the
front of the procession an icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is
carried. Along the way, pilgrims meet the icon, kissing the image of the
All-Pure Virgin Mary and lift children of various ages to the icon. After the
clergy, in two rows walk the black-robed monks and nuns of the Holy City:
Greeks, Roumanians, Arabs, Russians. The procession, going along for about two
hours, concludes with Lamentations at the Gethsemane church. In front the
altar, beyond the burial chamber of the Mother of God, is a raised-up spot,
upon which rests the burial shroud of the Most Holy Mother of God among
fragrant flowers and myrtle, with precious coverings.
On the day of the Leave-taking of the
feast (August 23), another solemn procession is made. On the return path, the
holy burial shroud is carried by clergy led by the Archimandrite of Gethsemane.
Today flowers are blessed in church, and
people keep them in their homes. During times of family strife or illness, the
flower petals are placed in the censer with the incense, and the whole house is
censed. See the Prayer at the Sanctification of any Fragrant Herbage.
(Courtesy
of OCA.org)
Saints
Commemorated Today
10th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 1. Hieromartyr Eutychius, disciple of St. John the
Theologian (1st c.). Translation of the Relics of St. Peter, Metropolitan of
Moscow and All Russia (1479). Ven. Arsˇny, Abbot of KomelÕ (Vologd‡—1550).
Martyr Tation (Tatio) of Claudiopolis (305). Virgin Martyr Cyra (Kira) of
Persia (558). St. George Limniotes the Confessor of Mt. Olympus (8th c.). St.
Kozma of Berat, Evangelizer of Southern Albania (18th-19th c.). Repose of New
Hieromartyr Cosmas of Aetolia, Equal-to-the-Apostles (1779). The ŅPETROVSKAYAÓ Icon of the Most-Holy Theotokos.
May Their Memory Be Eternal
Elena, Archbishop GREGORY, Olivera, Helen, Christo, Radka, Anna,
Dale, Mary, Priest Peter, Philemon, Carmel, Thomas, Vasili, Mary Ellen, George,
Christophor, Rada, & Julia.
(If you wish to add a name to
this list, please contact Fr. Timothy)
Those Who Are In Need of
Prayer
Venko, Tanya, Petya, Vera, Magdalena, Catherine, Bojanka,
Albana, Presbyteras Marie, Miriam, Barbara, Artemis, & Priests Photius,
Joseph, Anthony, and Joseph; Alexandra Yekaterina, Sasha, John, Carmeta, Robert
Michael, and Patricia.
(If you wish to add a name to
this list, please contact Fr. Timothy)
Services (Services begin at 2:00)
Sunday, September 14 Elevation of the Cross
Sunday, September 28 Ven. Chariton the Confessor of
Palestine (350)
Sunday, October 12 Fathers of the 7th
Ecumenical Council
Parish Council Meeting
The next Monthly Parish Council
Meeting originally scheduled to take place on August 14 is being rescheduled
for another date. Please consult
the parish web site for up-to-date time and place. Parishioners are welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting
but are respectfully reminded that only Parish Council members may vote.
QUESTION:
I was wondering why -- and I assume this came before the Catholic/Greek split
-- the church changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
I never realized it until a Jewish friend mentioned that their Sabbath was
Saturday. When I thought about it, I realized that Saturday was the the Seventh
Day on which God rested after creating the world.
Also, the word for Saturday in many European languages is a variation of the
word Sabbath (e.g., in Italian, Sabato).
ANSWER:
The Saturday Sabbath is appropriate to the Old Testament.
In the New Testament -- which celebrates the resurrection of Christ on the
first day of the week -- the central experience of our faith as Christians is
commemorated every Sunday of the year. We find the fulfillment tothat which was
revealed in the Old Testament.
We are under no more obligation to follow the Saturday Sabbath than we are to
follow Old Testament dietary restrictions -- upon which today's Kosher laws are
derived -- or to practice circumcision as a sign of our covenant with God.
(Reference site: oca.org)