The Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, following the Feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, was revered more than others by the Russian people.

“Theotokos Easter” - that’s what they called it in Rus'. And this is no coincidence. Through Her Dormition, the Mother of God became even closer and dearer to Christians, for she became a zealous Intercessor for them before the throne of God.

During His execution, Jesus Christ, seeing the Mother of God and the Apostle John, whom he especially loved, standing nearby, said to His Mother: “Woman! behold, your son,” and to John: “behold, your mother” (John 19:25-27). From that time on, the Apostle John cared for the Mother of God until the end of Her life. From now on, we know about the earthly life of the Mother of God only from the apocrypha. She lived in the house of the Apostle John the Theologian in Jerusalem, becoming a common Mother for all the disciples of Christ, and on the day of Pentecost, like them, she received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Mother of God led a closed, hidden life, but many knew about Her great wisdom and came from distant countries to talk with Her. Like the apostles, She planted and established the Christian Church with Her presence, word and prayers.

So about ten years passed, and when the Jewish king Herod began persecuting the Church, the Mother of God, together with the Apostle John the Theologian, moved to Ephesus, which fell to him by lot for preaching the Gospel. While living here, She visited the righteous Lazarus in Cyprus and Mount Athos, blessing it as Her destiny.

The reverence of the ancient Christians for the Mother of God was so great that they preserved everything about Her life that they could notice from Her words and deeds, and even conveyed to us about Her appearance. “She was a Virgin not only in body, but also in soul, humble in heart, circumspect in words, prudent, reticent, a lover of reading, hardworking, chaste in speech. Her rule was not to offend anyone, to wish well to everyone, to honor elders, not to envy equals, avoid boasting, be sensible, love virtue. When did She even offend her parents with her expression, when she was in disagreement with her relatives? When did she show pride in front of a modest person, laugh at the weak, shy away from the poor? Did she have anything stern in her eyes, nothing imprudent? in words, nothing indecent in actions: modest body movements, quiet steps, even voice; so that Her bodily appearance was an expression of the soul, the personification of purity. She turned all Her days into fasting: she indulged in sleep only when required, but even then, as a body. She was at peace, she was awake in spirit, repeating in her sleep what she had read, or thinking about carrying out her intended intentions, or devising new ones, she only left the house to go to church, and then in the company of her relatives. However, although She appeared outside Her house, accompanied by others, She Herself was the best guardian for Herself; others guarded only Her body, and She preserved Her morals Herself.”

According to the legend preserved by the church historian Nicephorus Callistus (14th century), the Mother of God “was of average height or, as others say, somewhat more than average; golden hair; fast eyes, with pupils as if the color of an olive; arched and moderately black eyebrows, her nose was long, her lips were full of sweet words; her face was not round and not sharp, but her hands and fingers were long... She maintained decorum in conversation with others, did not laugh, did not become indignant, and was not particularly angry; , simple, She did not think at all about Herself and, far from effeminacy, was distinguished by complete humility Regarding the clothes that she wore, She was content with their natural color, which is still proved by Her sacred head covering. In short, a special character was revealed in all Her actions. grace".

Struck by Her beauty even in his old age, the disciple of the Apostle Paul, the Greek Dionysius the Areopagite, testified that if he had not confessed the One God, he would have decided that before him was a “beautiful goddess.”

Shortly before Her death, the Mother of God returned to Jerusalem. She often visited those places that were closely connected with Her Son: Bethlehem, Golgotha, the Holy Sepulcher, Gethsemane, Olivet. There She prayed earnestly, and over time, more and more often, for the Son to take Her to Him as quickly as possible into heaven. According to legend, the Jews attempted to kill Her, for which purpose, by order of the high priests, a guard was placed at the Holy Sepulcher, but at the right moment the soldiers’ vision was taken away, and they could not see the Mother of God.

The Most Holy Virgin awaited the end of her earthly days calmly and even with joy - after all, She knew that there, in Heaven, she would meet Her Son and Her God. One day the Mother of God was in deep prayer on the Mount of Olives. Suddenly Archangel Gabriel appeared before Her and informed Her that in three days Her earthly life would end, that the Lord was pleased to take Her to Himself. To commemorate his words, the archangel presented the Mother of God with a luminous branch of paradise - a symbol of victory over death and decay - (Dmitry of Rostov clarifies that it was a branch from a date palm), and ordered her to carry it in front of the coffin during burial. With the Heavenly message, the Mother of God returned to Bethlehem with three virgins who served Her (Zipporah, Ebigea and Zoila). The Mother of God, having come home, joyfully informed Her betrothed son John about this, and he informed the Apostle James and through him the entire Church of Jerusalem. The Mother of God ordered to bury Herself in Gethsemane, next to the graves of Her righteous parents and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

On the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God, miraculously, almost all the apostles, who had previously dispersed to different countries to preach the Word of God, were gathered in Jerusalem to bid farewell to Her. Later than everyone else, the Apostle Paul arrived with his disciples: Dionysius the Areopagite, Hierotheus, Timothy and others from among the 70 apostles. She called each of them to Her by name and blessed them. Only Apostle Thomas was absent.

The third hour came when the Dormition of the Mother of God was to take place. Many candles were burning. The holy apostles chanting surrounded the splendidly decorated bed on which the Most Pure Virgin Mary reclined. Suddenly an unspeakable light shone, darkening the lamps; The roof of the upper room opened, and Christ Himself descended with many angels. The Most Holy Theotokos turned to the Lord with a prayer of gratitude and asked to bless all those who honor Her memory. She also prayed to Her Son to protect Her from the dark satanic power, from airy ordeals. Then the Mother of God joyfully surrendered Her soul into the hands of the Lord, and immediately angelic singing was heard.

There are many versions regarding the age of the Mother of God at the time of Her Dormition, but it is most likely that She lived about 72 years and died about 57 A.D.

From Her fragrant body the sick immediately began to receive healing. The solemn transfer of the Most Pure Body from Jerusalem to Gethsemane began. Peter, Paul and James, together with the other apostles, carried the bed of the Mother of God on their shoulders, and Saint John the Theologian walked ahead with a heavenly shining branch. The Apostle Peter began singing the psalm “In the exodus of Israel from Egypt,” and solemn hymns began to sound. A cloud circle in the form of a crown appeared above the bed, illuminated with radiance. This crown floated over the procession all the way to the burial place. The procession was also followed by Jews who did not believe in Christ.

The high priests sent their servants to disperse the procession, kill the apostles and burn the body of the Mother of God, but the angels struck the blasphemers with blindness. The Jewish priest Athonia (according to other legends, Jephonios or Zephaniah), who tried to overturn the bed of the Mother of God, was punished by an angel who cut off his hands. Seeing such a miracle, Affonia repented and with faith confessed the greatness of the Mother of God. He received healing and joined the host of those accompanying the body of the Mother of God, becoming a zealous follower of Christ. Those who were blind also repented and received their sight.

For three days the apostles remained at the tomb of the Mother of God, chanting psalms. On the fourth day, the absent Apostle Thomas returned to Jerusalem and was very sad that he could not say goodbye and bow to the Mother of God. The apostles, taking pity on him, decided to go and roll away the stone from the grave cave to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to the Mother of God. But, to their amazement, the body of the Virgin Mary was not in the cave, only funeral clothes remained. Returning home, the amazed apostles fervently prayed to God that He would reveal to them what had become of the body of the Mother of God. And through their prayers a miracle happened.

In the evening of the same day, the Mother of God Herself appeared to them and said: “Rejoice! I am with you all the days; and I will always be your prayer book before God.” This made the apostles and everyone with them so happy that they lifted up part of the bread supplied for the meal in memory of the Savior (“part of the Lord”) and exclaimed: “Most Holy Mother of God, help us.” This marked the beginning of the rite of offering panagia - the custom of offering part of the bread in honor of the Mother of God, which is still preserved in monasteries. That is why the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not a reason for sadness, but a holiday. After all, “with you” means that She is also with all of us “always”...

The Lord, in His special discretion, delayed the arrival of Saint Thomas on the day of the repose of the Most Pure Theotokos, so that the tomb would be opened for him, and the church would thus be assured of the resurrection of the Mother of God, just as earlier, through the unbelief of the same Apostle, she was assured of the resurrection of Christ. There is an Orthodox tradition that on the third day after the burial, the Mother of God appeared to the Apostle Thomas and threw Her belt from Heaven to him as a consolation.

Since then the Church has been celebrating this event. Everything in it is a memory of the earthly life of the Mother of God, sadness and joy, because this is also the day of Her birth for eternal life, where She is placed above the ranks of angels, the day of testimony that the promises of the Lord are immutable, about life and the miracle of the Resurrection...

The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God has been established by the Church since ancient times. In the 4th century it was already celebrated everywhere in Byzantium. At the request of the Byzantine Emperor Mauritius, who defeated the Persians on August 15, on the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God (since 595), the holiday became a church-wide holiday. The main purpose of establishing the holiday was to glorify the Mother of God and Her Dormition. Towards this main goal in the IV-V centuries. another is added - denunciation of the errors of heretics who encroached on the dignity of the Mother of God, in particular, the errors of the Collyridians, heretics of the 4th century who denied the human nature of the Blessed Virgin (as a result of which they denied Her bodily death).

The death of the Blessed Virgin Mary is called Dormition because She “as if fell asleep for a short time, and, as if from sleep, rose up to eternal life,” because death, as the return of its dust to the earth, and the spirit to God, did not touch Her. She only fell asleep, only to awaken at the same moment to an ever-blessed life and, after three days, with an incorruptible body, to move into a heavenly, incorruptible dwelling.

Place of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem

According to legend, before her death, the Most Holy Theotokos lived in the house of the Apostle John the Theologian. This is where she died.

In 1910, on this site, on the top of Mount Zion, a German Benedictine abbey was built - the Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.

In the crypt of the temple, in the center of the hall there is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary reclining on a stone.

Tomb of the Virgin Mary

The most pure body of the Mother of God was buried, as She asked, in the tomb where her parents Joachim and Anna, as well as Joseph the Betrothed, had previously been buried. The tomb of the Virgin Mary is located in Gethsemane, at the foot of the western slope of the Mount of Olives, in the Kidron Valley, in Jerusalem (East Jerusalem). In the 5th century, a temple was erected at the burial site. There is a legend that earlier St. Equal to the Apostles Helena built a basilica here. In 614, the temple was destroyed, but the tomb of the Mother of God was preserved.

In 681, the tomb of the Mother of God was opened by decision of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. According to legend, a belt and burial shrouds were found in it.

Nowadays the cave church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary stands above the tomb.

Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Gethsemane, 12th century facade

Much of the modern building dates back to Crusader times. This is an underground temple, with 50 steps leading to it, with chapels of Sts. Godfathers Joachim and Anna and Joseph the Betrothed, located on the sides of the stairs.

Staircase, view from the entrance to the church

The temple has a cruciform shape: in the center is the tomb of the Virgin Mary with two entrances, at the end of the cave there is an altar. In the stone ark is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem in Russian writing.

Tomb of the Virgin Mary (edicule), view from the west. To the left of the entrance is the Armenian throne

The temple belongs to the Greeks and Armenians. It is here, according to tradition, before the Feast of the Dormition from Little Gethsemane near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that the Orthodox carry the Shroud of the Most Holy Theotokos in a procession along the same path as the apostles once carried the body of the Mother of God to burial.

Veneration of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rus'

The Holy Patriarch of Jerusalem Juvenal (420-458) confirmed before the Emperor Marcian (450-457) the authenticity of the legend about the miraculous ascension of the Mother of God into Heaven and sent to his wife, Saint Pulcheria († 453; commemorated September 10), the funeral shrouds of the Mother of God, which he took from Her coffin. Saint Pulcheria placed these shrouds in the Blachernae Church. In 866, the Russian fleet approached Constantinople, and the city was besieged by pagans. The Emperor and Patriarch of Constantinople prayed all night in the Blachernae Church, and then immersed the funeral robe of the Mother of God into the sea. Suddenly a storm arose and scattered the Russian ships in different directions. Rus' suffered a defeat, which marked the victory of Christianity.

It was this event that contributed to the special veneration by Russians of the Mother of God, her Dormition and vestments. The Mother of God became the patroness of the Russian army, and the Feast of the Intercession, dedicated to the robes of the Mother of God, was a holiday that until the 19th century. celebrated only in Russia.

The Blachernae Monastery itself, the Intercession and the Dormition acquired a special “military” and “protective” significance for Rus'. That is why, since the time of Saint Prince Vladimir, the main churches of the main cities of Rus' were dedicated specifically to the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: the cathedral Kiev temple, the Church of the Tithes.

Likewise, the construction of St. Sophia Cathedrals, adopted from Byzantium, gradually turned into the tradition of building cathedrals in honor of the Assumption. Among the famous Assumption churches and monasteries today we can name Holy Dormition Kiev-Pecherskaya And Pochaev Lavra, Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery, Pyukhtitsky Dormition Convent, Assumption Cathedrals in Vladimir, in the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, Dormition Church of the Novodevichy Convent .

Built in the 15th century by the outstanding architect Aristotle, the majestic Fioravanti Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin became the main cathedral of the Russian land. Here, in front of the most revered by Russians, the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, weddings for the great reign and the kingdom, and the coronations of emperors took place. The ritual of “installing” metropolitans and patriarchs was immediately performed.

Celebration of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in Greece

In Greece, the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated almost as widely as Easter. At the center of the celebrations Tinos island, and him miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Tinos" : miraculous healings, volleys from ship cannons, flowers and flags, military bands and religious processions.

A solemn religious procession leaves the temple, the icon is placed on a stretcher carried by sailors

Everyone passing under the icon tries to touch it with their hand or put some object to the icon.

Under the numerous gifts with which believers decorated the icon in gratitude for the miracles, it is difficult to discern the plot of the icon - the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary with the good news. Nevertheless, every year on the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, thousands of people flock to the Greek island of Tinos to make the journey on their knees from the port to the temple and touch the miraculous icon.

There is a direct road from the port to the temple on the hill. Along the side of the road there is a path made of carpet-like material especially for pilgrims. Sometimes parents take sick children on their backs so that they can receive healing.

In Greece on the island of Kefalonia , or “island of miracles”, as it is called, every year on August 15 to the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the village of Markopoulo, where miraculous icon of Panagia Fedus (translated as “Our Lady of the Serpents”), poisonous snakes crawl. Believers call them “snakes of the Virgin Mary” because on this day they are harmless. They do not exceed one meter in length; they have a cross on their heads, as well as on the tip of their tongue. According to tradition, if snakes do not appear, it is a bad sign. This happened twice - in 1940 before the outbreak of World War II in Greece and in 1953 - before the devastating earthquake.

Villagers notice snakes on the eve of the holiday, often gather with the priest in advance, read prayers and wait for the snakes to appear. Little snakes crawl here, and they are brought to the temple for the Divine Service. They are collected, put on the neck and stroked. Orthodox Greeks believe that this touch brings happiness. During the festive service, snakes are placed on the icon of the Mother of God, and they calmly lie there throughout the not-so-short service. According to ancient tradition, snakes are left in the church all night.

Snakes are mentioned in Christian books, mostly with a negative connotation, but Kefalonia is practically the only place in the world where these reptiles are, as it were, rehabilitated in the eyes of Christian believers.

Troparion, tone 1
At Christmas you preserved your virginity, at your dormition you did not forsake the world, O Mother of God; You reposed to the belly, Mother of the Being of the Belly, and through Your prayers you delivered our souls from death.

Kontakion, tone 2
In prayers, the never-sleeping Mother of God and in intercessions, the immutable Hope of the grave and mortification cannot be restrained: just as the Mother of the Belly was placed in the womb of the ever-virgin One.

Looking at the church calendar on August 28, you will notice this date highlighted in color. Looking at the description, it is easy to find out that the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is celebrated, but what does the word “dormition” mean? What is death and resurrection of the soul? Perhaps many do not know the answer to this, as well as the history of the holiday itself. Let's try to figure this out together.

Church traditions

From the words of Holy Scripture you can learn that the Mother of God, after the ascension of her son Jesus Christ into heaven, remained in the care of the saint

Many church traditions explain the Dormition in different ways, what the resurrection of the soul is, and the emergence of the celebration of death. The customs and rules for celebrating the Dormition are poorly covered in the scriptures, as are all the main points of the end of the earthly journey of the Mother of God.

Also, from the entire sacred history of the New Testament, everyone knows how highly the Mother of the Lord was revered among the apostles when she was with them in Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, very few manuscripts from that time have reached us. Basically these creations were collected in the Holy Gospel and the New Testament.

Thanks to new archaeological devices, after numerous excavations in Jerusalem, the works of the saint were finally found

These documents mention the life of the Mother of God, show her Dormition itself, what kind of event this was for the people and the whole history of that period.

This apocrypha (a secret written history that was not included in the canon of the Bible) says that after the massive persecution of King Herod Agrippa against the Church, the Mother of God, together with John the Theologian, moved for a while to the city of Ephesus.

When the persecution was stopped, the Mother of God, together with John, returned to Jerusalem, where she settled in his house on

The history of the holiday

As the legend says, when one day the Mother of God went to the Mount of Olives to pray, she met the Archangel Gabriel there, in whose hands was a branch of a paradise palm tree. He preached to the Virgin Mary that three days later she would repose into Heaven, and the Lord would lift her, his own mother, into the Kingdom of Heaven, in which she would remain with him forever.

Upon returning to the house, the Mother of God told Saint John about her meeting with the Archangel Gabriel and her future death.

In her will, she asked to be buried in Gethsemane, next to her parents and her betrothed, the righteous Joseph.

In addition, the will indicated that two of her robes should be given to poor girls, who served her with great affection and hard work.

Presentation of the Virgin Mary to the Lord

The presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos itself was supposed to occur on the 15th day of August at the third hour of the day. At this time, candles were lit in the temple, and Mary lay on a beautiful decorated bed. In an instant, a sea of ​​light flooded the Temple, in which Jesus Christ himself appeared with the angels, archangels and all the heavenly powers, and he approached the Virgin Mary.

Seeing the Son, the Most Holy Virgin joyfully spoke to him, and the Lord with trepidation and pride took her to Himself, and she, hearing his approval, gave her most pure soul to Her only Son.

According to church beliefs, after the death of the Mother of God, the apostles placed her body in a tomb and blocked the entrance to it with a large stone. Three days after his death, they were joined by the Apostle Thomas, who tearfully begged and begged for a chance to say goodbye to the Blessed Virgin Mary. At his request, the apostles rolled away the stone and entered the cave with it, but what was their surprise when they found only the Virgin’s robe, and she herself was not there, and a pleasant fresh smell of herbs came from the cave itself.

Celebration in temples

Since ancient times, it was customary to celebrate this holiday with a morning service, to which believers brought cereal seeds for illumination and blessing. This happened after the night service at sunrise.

People call the Most Holy Theotokos the Lady, and from this the feast of the Assumption bears another name, Lady of the Day, Lady of the Day. Among the people it is customary to call the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God the Second Most Pure, and the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos the First Most Pure.

This holiday was celebrated with a great feast, with home-brewed beer, sweet dishes and pies.

So, one of the great and last of the twelve feasts of the church calendar in August is the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The spiritual meaning of the celebration

Such a phenomenon as death has always caused fear, hesitation, surprise and trepidation in the soul of every person.

On the path to eternal life, everyone needs to go through the path of learning, experiencing and joy in ordinary worldly life. It is the righteousness of today's life, our actions and deeds that influence the future eternal life of peace and happiness. This concept of death is the basis of the Christian faith.

If we remember the Holy Scripture, then death is not something noble, but, on the contrary, a process of the Fall, the disobedience of the human soul to the will of God.

According to the teaching of the Church, the concept of death is the Assumption. What is death and why is it needed? We can say with confidence that our Creator did not want human death at all, but people predicted it for themselves through constant falls and disobedience.

But even in such a situation, the gates to Paradise are opening before us, where those who to this day do not violate the laws of God, who constantly strive to do good and bring joy and help to others, will be next to the Creator.

Celebration of the death of the Virgin Mary

On icons depicting the Dormition of the Mother of God, Christ always rises next to her bed, in whose hands is a small figurine of a baby, symbolizing the soul of the deceased Mother of God. This child’s figurine is the prototype of the rebirth of the Soul after death, which its Son came to accept.

Historical information

In writings about the liturgical practices of the ancient Greek Church, the first references to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary appeared at the end of the 6th century.

Emperor Mauritius, who ruled at that time, made this day a general church day. In most churches, this day was celebrated on January 18, but according to some experts who study the writing of that period, it was Mauritius that moved its celebration to August, on the Day of Victory over the Persians.

It falls just at the end of the Dormition Lent, which lasted from August 1 to 15 according to the old style and from August 14 to 28 according to the new style, and the 28 itself is the Assumption.

Preparatory period and celebration itself

As mentioned earlier, the Feast of the Assumption begins with a very strict two-week fast. This is one of the four annual fasts, and it is considered one of the most ancient and strict. Even eating fish is allowed once during the entire fast and on a certain day.

The clergy celebrate in blue robes. The church liturgy begins in the evening and lasts all night, and from the very morning the Liturgy of the Assumption itself is celebrated. On the third day, the shroud is brought out, symbolizing the robe of the Virgin Mary, similar to the shroud of Christ. The only difference here is the image on it of the Mother of God lying in a coffin.

According to the custom of the Church, at the morning liturgy before the burial of the shroud, prayers of praise are read, a kontakion and troparion are sung, and then a solemn procession with the shroud follows around the temple.

As can be seen from everything that has been said, the significance of the holiday is very great. From his story we can conclude that the righteous path of life is always rewarded by our Creator. All the incredible miracles of the ascension give hope to every believer to find eternal life after death.

All the prescribed canons and stichera of the holiday emphasize the greatness and joy of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. There is no place for grief and sorrow about death, but there is great happiness of victory over it.

People spend the entire day of August 28 (Assumption) in prayer and joy, eating cooked dishes at the family table after a long night liturgy

Description of the holiday

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary It is celebrated on August 28 (New Art.) and has 1 day of pre-celebration and 8 days of post-celebration.

• Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary St. Theophan the Recluse
• Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy
• Schema-Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov)
• Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Archimandrite Rafail Karelin
• priest Konstantin Parkhomenko
• M. Barsov

After the Lord accomplished the salvation of the human race and His ascension into heaven, the most pure and blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and Intercessor of our salvation, lived among the first Christians for quite a long time; She was filled with great spiritual joy, looking at the expansion of the Church of Christ throughout the entire universe and at the spread to the ends of the earth of the glory of the Son and His God; In these early days of the life of the Christian Church, the Most Holy Theotokos saw with her own eyes the fulfillment of Her words that all generations would please Her - Christians who glorified Christ God everywhere also pleased His Most Pure Mother, who then still dwelt on earth.

The Most Holy Theotokos approached Her most honorable and glorious Dormition, already filled with days; She herself wanted to quickly move away from the body and enter into God. Her soul was always embraced by one incessant desire to see the sweet face of Her Son, sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven (); burning for Him with incomparably greater love than the Seraphim. The Mother of God, pouring streams of tears from her holy eyes, warmly prayed to the Lord that He would take Her from this vale of tears to the blissful abodes above. Living in the house of St. John the Theologian in Zion, She often retired from here to the Mount of Olives, the place of the ascension of Her Son and Lord into heaven; here alone She offered Him Her earnest prayers. And then one day, during such a solitary prayer to the Mother of God on the Mount of Olives that the Lord would quickly send Her to death and take Her to heaven, the Archangel Gabriel, who served the Most Holy Theotokos from the first days of Her childhood, appeared before Her: he nourished Her in the Holy of Holies, brought Her the good news of the birth of the Son of God from Her (), and relentlessly guarded Her throughout Her life on earth. With a bright face, the heavenly messenger conveyed to the Most Holy Theotokos the words of the Lord joyful for Her, that soon, after three days, She would depart to Christ God. Announcing the hour of death to the Most Pure Virgin, the archangel told Her not to be embarrassed, but to joyfully accept his words, for they call Her to immortal life to the eternal King of glory:

Your Son and our God, - said the archangel, - with the archangels and angels, cherubim and seraphim, with all the heavenly spirits and souls of the righteous, will accept You, His Mother, into the heavenly kingdom, so that You will live and reign with Him for an endless time.

As a sign of the triumph of the Mother of God over death, that is, that physical death will not have power over Her, just as spiritual death did not have power over Her, and that She, as if having fallen asleep in death for a short time, will soon, having awakened, rise up and, having driven away from Her death, as if slumbering from the eyes, will see in the light of the face of the Lord immortal glory and life, where he will depart with joyful cries with spiritual joy - as a sign of all this, the archangel handed the Blessed Virgin a paradise branch: it was, shining with the light of heavenly grace, a branch from a date palm ; she was to be, as the archangel said, carried before the bed of the Mother of God, when Her most honorable and pure body was carried for burial. The Most Blessed Mother of God was filled with unspeakable joy and spiritual delight, for what could be more joyful and pleasant for Her than living in heaven with Her Son and God and the bliss of contemplating His sweet face? Falling to her knees, She began to fervently thank Her Creator:

“I was not worthy,” the Most Holy Theotokos prayed, “to accept You, Master, into My womb, if You Yourself had not had mercy on Me, Your servant; I have guarded the treasure entrusted to Me and therefore I have the boldness to ask You, King of Glory, to protect Me from the region of Gehenna: if heaven and angels tremble before You, then how much more is man created from dust, who has no merits behind him except those bestowed by Your goodness ; You, Lord and God, blessed forever.

The Most Pure Lady, at Her departure from this life, desired to see the holy Apostles, who had already dispersed with the Gospel preaching throughout the universe; She also prayed to the Lord that at the hour of Her death She would not see the prince of darkness and his terrible servants, but that Her Son and God Himself, fulfilling His promise, would come and take Her soul into His holy hands. When our Lady, bending her knees, offered prayer requests and thanksgivings to Her Creator on the Mount of Olives, Her prayer was accompanied by such a miraculous phenomenon: the olive trees standing on the Mount of Olives, as if animated, were bowing down, together with the Mother of God: when the Mother of God knelt, then the trees bent down; when She rose, then they stood up again; the trees, like slaves, served the Mother of God, honoring the Mother of God.

At the end of the prayer, the Most Holy Theotokos returned home, and immediately everything was shaken by the presence of the invisible power of God surrounding the Mother of God, and by the glory of the Lord with which She was illuminated. Her face, always shining with the grace of God more than the face of Moses, who once spoke with God on Sinai (), was illuminated with even more unspeakable glory. - The Most Blessed Lady began to prepare for Her death. First of all, She informed Her beloved disciple of Christ, John, who had been adopted by Her, and showed him a luminous branch of paradise, instructing him to carry it before Her bed; then the Most Holy Virgin informed the rest of the household who served Her about the same thing. Then She commanded to fill Her upper room with fragrance, to prepare and light as many lamps as possible in it, to decorate both the upper room itself and the bed in it - in a word, to arrange everything necessary for burial. Saint John the Theologian immediately sent to Saint James, the brother of the Lord and the first bishop of Jerusalem, as well as to all relatives and neighbors, informing about the imminent departure of the Mother of God, with the exact designation of the day. Saint James did not hesitate to notify all Christians who lived not only in Jerusalem, but also in the surrounding cities and villages, so that all relatives and a great multitude of believers of both sexes gathered with the bishop of Jerusalem to the Most Holy Theotokos. The Most Pure Lady publicly told those gathered the words spoken to Her by the archangel about Her relocation to heaven and, in confirmation, showed the branch of paradise received from Her evangelist, which, like a ray of sunshine, shone with the light of heavenly glory. Hearing from the lips of the Mother of God Herself the news of Her imminent death, the believers around Her could not help but cry: the whole house was filled with tears and sobs; everyone begged the merciful Lady, as the common Mother of all, not to leave them orphans. But the Mother of God asked not to cry, but to rejoice at Her death, since, having become closer to the throne of God, looking face to face at Her Son and God and talking with Him mouth to mouth, She can, after death, with great boldness, beg Him for mercy and goodness; At the same time, the most blessed Mother of God promised not to leave orphans after Her departure, and not only them, but the whole world: She will visit the whole world, listening to its needs and helping the needy. The consoling words of the Mother of God wiped away the tears of those who were crying and consoled their sadness. The Most Pure Lady then made a will regarding two of Her clothes, so that they would be given to two poor widows, who with zeal, receiving food from Her, would serve Her. The Mother of God bequeathed about Her most pure body that it should be buried in the Garden of Gethsemane, lying at the Mount of Olives, not far from Jerusalem, where the tomb of Her righteous parents, Joachim and Anna, and Her Betrothed Saint Joseph was located; These tombs were adjacent to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which stretched between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, which was a place of general burial for the poor inhabitants of Jerusalem.

During these dying orders of the Most Holy Theotokos, a noise was suddenly heard, resembling the sound of thunder, and clouds surrounded the house of St. John the Theologian - then, by the command of God, the angels captured the Apostles who had dispersed with the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the universe and brought them on the clouds to Jerusalem, placing it in Zion in front of the doors of the house where the Mother of God lived. The Holy Apostles, seeing each other, rejoiced and at the same time were surprised, saying:

What is the reason for which the Lord brought us together?

Saint John the Theologian came out to them and greeted them with joyful tears, informing them of the imminent repose of the Most Holy Theotokos. Then the holy Apostles realized that the Lord had gathered them from various ends of the universe to be present at the blessed death of His Most Pure Mother, so that they would honor Her most pure body for burial. The news of the imminent death of the Mother of God filled the hearts of the holy Apostles with great sorrow. Entering the house, they saw the Mother of God sitting on a bed with a joyful face; The holy Apostles greeted Her with the words:

Blessed are you from the Lord, who created heaven and earth!

Peace be with you, brothers, chosen by the Lord Himself! - answered the Most Pure Lady.

And then she asked:

How did you arrive here?

The Holy Apostles revealed to Her that each of them was caught up by the power of the Spirit of God from the place of his preaching and brought to Zion on a cloud. The Mother of God glorified God, who heard Her prayer and fulfilled Her heartfelt desire - to see the holy Apostles at Her death.

The Lord,” She said, turning to them, “brought you here to console My soul, which, as mortal nature requires, will soon be separated from the body: the time predetermined for Me by My Creator has already approached.

In response to this they said to Her with sadness:

During Your stay on earth, we, Lady, were comforted by looking at You as our Lord and Teacher Himself, and now, deprived of Your presence, how can we bear the heavy sorrow that has come upon our souls? But You depart to the worldly abodes by the will of Christ God, born of You, and we cannot help but rejoice at God’s decision about You, although at the same time we cannot help but mourn our orphanhood, for we will no longer see You, our Mother and Comforter.

At these words, the holy Apostles shed tears.

Do not cry, - the Most Holy Theotokos consoled them, and do not darken My joy, friends and disciples of Christ, with your sorrow - rather, rejoice with Me, as I am going to My Son and God. My body, which I Myself prepared for burial, bury it in Gethsemane, and then return again to the preaching of the Gospel entrusted to you; But, if the Lord wills, you will see me after My departure.

During this conversation between the Mother of God and the holy Apostles, the vessel chosen by God, the holy Apostle Paul, arrived: falling at the feet of the Most Holy Theotokos, he opened his lips, praising and pleasing Her:

Rejoice, said the holy Apostle, Mother of Life and my preaching; If before the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ I could not enjoy seeing Him here on earth, then, looking at You now, I think that I see Him as if.

With the Apostle Paul were also his close disciples Dionysius the Areopagite, Hierotheus and Timothy; The rest of the seventy Apostles were also present - all were gathered by the Holy Spirit in order to receive the blessing of the Most Pure Virgin Mary and with their presence to contribute to the greater solemnity of Her burial. The Most Pure Lady called each of the holy Apostles to Her by name, praising their faith and exploits in the gospel of Christ Jesus; She wished eternal bliss to everyone and prayed for the peace of the whole world.

The fifteenth day of August arrived, and the blessed hour awaited by everyone approached - it was the third hour of the day - the departure of the Most Holy Theotokos. Many lamps were lit in the upper room; the holy Apostles offered praise to God; The most immaculate Virgin reclined on a decorated bed, preparing for her blessed death and awaiting the coming to Her of Her beloved Son and Lord. Suddenly, the indescribable light of Divine glory shone in the upper room, darkening the lamps. Those to whom this vision was revealed were horrified. They saw that the roof of the upper room was open and the glory of the Lord was descending from heaven - the King of glory Christ himself with tens of angels and archangels, with all the heavenly powers, with the holy forefathers and prophets who once foretold the Most Holy Virgin, and with all the righteous souls was approaching the Most Pure One. To your Mother. Seeing the approach of the Son, the Mother of God in great joy exclaimed the words of Her song:

- “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, that He has looked upon the humility of His Servant” ().

And rising from her bed, as if trying to go to meet Her Son, She bowed to the Lord. He, approaching and looking at Her with love, said:

Come My Neighbor, come My Dove, come My precious treasure and enter the abodes of eternal life.

The Mother of God, bowing, answered:

Blessed is Thy name, O Lord of glory and My God, Who was pleased to choose Thy humble handmaid to serve Thy sacrament; remember Me, King of glory, in Your eternal kingdom; You know that I loved You with all My heart and guarded the treasure entrusted to Me, and now accept My spirit in peace and protect Me from all the machinations of dark, satanic power.

The Lord consoled Her with words filled with love, urging Her not to be afraid of Satan’s power, which She had already defeated; He lovingly called upon Her to pass fearlessly from earth to heaven.

- "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready"(), - the Blessed Virgin answered this.

And then, having uttered the words She once spoke, - "let it be done to me according to your word"(), lay down again on her bed. Feeling indescribable joy at the sight of the radiant face of Her Son and Lord, the Mother of God, filled with spiritual delight from love for Him, gave up Her most pure soul into the hands of the Lord; At the same time, She did not feel any pain, but seemed to fall asleep in a sweet dream: He Whom She conceived without breaking her virginity and gave birth to without illness, received Her soul from the most pure body. And immediately a wondrous angelic singing began, filled with joy, in which Gabriel’s words of greeting to the Blessed Virgin were heard, often repeated by the angels:

- "Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among women" ().

With such solemn chants, the heavenly ranks escorted the most holy soul of the Mother of God, coming in the arms of the Lord to the heavenly abodes. The Holy Apostles, who were rewarded with a vision, saw off the Mother of God with tender eyes, as once the Lord ascended from the Mount of Olives (); They stood for a long time, experiencing horror and as if in oblivion. Having come to their senses, the disciples of Christ worshiped the Lord, who with glory ascended the soul of His Mother to heaven, and with tears surrounded the bed of the Mother of God. The face of the blessed Virgin Mary shone like the sun, and from Her most pure body emanated a wondrous fragrance, the like of which is impossible to find here on earth. All believers, reverently honoring the most pure body, kissed it with fear; sanctifying power emanated from the honest relics of the Mother of God, filling the hearts of all who touched it with joy. The sick received healings: the blind received their sight, the deaf had their hearing opened, the lame were straightened, demons were cast out - every disease completely disappeared from just one touch of the bed of the Mother of God.

Among these events that accompanied the death of the Mother of God, a solemn procession began with Her most venerable body for its burial: the holy Apostle Peter, together with the holy Apostles Paul and James, the brother of God, having become the head, raised together with the other holy Apostles from among the twelve beds of the Most Holy Mother of God ; Saint John the Theologian carried ahead a paradise branch that emitted radiance. The rest of the believers with candles and censers walked nearby, surrounding the bed. Everyone sang the original prayers: the holy Apostle Peter began, and the others harmoniously sang after him the psalm of David: in the exodus of Israel from Egypt(), adding alleluia to each verse; at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, other solemn and thanksgiving prayers and psalms were sung. The solemn procession with the most pure body of the Mother of God headed from Zion through Jerusalem to Gethsemane. A cloudy circle appeared above the bed and those accompanying it, resembling a crown and illuminated with an unusually bright radiance. And in the clouds, for all to hear, filling the air, a wondrous angelic singing was heard. This cloudy crown floated through the air over the bed of the Mother of God to the very place of burial; During all this time, the angelic singing did not stop. But the joyful procession - the weak human language cannot fully describe it - was unexpectedly interrupted. Many of the Jews who did not believe in Christ, hearing the unusual singing and seeing the solemn procession, left their homes and joined him: they also went outside the city, marveling at the glory and honor that was given to the most honorable body of the Mother of Jesus Christ. Having learned about this, the bishops and scribes became very angry and sent servants and soldiers - having also persuaded many of the people - to catch up with the procession and disperse its participants; at the same time, they ordered the disciples of Christ to be killed and the body of the Mother of God to be burned. But when the crowd, obedient to the instigators, armed as if for battle, ran in rage after those accompanying the body of the Most Holy Theotokos and began to overtake them, suddenly a cloudy circle floating through the air descended to the ground and surrounded both the holy Apostles and the rest of the Christians as if with a wall; the pursuers heard only singing, seeing no one behind the cloud. The holy angels, invisibly hovering over the body of the Mother of God and the Christians, struck the evil pursuers with blindness: some of them smashed their heads against the city walls; others felt them and, not knowing where to go, looked for guides. At this time, one Jewish priest, named Athos, happened to go out on the road: seeing the holy Apostles - the cloud, by God's command, rose again for the greater glory of the Mother of God - and many Christians with candles and singing, surrounding the body of the Ever-Virgin Mary, Athos was filled with envy; His old anger towards our Lord flared up in him, and he said:

Look at the honor that surrounds the body of She who gave birth to the flatterer who destroyed the law of our fathers!

Being very strong, he ran with frantic fury through the crowd of Christians to the bed in order to throw the body of our Most Pure Lady to the ground: when the daring hands of the priest touched the bed, an invisible angel immediately cut them in the middle with the immaterial sword of God's vengeance, and they hung without leaving the bed , Aphonius himself fell to the ground, exclaiming:

Woe is me!

Realizing his sin, he began to repent and say to the holy Apostles:

Have mercy on me, servants of Christ!

The Holy Apostle Peter ordered those carrying the body of the Mother of God to stop and said to Athos:

Now you got what you wanted; know that God is the Lord of vengeance, the Lord has revealed Himself (), and we cannot heal you from your wounds; this can only be done by our Lord Himself, against whom you unrighteously rebelled and seized and killed; but He will not want to grant you healing until you believe in Him with all your heart and confess with your lips that Jesus is the true Messiah, the Son of God.

Afony exclaimed:

I believe that He is the Savior of the world, foretold by the prophets - Christ; We saw from the very beginning that he was the Son of God, but, darkened by evil envy, we did not want to openly recognize the greatness of God and gave Him up to innocent death; but He, by the power of His Divinity, rose again on the third day, disgracing all of us - His haters: we tried to hide His resurrection by bribing the guards, but we could not do anything, since the fame of it had spread everywhere.

When Athos said this, repenting of his sin, the holy Apostles and all believers rejoiced at the joy of the angels for the repentant sinner: the holy Apostle Peter commanded Athos with faith to apply the wounds of his truncated hands to those hanging on the bed, calling on the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. Aphonius did this, and immediately the severed hands returned to their place; they became completely healthy; All that remained was the cut-off mark, like a red thread surrounding the elbow. Aphonius fell prostrate before the bed, bowing to Christ God, born of the Most Holy Theotokos, and pleasing His Most Pure Mother with many praises: he cited from Holy Scripture prophecies testifying both to Her and to Christ, and everyone was doubly surprised, seeing the miraculous healing of Aphonius’s truncated hands and hearing from him wise words with which he glorified the Lord Jesus and praised the Mother of God. Then Athos joined the holy Apostles, following with other Christians to Gethsemane for the bed. In the same way, those stricken with blindness received healing, who, realizing their sin, approached with repentance with guides to the honest bed and touched it with faith - they received insight not only of their physical, but also of their spiritual eyes. The merciful Mother of all, our Most Holy Lady, just as with Her birth she brought joy to the entire universe, so in Her Dormition she did not want to sadden anyone: like the good Mother of the good King, She mercifully consoled Her former enemies with Her gracious gifts.

But the holy Apostles with the entire multitude of Christians reached the Garden of Gethsemane; when they placed the bed with the most honorable body, weeping arose again among the Christians: everyone, having lost such a treasure, wept about their orphanhood; giving their last kiss, Christians fell to the body of the Most Holy Theotokos and kissed it, shedding tears, so that only in the evening they could place the most venerable body in the coffin; but even then, when a huge stone was already rolled to the coffin, the Christians did not leave it, held back by their love for the Mother of God. - The Holy Apostles stayed at the tomb of the Most Holy Theotokos, without leaving the Garden of Gethsemane, for three days, chanting psalms day and night. And all this time, the wondrous singing of the heavenly armies was heard in the air, praising God and pleasing His Most Pure Mother.

By a special dispensation of God, one of the Apostles, Saint Thomas, was not present at the glorious burial of the body of the Most Pure Mother of God; It was only on the third day that he appeared in Gethsemane. Holy Apostle Thomas greatly grieved and lamented that he was not worthy, like the other holy Apostles, of the last greeting and blessing of the Most Pure Mother of God; he also cried greatly because he was the only one who did not see the Divine glory, the wondrous mysteries and works of God revealed during the Dormition and solemn burial of the Mother of God. The Holy Apostles, taking pity on him, decided to open the coffin so that Saint Thomas could see at least the dead body of the blessed Mother of God, bow to him and kiss him, and through this receive some relief from his sadness and consolation in his grief. But when the holy Apostles, having rolled away the stone, opened the coffin, they were horrified: the body of the Mother of God was not in the coffin - only the funeral shrouds remained, spreading a wondrous fragrance; The holy Apostles stood in amazement, wondering what this meant! Kissing the funeral shroud remaining in the tomb with tears and reverence, they prayed to the Lord to reveal to them where the body of the Most Holy Theotokos had disappeared? In the evening they sat down to refresh themselves with some food. During meals, the holy Apostles had the following custom: they left one place unoccupied among themselves, placing on it in honor of Christ, as His part, a piece of bread. At the end of the meal, giving thanks, they took the mentioned particle of bread, called the part of the Lord, and raised it up, glorifying the great name of the Most Holy Trinity, then, after the words “Lord Jesus Christ, help us!” They ate this piece as a blessing from God. This is what the holy Apostles did not only when everyone was together, but also when everyone was away from each other. Now in Gethsemane, during the meal, they did not think or talk about anything else except why the most pure body of the Mother of God was not found in the tomb. And so, when, having finished the meal, the holy Apostles began to lift up the piece of bread set aside in honor of the Lord, glorifying the Most Holy Trinity, they suddenly heard angelic singing: raising their eyes, they saw the Most Pure Mother of God standing in the air, surrounded by many angels. She was illuminated by an indescribable light and told them:

Rejoice! - for I am with you always.

The Holy Apostles, filled with joy, instead of the usual “Lord Jesus Christ, help us,” exclaimed:

Most Holy Theotokos, help us!

From that time on, they both themselves believed and taught the Holy Church to believe that the Most Pure Mother of God on the third day after burial was resurrected by Her Son and taken with her body to heaven. Entering the tomb again, the holy Apostles took the abandoned shroud to console the mourners and as false evidence of the rise of the Mother of God from the tomb. It was not fitting for the tabernacle of life to be in the power of death and for the creature that gave birth to the Creator to share the fate of corruption with the earthly creature. The Lawgiver appeared as the executor of the law given from Him - let sons honor their parents: He honored His most immaculate Mother as Himself - just as He Himself rose with glory on the third day and then ascended with His most pure flesh into heaven, so He resurrected His Mother with glory in the third day and took Him to the heavenly villages. Saint David also predicted this, saying: "Stand, O Lord, in the place of Your rest, You and the ark of Your power"(); His prophetic words came true during the resurrection of the Lord and His resurrection of His Mother. - The empty tomb of the Mother of God, carved in stone, as well as Her Son, has been preserved to this day and serves as an object of reverent veneration for the faithful.

The Lord, in His special discretion, delayed the arrival of Saint Thomas on the day of the repose of the Most Pure Theotokos, so that the tomb would be opened for him, and the church would thus be assured of the resurrection of the Mother of God, just as earlier, through the unbelief of the same Apostle, she was confident of the resurrection of Christ () . - Thus took place the Dormition of our Most Pure and Most Blessed Mother of God and the burial of Her immaculate body, Her glorious resurrection and the solemn assurance of Her taking into heaven with the flesh.

At the end of all these wondrous miracles and mysteries of God, the holy Apostles, again carried by a cloud, each returned to the country from which they had been taken during their preaching of the Gospel.

Saint Ambrose, speaking about the life of our Lady on earth, describes the wondrous spiritual qualities of the Most Holy Theotokos:

She is a Virgo not only in flesh, but also in spirit: humble in heart and not hasty in speech; Her words are full of Divine wisdom; She is almost constantly reading the Holy Scriptures and tireless in her work; chaste in conversations, speaking with people as before God; She never offended anyone, wishing everyone well; no one, even the poor one, not disdaining anyone, not laughing at anyone, but covered everything she saw with Her love; from Her lips never came a word that did not bring grace; in all Her deeds She showed the image of the highest virginity. Her appearance was a reflection of inner perfection - goodness and gentleness.

So says Saint Ambrose. We also find a description of the spiritual holiness and appearance of the Mother of God in Epiphanius and Nicephorus:

In any case, She retained venerable dignity and constancy; she spoke very little, only about the necessary and good - Her words were sweet to the ear; She treated everyone with due respect; I had an appropriate conversation with each person, without laughing, without being indignant, much less angry. Her height was average; complexion like the color of a grain of wheat; the hair is light brown and somewhat golden; quick, penetrating glance; eyes the color of an olive fruit; eyebrows slightly inclined, dark; nose is medium; lips like the color of a rose and sweet-talking; the face is not quite round; hands and fingers are oblong; There was no pride in Her, simplicity in everything, without the slightest pretense; She was alien to any indulgence, showing, at the same time, an example of the highest humility. Her clothes were simple, without any artificial decoration, as evidenced by the covering of Her head that has survived to this day - in a word, Her Divine grace, which penetrated Her, was manifested in everything.

This is how Nicephorus and Epiphanius tell about the mental and physical image of the Most Holy Theotokos during Her life on earth.

Now, only the heavenly spirits and the souls of the righteous, standing before the Mother of God and enjoying the sight of both God and the Most Pure Virgin, can tell about the Mother of God, who has settled in the heavenly abodes and stands at the right hand of the throne of God; they can only tell us about Her, as Her holiness requires. We, glorifying the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, glorify God and His Most Pure Mother, and we worship Her, glorified and blessed from all generations forever.

Individual events from the life of the Most Holy Theotokos from the day of Her birth are written on Her special holidays: conception, birth, introduction into the temple, Annunciation, also on the Nativity of Christ and the Presentation. And here, after the story of Her immortal dormition, to complete the history of Her life, we will tell you where and how our Lady lived after the Ascension of Christ.

The Holy Evangelist Luke writes in the Acts of the Apostles that, after the Lord’s departure into heaven, His disciples returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem; entering the upper room (where Christ’s last supper was), "They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with some of the women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus"(). After the ascension of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God was for His disciples the only consolation, joy in sorrow and a firm teacher of faith. For all the words and miraculous events that the Mother of God composed in Her heart (), starting from Gabriel’s joyful annunciation about the seedless conception and the incorruptible birth of Christ from the virgin’s womb and ending with the years of the Lord’s infancy and the time of life before the baptism of John - She revealed all this to the disciples of His Son; As she had abundant revelations from the Holy Spirit and was herself a witness to all the miraculous actions that took place in the life of Christ until the day the Lord appeared to the world, the Mother of God strengthened the faith of the holy Apostles with a detailed account of the life of the Savior before His baptism. All believers, staying in the aforementioned upper room, prayed tirelessly, preparing to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit promised by the Lord from the Father. And during the descent, - on the 11th day after the Ascension of the Lord, - the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire (), the Comforter sent down from the Father () first rested on the Most Pure Virgin, which until then had been a temple worthy of Him, in which He remained persistently . The gifts of the Holy Spirit were poured out on the most blessed Virgin in greater abundance than on the holy Apostles, just as a larger vessel can hold more water, and the Most Pure Virgin, the vessel richest in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, because She is higher than the Apostles, prophets and all the saints, just as the Church calls to Her: “Truly You, pure Virgin, are above all”; therefore She contained within herself more than all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Mother of God lived in the house of St. John the Theologian, located on the highest place in Jerusalem - on Mount Zion: from the very time when the Lord said from the cross to His Mother, pointing to his beloved disciple: "Woman! behold, your son", and to the student: "behold your mother"(), John took the Blessed Virgin to himself and really served Her as his mother. - After the descent of the Holy Spirit, the holy Apostles did not immediately disperse throughout the universe preaching the Gospel, but remained in Jerusalem for a long time, as can be seen from the Acts of the Apostles. It is narrated here that, after the murder of the holy protomartyr Stephen (7:59-60), there came “a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem; and everyone, except the Apostles, was scattered to different places in Judea and Samaria” (); The disciples of Christ, protected by the power of God, stayed in Jerusalem for about ten years, counting from the time of the Ascension of the Lord until the day when "King Herod raised his hands against some of the church to do them harm"(). True, during the period of time described, the holy Apostles left for a while to other countries, like Peter and John together to Samaria (), or Peter alone - to Lydda, where he healed the paralytic Aeneas, who had suffered for eight years (), and Joppa, where he resurrected the deceased Tabitha (), Caesarea, where he baptized Cornelius the centurion (chapter 10), and Antioch, where he founded the first throne of his bishopric; or, like James, John's brother, went to Spain, but then they returned to Jerusalem again. At the beginning of their preaching, the holy Apostles wanted to serve mainly the salvation of the Israeli people, at the same time establishing the first church in Jerusalem, which is the mother of all churches, as St. John of Damascus sings: “Rejoice, holy Zion, mother of churches, God’s dwelling place: you for you were the first to receive remission of sins"; at the same time, they wanted to see the Mother of God as often as possible and learn from Her. Honoring Her as the vicar of Christ, the holy Apostles looked at the most honorable and glorious face of the Mother of God, like the face of Christ Himself, and, listening to the words of the Ever-Virgin filled with goodness, they were imbued with unspeakable spiritual joy, forgetting the bitterness of troubles and misfortunes behind the sweetness of Her words. Therefore, many of those who believed in Christ from distant countries came to Jerusalem to see the Mother of God and hear Her conversation, filled with holy wisdom; that the glory of Christ and His Most Pure Mother, spreading to all ends of the universe, attracted many to Jerusalem to the Most Holy Virgin, this is clearly seen from the letter of Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer to Saint John the Theologian from Antioch:

“We have,” he writes, “many wives who want to see the Mother of Jesus; they constantly strive to find an opportunity to come to you and visit Her, to fall to the breast that nourished the Lord Jesus, and to learn from Her some secrets. With us She is glorified as the Mother of God and the Virgin, full of grace and virtue; It is reported about Her that She is joyful in troubles and persecution, does not grieve in poverty and shortcomings, not only is not angry with those who offend Her, but also does good to them; during joyful events, She is meek and merciful to the poor, helping them as much as she can; She confronts those who oppose our faith with firmness: She is the Teacher of our new piety and the Instructor of all the faithful in every good deed; He especially loves the humble, and She herself is humble towards everyone; everyone who has seen her praises her. And how humble She is when the Jewish lawyers and Pharisees laugh at Her! We have been told by people worthy of complete trust that in Mary, the Mother of Jesus, human nature seems, due to Her holiness, to be united with the angelic nature. All this arouses in us, the hearers, an immense desire to see a heavenly, - I will say this, a wondrous and most holy miracle.

In another letter, the same Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer writes again to Saint John the Theologian:

If the opportunity arises, I think of coming to you to see the faithful gathered in Jerusalem, and especially the Mother of Jesus: they say about Her that She is honest, friendly and arouses surprise in everyone, and everyone wants to see Her; and who does not want to see the Virgin and talk with the One who gave birth to the true God?

From these letters of Saint Ignatius to John the Theologian, one can easily understand with what strong desire the saints strove to see the animated shrine of God, Mary the Most Pure Virgin, and those who were worthy to see considered themselves the happiest. Truly blessed are the eyes of those who have seen Her through Christ the Savior, and blessed are the ears of those worthy to hear from Her most honorable lips the words that revive us to spiritual life! What joy and grace they received!

This is why the Lord left His Most Pure Mother on earth, so that by Her presence, guidance, teachings and warm prayers to the Son and God, the warring church would multiply and strengthen, and grow to the point of boldly laying down its life for the Lord. The Mother of God strengthened everyone, consoled everyone with the joy of the Holy Spirit and prayed for everyone. When the holy Apostles were imprisoned, the Mother of God with a tender heart prayed for them, and an angel was sent to them by the Lord, who at night opened the doors of the prison and led them out (). When the holy first martyr Stephen was led to his death, the Mother of God followed him from afar, and when they began to stone Saint Stephen () in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, by the stream Kidron, She, together with John the Theologian, stood in the distance on one hill, from there she looked at his death and I fervently prayed to God that the Lord would strengthen the sufferer and take the soul into His hands. When "Saul tormented the church"(), persecuting believers, the Mother of God prayed for him to the Lord with such warm tears that she turned him from a predatory wolf into a meek lamb, from an enemy into an Apostle, from a persecutor into a student and teacher of the universe. And what benefits did not the first church receive from the Most Pure Mother of God, like a suckling child from its mother? What grace have you not drawn from this inexhaustible source? Not without Her cares and grace-filled influence, the church was raised and brought to a manly age - it became so strong that even the gates of hell cannot overcome it (); which the Mother of God herself rejoiced at, according to the word of David, like a mother rejoicing over her children (). She saw that the church children were constantly multiplying: so already at the beginning, through the preaching of the Holy Apostle Peter, 3000 (), then 5000 (), and then more and more were converted. The Holy Apostles, returning from preaching the Gospel to Jerusalem, also told the Most Holy Theotokos about the spread of the Church of Christ throughout the universe. The success of the Christian preaching filled Her with spiritual joy and prompted her to send praise to Her Son and God.

But then the Church suffered the persecution of Herod: he killed James, John’s brother, who had returned from Spain with a sword, and then detained Peter and put him in prison with the intention of putting him to a similar death (), then, after the miraculous release of Saint Peter from the bonds of prison through an angel, the the need for the Apostles themselves to leave Jerusalem in order to avoid the fierce persecution of the Jews; They dispersed throughout the universe, casting lots to see which country would be assigned to preach. But before they dispersed, the holy Apostles drew up a creed in order to preach and inculcate the holy faith in Christ everywhere. Each one retired to his lot; in Jerusalem there remained only the brother of God, Saint James, appointed by the Lord himself to the bishops of Jerusalem. Avoiding persecution, Saint John the Theologian withdrew along with the Mother of God, by whom he was adopted: they left Jerusalem, yielding to fierce persecution and torment, until the anger of the Jews weakened: but, in order not to waste time in vain, the Mother of God and the holy Evangelist John went to Ephesus, where the Theologian’s lot fell. This stay of the Most Pure Mother of God with Saint John in Ephesus is clearly confirmed by the following: there is a letter to the Constantinople clergy from the fathers of the third ecumenical council, which met in Ephesus against Nestorius; in this letter there is the following passage: “The founder of the evil heresy, Nestorius, called (to judgment) by the holy fathers and bishops of the council in Ephesus, where Saint John the Theologian and the Holy Virgin, the Mother of God Mary, once resided, did not dare to come to them, being convicted by his evil conscience and excommunicating himself; therefore, after being summoned three times, he was condemned by the righteous court of the holy council and deposed from the priesthood." From these words about the stay of the Mother of God with the Evangelist John in Ephesus, it is clear that the Most Holy Virgin, together with the beloved disciple of Christ, actually left Jerusalem and spent some time in Ephesus. And not only Ephesus, but also other cities and countries, enlightened by the light of Christ’s teaching, were visited by the Mother of God: tradition says that She was in Antioch with Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, to whom she sent a notice about Her journey before Her visit: “I will come with John so that to see you and your flock." They also say that the Most Holy Theotokos was on the island of Cyprus with Lazarus, who served as a bishop for four days, and on Mount Athos. Stefan, a monk of Svyatogorsk, writes about this.

After the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, the holy Apostles, together with the Mother of God, remained inseparably in Zion; here they waited for the Comforter, as the Lord commanded them, who commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until they received the promised Holy Spirit (). The disciples of Christ cast lots as to which of them and which particular country would be given to preach the Gospel of God; The Most Holy Theotokos said:

And I want to take part in the preaching of the Gospel and I want to cast my lot with you in order to receive the country that God will indicate.

At the word of the Mother of God, the holy Apostles cast lots with reverence and fear, and the Iveron land fell to Her. The Most Pure Mother of God joyfully accepted Her lot and immediately, after the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire, she wanted to go to the Iveron country, but the angel of God said to Her:

Now do not leave Jerusalem, but remain here until the time comes - the country that has fallen to You will be enlightened in the last days and Your dominion will be established there; After some time, you will have the work of preaching the gospel in the land to which God will direct you.

And the Most Pure Mother of God stayed in Jerusalem for quite a long time.

Four-day-old Lazarus lived on the island of Cyprus; here he was ordained bishop by the holy Apostle Barnabas. He strongly desired to see the Most Pure Mother of our Lord, Whom he had not seen for a long time, but did not dare to come to Jerusalem for fear of the Jews. Having learned this, the Mother of God wrote a message to Lazarus: here She consoled him and ordered him to send a ship for Her so that She could visit him in Cyprus; The Most Holy Virgin herself did not order him to come to Jerusalem for Her sake. Having read the message, Lazarus was extremely happy, marveling at the same time at the humility of the Mother of God; Without any hesitation, he sent a ship for Her along with a reply message. The Most Blessed Mother of God entered the ship along with the beloved disciple of Christ John and others who reverently accompanied them, and they all sailed to Cyprus. But a contrary wind suddenly rose and drove the ship into the harbor, located near Mount Athos; This was the short-term work of the gospel that the angel spoke about to the Mother of God. The entire Mount Athos was overflowing with idols: there was a large temple and sanctuary of Apollo, and fortune-telling, sorcery and other demonic acts were performed at this place. All pagans greatly revered this place, as chosen by the gods; People from all over the universe flocked here to worship, and here they received answers to their questions from fortune tellers. And when the ship on which the Most Holy Theotokos was located entered the pier, all the idols immediately cried out:

All, seduced by Apollo, come down from the mountain in Clement's pier to meet Mary, the Mother of the great God Jesus (thus the demons, who were in idols against their will, forced by the power of God, proclaimed the truth, like those who once cried out to the Lord in the country of Gergesin: “What do you have to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? You came here ahead of time to torment us.”().

Hearing all this, the people were amazed and hurried to the seashore to the mentioned pier; Having seen the ship and the Mother of God, they met Her with honor and asked in their assembly:

What kind of God did you give birth to? And what is His name?

The Most Holy Theotokos, opening Her divine lips, announced to the people everything in detail about Christ Jesus. Everyone, falling to the ground, bowed to the God born of Her and showed great respect to the One who gave birth to Him; Having believed, they were baptized, for the Mother of God performed many miracles here. After baptism, She appointed one of those who accompanied Her on the ship as the newly enlightened leader and teacher and, rejoicing in spirit, said:

Let this place be My inheritance, given to Me by My Son and My God.

After these words, the Most Holy Theotokos blessed the people, saying again:

May the grace of God abide in this place and on those living here, who with faith and reverence keep the commandments of My Son and My God - they will have everything necessary for life in abundance without hard work; they will be given heavenly life, and until the end of the age the mercy of My Son will not depart from this place; I will be the Intercessor of this place and a warm Intercessor for it before God.

Having said this, the Mother of God again blessed the people and, entering the ship with John and those accompanying Her, sailed to Cyprus. She found Lazarus in great sorrow, since the journey of the Most Holy Theotokos was too long, and he was afraid that the storm might have slowed him down: he did not know the events that, according to God's will, took place on Mount Athos. With her arrival, the Mother of God turned his sorrow into joy; as a gift to him She brought an omophorion and guards that She Herself had made for him; She told him everything that happened in Jerusalem and on Mount Athos. And they gave thanks to God for everything. Having spent a short time in Cyprus, having thus consoled the Christians of the Cypriot church and blessed them, the Mother of God boarded a ship and sailed to Jerusalem. (Stefan, monk of Svyatogorsk is here).

Having visited the mentioned countries, the Most Pure Virgin Mary again settled in Jerusalem in the house of St. John the Evangelist; the all-powerful right hand of God preserved Her from the envious machinations of the deicide synagogue, which never ceased to be at enmity against the Son of God and those who believe in Him. Of course, the embittered Jews would not have left the Mother of Jesus alive and would have destroyed Her in any way: but God’s special gaze overshadowed the animated Irk of God, so that it would not be touched by the hand of the infidels. Once Her Son, Christ our God, after a sermon in the Nazareth synagogue, when the Jews filled with rage took Him to the top of the mountain in order to throw Him down from there, passed unharmed among them: although the Jews saw Him, they could not lay their hands or even touch Him , because the power of God threw them back and kept them in this position, since the time for the suffering of the Son of God had not yet come (); The Lord showed the same thing over His Most Pure Mother, restraining the intrigues planned by the Jews and ruining their council against Her: very often the Jews tried to seize the Mother of God and, giving her over to torture, kill her, but they could not do anything. In the midst of such strong hatred and enmity, the Most Pure Virgin lived in Jerusalem like a sheep among wolves and like a sheep among thorns, often repeating the words of Her forefather David, which actually came true to Her: “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom should I fear? The Lord is the strength of life.” mine: whom shall I fear? If evildoers, my adversaries and enemies, come upon me to devour my flesh, then they themselves will stumble and fall. If an army rises up against me, my heart will not fear if war arises against me, and then I will be. hope" (), for You, My Son and God, are with Me. - The Most Holy Theotokos was visited to venerate Her by Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, who was converted to Christ by Saint Apostle Paul in Athens and who relentlessly accompanied him for three years. He strongly desired to see the Mother of God and, therefore, three years after his conversion, with the blessing of his teacher, the Holy Apostle Paul, he came to Jerusalem: seeing the Most Pure Mother of God, he was filled with great spiritual joy. In his letter to the Holy Apostle Paul, Saint Dionysius the Areopagite describes his visit to the Mother of God this way.

For me, our great leader, it was undoubtedly - I speak as before God - that besides the Most High God, nothing could exist so full of divine power and wondrous grace, and yet it is impossible for the human mind to comprehend that I saw the beauty and surpassing in holiness of all heavenly angels, the Most Holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; This was given to me by the grace of God and the honor of the apostolic countenance, as well as by the inscrutable goodness and mercy of the most merciful Virgin. I confess again before the omnipotence of God, before the grace of the Savior and before the great glory of the Virgin, His Mother, that when I was with John, the first among the evangelists and prophets, who, living in the flesh, shines like the sun in the sky, was led to the beautiful and Most Pure Virgin , then a great divine radiance enveloped me from the outside, enlightening my soul; at the same time, I felt such a wonderful fragrance that my spirit and body were barely able to endure this manifestation of glory and the beginning of eternal bliss; my heart and my spirit fainted from glory and Her divine grace. I testify by God, who lived in the most honorable virgin womb, that I would have recognized Her as the true God and would have honored Her with the worship befitting only God alone, if my newly enlightened soul had not retained within itself your divine instructions and laws: no honor and glory of people glorified God, cannot be compared with the bliss that I, unworthy, experienced at that time; this time was for me a time of greatest bliss. I thank my most exalted and most good God, the divine Virgin, the great among the Apostles John, and also you, the adornment of the church and the invincible leader, who have graciously shown me such a great benefit.

From this message of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite we clearly see with what divine grace the face of our Most Pure Lady was illuminated during Her life on earth and how souls were enlightened and with what spiritual joy the hearts of those who saw Her in the flesh were filled. The newly enlightened of both sexes flocked to her in large numbers and from everywhere; as a true Mother, She accepted everyone equally without partiality, pouring out the bounty of Her grace to everyone - giving healing to the sick, health to the weak, consolation to the sad, and to everyone without exception, confirmation in faith, steadfastness in hope and divine joy in love, and correction to sinners.

While living in the house of St. John, the Blessed Virgin often visited those places that Her beloved Son and God had sanctified with the soles of His feet and the shedding of His blood. So She visited Bethlehem, where, having unspeakably observed Her virginity, Christ God was born from Her, but especially often the Mother of God came to the places where our Lord suffered by the will of our Lord. Motherly love prompted Her to shed copious tears here, and She said:

Here My beloved Son was scourged, here he was crowned with thorns, here he walked carrying a cross, here he was crucified.

At the grave, the Mother of God was filled with indescribable joy and exclaimed with joyful tears:

And here He was buried and on the third day He rose again in glory.

In addition to this, the following is reported. Some haters among the Jews reported to the bishops and scribes that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, goes to Calvary every day and at the tomb where Her Son Jesus was laid, kneels, weeps and burns incense; Then they set up a guard that would not allow any Christians to pass through this place. From here we see that already at that time the pious custom began for faithful Christians to visit holy places and here to worship Christ God, who suffered for us by will: the first example in this regard was given by the Mother of God Herself, Who was followed by other holy women and men. So, from the bishops and scribes, filled with malice and murder, a guard was appointed, who were ordered not to allow anyone to the tomb of Jesus, and to kill His Mother. But God blinded the guards, so that they could not see the coming of Christ Jesus to His Mother at the tomb. And when the most blessed Virgin, faithful to Her custom, came to the tomb, the guards could not see both Her and those who were with Her. After a long time, they left the tomb and swore to the bishops and scribes that they had not seen anyone who came to the tomb of Jesus. The Most Holy Theotokos also often went to the Mount of Olives, from where our Lord ascended to heaven: bending her knees, She kissed the feet of Christ’s feet imprinted on the stone. At the same time, the Mother of God prayed with strong tears that the Lord would take Her to Himself: of course, She had incomparably more than the Holy Apostle Paul "the desire to be resolved and to be with Christ"(), and often repeated the words of David: "When I come and appear before the face of God! My tears were bread for me day and night"(), when will I see My beloved Son? when will I come to Him who sits at the right hand of God the Father? () when will I appear before the throne of His glory? when will I be satisfied with seeing Him? O sweet Son and My God! Time be generous to Zion(cf.), - it is time to have mercy on Me, Your Mother, who is still grieving, not seeing Your face, in the sad vale of this world; bring My soul out of the body, as from a prison; as a deer strives for a source of water, so My soul strives for You, O God, to enjoy when Your glory appears to Me (). The Most Pure Virgin sometimes remained on the Mount of Olives for quite a long time: at the foot of the mountain there was the Garden of Gethsemane and the small estate of Zebedee, inherited by St. John the Theologian. In the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord, before His free passion, prayed to the point of bloody sweat, falling on His knees and His face before the Heavenly Father (). Here, in this very place, His Most Pure Mother offered Her warm prayers, also falling on her knees and face and dousing the ground with tears; Here She was comforted by the Lord through His angel, who informed Her of Her imminent repose into heaven. According to the testimony of George Kedrin, a Greek historian, an angel appeared to the Most Holy Theotokos twice before her death: the first time fifteen days before the Dormition, and the second three days; from the angel the Mother of God received a paradise date branch, which was carried by the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian before Her bed. Some, such as Bishop Meliton of Sardia, report that the beloved disciple of Christ, before the Dormition of the Mother of God, withdrew to Ephesus and from there, like the other Apostles, but only before them, was caught up in a cloud and brought to the burial of the Mother of God. However, others, for example Metaphrastus and Sophronius, without any hesitation assert that Saint John the Theologian never separated from the God-gracious Mother, by Whom he was adopted, but, like a true son, served Her, giving shelter in his home until Her very death. Only occasionally, for a very short time, did he visit the surrounding areas (as seen above from the Acts of the Apostles: thus Saint John the Theologian was in Samaria with the Apostle Peter), but he did this with the consent and blessing of the Mother of God Herself and immediately returned again to Ney to Jerusalem; and before his return, the Most Pure Mother of God was served by Saint James, the brother of God, who never left his bishopric - Jerusalem. If we agree with those who say that John the Theologian, like the other holy Apostles, was caught up in the cloud, then, without a doubt, from the area closest to Jerusalem.

The solemn celebration of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15 was established during the reign of the pious king of the Greek Mauritius. - Joyfully celebrating the all-glorious repose of the Mother of God from earth to heaven, let us give glory to Him who was born of Her and received Her into heaven with glory - Christ our God, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Sermon of Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky). Word on the Day of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

Sermon by St. Philaret of Moscow. Word on the Day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Sermon by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.

Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary- the last twelfth fixed holiday of the church year (August 1528). It is preceded by a two-week fast. It is known from the New Testament that the Mother of the Lord occupied an honorable place among the Apostles (Acts 1:14). She lived in the house of John (John 19:27) in Jerusalem. The events of Her subsequent life are unknown. Some legends connect the end of Her earthly journey with Ephesus, where John moved, others point to Gethsemane. Both here and there there are temples dedicated to U. The earliest apocrypha telling about U. was written on behalf of John the Theologian...

Troparion of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: the obvious and incredible.

It is among the most important after Easter

On August 28, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is an important holiday for Christian followers of most denominations, but Catholics celebrate it on August 15 according to the Gregorian calendar. This holiday is one of the most important in Orthodoxy.

Although the canonical texts do not speak about the time and circumstances of the death and burial of the Virgin Mary, these events are mentioned in later apocrypha. The holiday itself is quite late - the first reliable news about it in the Greek Church begins only at the end of the 6th century. August 15th in the Julian calendar was most likely chosen because the day had previously been celebrated under the title "Mary's Fulfillment of the Rule at the Second Mile from Bethlehem."

The Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary belongs to the Twelve Feasts - the twelve most important holidays in Orthodoxy after Easter. At the same time, in status it is inferior to the Lord's holidays, dedicated to the events from the life of Jesus Christ described in the New Testament. It can be noted that the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the last twelfth holiday in the chronology of the church year, which begins in September, and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on September 21, is the first.

As is the case with many other dates in the Orthodox calendar, the Eastern Slavs had a folk Christian holiday dedicated to the church holiday. This day was called Obzhinki or Dozhinki, and on it the peasants performed a ceremony to complete the grain harvest. During the holiday, on a farm where there was still an unharvested field, it was finished off by threshing, that is, with the help of volunteers from other farms.

According to an ancient custom, a small portion of uncut ears of corn was left on the harvested field, tied with ribbon. In Polesie they put bread and salt on the last ears of corn. This ritual was called “beard curling,” and it has its roots in pagan beliefs about the spirit of the field, which hides in the last unharvested sheaf. It was customary to dress this sheaf in a sundress or wrapped it in chintz scarves[

Another tradition was to pray in front of the “Increase in Mind” icon for successful learning.

It was believed that after Obzhinki, the so-called Rowan nights could occur - nights with severe thunderstorms or lightning.

According to the BF "Orthodox heritage of Ukraine on Holy Mount Athos", church tradition tells about the departure to the Lord and the funeral of the Mother of God.

In the manuscripts of the 4th century there is evidence that the Mother of God, after death, went body and soul to Heaven. Three days before her Dormition in Jerusalem, Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her and said that the day of Her death was approaching. He presented the Mother of God with a branch of the tree of paradise shining with unearthly light - a symbol of the victory of eternal life over death given by the Savior on the cross. Therefore, the Dormition is not a mourning event, but a holiday.

Then all the apostles arrived in Jerusalem to say goodbye to the Virgin Mary. Only the Apostle Thomas could not come. The roof of the upper room in which they had gathered opened, and an unearthly light shone upon all those present. The Savior descended into the upper room, surrounded by angels. The Mother of God prayed to Her Son and gave her soul into His hands.

The apostles buried the body of the Mother of God in Gethsemane, where Her holy parents, Joachim and Anna, and the betrothed Joseph, rested. At the head of the funeral procession was John the Theologian, who carried the branch of paradise, and the coffin with the body of the Mother of God was carried by all the apostles, except Thomas. Many Christians carried lighted candles and censers. People and angels sang, glorifying the Most Holy Theotokos.

In the funeral procession was the Jewish priest Affonia, who tried to turn over the bed on which the body of the Mother of God lay. The angel did not allow this and cut off Affonia’s hands the moment he touched the coffin. He repented and received healing, after which he converted to Christianity.

The Apostle Thomas arrived in Jerusalem on the third day after the funeral. He wanted to see the tomb of the Mother of God. When the coffin was opened, Her body was not in it, only the shroud remained. The Virgin Mary ascended in body and soul to Her Son.

The Apostle Thomas said that he saw the Mother of God ascending to Heaven. At that moment he asked Her to bless him. Then the Mother of God threw Her belt to him.

The Mother of God also appeared to the apostles, saying: “Rejoice, for I am with you all the days.”

On the Holy Mountain on August 28, a panigir celebrates the Iversky Monastery. As you know, Athos is called the earthly destiny of the Mother of God. Many miraculous icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary are kept in the monasteries of Mount Athos, and Her belt is kept in the Vatopedi monastery.

People call the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary “The First Holy Virgin”. The Assumption Fast ended today.