The Dormition is the greatest of the feasts dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated on August 15 (28). This is the day of the end of the earthly life of the Mother of God, the completion of her feat of life, the day of meeting Christ after a long separation.
During the last years of her earthly life, the Virgin Mary was in Jerusalem. The Apostles, returning from distant wanderings, came to Her, like children to their mother, and then again went to the feat of preaching, which for almost everyone ended with the feat of martyrdom.
The Gospel of John tells that Jesus, enduring the sufferings of the Cross, entrusted his Mother to the care of his beloved disciple John. The Most Holy Theotokos settled in the house of John the Theologian not far from the Mount of Olives. She was with those who supported and established the young Christian Church. Those who believed in Christ came to Jerusalem from distant lands to see and hear the Mother of God. The Apostles wrote down everything She told about Her life and about the earthly life of Her Son. Church historian Nicephorus Callistus has detailed a legend that conveys the circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
The Virgin Mary often visited Bethlehem, where Her Divine Son was born in a shepherd's cave on the outskirts of the city. She recalled how the Infant, illuminated by the heavenly light that emanated from him, slept soundly in the manger. Hay was put there for the animals, which, as if realizing that the Savior of the world was in front of them, stood all night over the manger, warming Him with their breath. She also visited Nazareth, where in the house of Joseph the Betrothed the archangel Gabriel announced to her the birth of her Son. The Virgin Mary taught the boy Jesus the alphabet. From a young age He helped Joseph in the carpentry trade.
The Christian visit to holy places dates back to the Virgin Mary. In the most difficult times, when the pilgrims were threatened with danger on the way, the attack of robbers, slavery and even death, they, like the Virgin Mary once, still went to the holy places.
Tradition has preserved the image of the Mother of God for us. She was above average height, her hair was the color of ripe wheat, her face was oval, her lips were like rose petals. The eyes are large, the color of olives. Her whole appearance breathed beauty and grace. For whole days she was in silence and prayer. In conversation I listened more than I spoke. She always answered good for evil, prayed for her persecutors.
As a child, the Virgin Mary learned to sew sacred vestments. In the last years of her life, she embroidered an omophorion for Lazarus, resurrected by the Lord in Bethany, who became the Bishop of Cyprus.
Often She came to the Holy Sepulcher on Calvary and prayed there. On one of these visits, according to legend, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Her and told about Her imminent migration from this world to the heavenly world, giving Her a palm branch as a pledge. The Most Holy Theotokos told about this to Joseph of Arimathea as a good news, because soon She was to see Her Son. Through the prayer of the Mother of God, it happened that by the time of the Dormition, the apostles began to gather in Jerusalem from distant countries. St. John of Damascus says that they flew together like clouds and eagles to serve the Mother of God. She informed them that she would soon leave them.
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And now the hour has come when the Assumption of the Mother of God was to take place. The apostles surrounded the bed on which the Virgin Mary was. A sudden light eclipsed the flame of burning candles, and Christ himself descended from heaven, surrounded by angels and archangels. Those who saw this were seized with sacred awe. Without suffering, as if in a dream, the Most Holy Virgin left this world and departed for eternal life.
The holy apostles Peter, Paul, James and others carried the bed on which the body of the Most Holy Theotokos lay, across all Jerusalem to Gethsemane. A cloud of light appeared over the procession, and the sounds of celestial music were heard. The funeral procession was reported to the high priests. A guard was sent to disperse the procession, but the cloud descended to the ground and blocked it from the attackers. Footsteps and singing could be heard, but no one was in sight. The high priest Athos tried to overturn the bed, but his hands were cut off by an invisible force. Athos was horrified and repented, he received healing and began to confess the teachings of Christ. Towards evening, the holy apostles laid the body of the Most Holy Theotokos in a coffin and closed the entrance to the cave with a large stone.
According to God's providence, the Apostle Thomas was not present at the burial of the Virgin. He came to Jerusalem after two days on the third and began to cry near the tomb. The apostles took pity on him and rolled the stone away from the tomb so that Thomas could venerate the holy body of the Ever-Virgin. But Her body disappeared, and only burial shroud lay in the cave. The Most Pure Mother of God was taken to heaven in a body.
During the earthly life of Jesus Christ, the apostles gathered for a meal and left the place where Christ was sitting unoccupied. They put bread on the table and divided it into pieces. On the fortieth day after the Dormition of the Mother of God, the apostles got up from the table, lifted bread and suddenly saw the Virgin Mary. She blessed them. They exclaimed: "Most Holy Theotokos, help us!" This is the origin of the rite called Panageya (All-Holy), performed in monasteries.
The Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos is solemnly celebrated in Gethsemane, at the place of Her burial. A temple was erected here, in which the burial shroud of the Virgin Mary is kept. In the IV century, the sacred cover was transferred to the Blachernae temple.
For many centuries, the Mother of God, in response to Her veneration, showed signs of Her protection. In 866 the fleet of pagan Rus approached Constantinople. The city was besieged. The Emperor and Patriarch of Constantinople prayed all night in the Blachernae Church, and then plunged the funeral robe of the Mother of God into the sea. Suddenly a storm arose and scattered the Russian ships in different directions.
On the day of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Orthodox sang: "We magnify Thee, Most Holy Mother of Christ our God, and glorify Thy Assumption". The Dormition of the Mother of God is not a day of sorrow, but a holiday. The Virgin Mary left the earth, but did not leave everyone living with her prayers and motherly love.
In Russia, on the feast of the Assumption, the harvest was completed. "To plow until Assumption - press the extra shock." According to the old all-Russian custom, a small handful of uncut ears was left on the field, tied with a ribbon - "curled a beard" - and said: "God grant that there will be a good harvest next summer."
On the Dormition Day, the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow, a treasure trove of legends and behests of the tsarist period of Russian history, celebrated its church feast especially solemnly. The kings came here on this day in all the splendor and splendor of their dignity, dressed in a large outfit, glittering with gold, silver and precious stones, accompanied by boyars, dressed in golden ferrezei.
The same solemnity was accompanied by the divine services in the Novgorod Sophia Cathedral, when the free city resigns itself to the greatness of Moscow, which has established its own customs in it. On this day, the saint bathed local images in Sophia with holy water, the caps on the head of St. Nikita and the relics, he poured the collected water into wax cakes and sent them to Moscow to the Tsar. After mass, he invited the Moscow boyar, clerks, authorities and deliberate citizens to the table.
By this time, the "Indian summer" comes - young until August 29, and from September 1 until the second Most Pure - the old one, autumn round dances are approaching in the villages, and in the cities there are long festivities.
From the book: "100 Great Holidays" Elena Olegovna Chekulaeva