DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS (MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD) is celebrated on August 28 each year. The Feast commemorates the repose or „falling-asleep“ of the Mother of Jesus Christ. The Feast also commemorates the translation or assumption into heaven of the body of the Theotokos.The Bible tells us that when Christ was dying on the Cross, he saw his mother and his disciple John and said to Mary, „Woman, behold your son!“ and to John, „Behold your mother!“ (John 19:25-27). From that hour, the apostle took care of the Theotokos in his own home.
On one occasion, Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and revealed to her that within three days she will find repose. At the time of her death, the disciples of Christ who were preaching throughout the world returned to Jerusalem to see the Holy Mother. Except for the Apostle Thomas, all of them including the Apostle Paul were gathered together at her bedside. At the moment of her death, Jesus Christ himself descended and carried her soul into heaven.
Following her repose, the body of the Mother of God was taken in procession and laid in a tomb near the Garden of Gethsemane. On the third day after the burial, when the Apostles were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying „Rejoice“ to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the Mother of God into the Heavens.
2 comments:
Forgive me for being the voice of dissent, but I fail to see what relevance this posting has in a monarchist blogue. Obviously the justifying relationship is the long tradition of intertwinement of Western monarchies with Christian ecclesiarchies. Nevertheless, I do not believe that an article that does not even hint at an association with some monarchy or another is appropriate to this blogue.
Thank you for the comment, voices of dissent are more than welcome. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I disagree with you or not. I can only use your own argument from a different point of view: Although the article does not even hint at an association with some monarchy or another, it does relate to the long tradition of intertwinement of Western monarchies with Christian ecclesiarchies. There is an anecdote in Serbia that after the WW2 the frustrated royalists would each year "be sure" that the King would return by no longer than the Dormition of the Theotokos.
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