THE THEOTOKOS DELIVERS HER SOUL, FULL OF LIGHT

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER BLESSED.

THE THEOTOKOS DELIVERS HER SOUL FULL OF LIGHT

It was the Lord’s Day, and the Fifteenth day of the month of August, when that blessed hour that all were awaiting drew near. It was the third hour of the day [9:00 a.m.]. In the room a number of lamps were burning. The Holy Apostles were offering praise to God. Upon a beautifully adorned bed, the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary was lying and preparing herself for the blessed end when her beloved Son and Lord would come to her. She then greeted each Apostle with a blessing.

She then stretched her hands to heaven and prayed, saying, "I adore, praise and glorify Thy much to be praised name, O Lord, because Thou hast looked upon the lowliness of Thine handmaiden, and because Thou that art mighty has done great things for me; and, behold, all generations shall call me blessed [Luke 1:48]. After this prayer, she said to the Holy Apostles, "Cast incense and pray, Christ is at hand, sitting on a Throne of Cherubim." When they had prayed, there was thunder from heaven and there came a fearful voice, as if of chariot; and, behold, a multitude of a host of Angels and powers, and a voice, as if of the Son of Man was heard.

Then there shone in the room an ineffable Light of Divine Glory which dimmed the lamps. Many beheld the roof of the room open and the glory of the Lord descending from heaven. It was Christ the King of Glory with Hosts of Angels and Archangels, and all the heavenly powers. Also with them were the Holy Fathers and Prophets who prophesied of old concerning the pure Virgin, and all the Righteous souls, approached His immaculate Mother.

Saint John of Damascus also mentions that some of the most famous and righteous Prophets of the Old Testament were in attendance. Other sources, describing the events, record that the Theotokos’ mother, Anna, and her cousin Elizabeth appeared with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David and all the Choirs of Saints, chanting, praising, and venerating the body of the Mother of the Lord.

Bowing, the Mother of God said, "Blessed is Thy name, O Lord of Glory and my God, Who was pleased to choose Thy humble handmaid for the service of Thy mystery. Remember me, O King of Glory, in Thy Eternal Kingdom. Thou knowest that I have loved Thee with all my heart and have kept the treasure entrusted to me. And now receive my soul in peace and defend me from all the snares of the dark power of satan. The Lord then consoled His Mother with words full of love and persuaded her not to fear the power of satan which was already conquered by her. He called her with love to pass fearlessly from earth to heaven.

The Lord remained by her and said, "Behold, presently they soul will be TRANSLATED (METASTASIS) to the heavens, to the treasures of My Father in exceeding brightness, where there is peace and joy of the Holy Angels, and many other things. Then the Mother of the Lord answered and said to Him, "Lay Thy right hand upon me, O Lord, and bless me." Then the Lord stretched forth His undefiled hand and blessed His Mother. She then took hold of His hand and kissed it, saying, "I adore this right hand, which created heaven and the earth.

She then rose up and blessed each of the Holy Apostles with her own hand, and all gave glory to God. Then addressing her Son and His Disciples, she uttered, "O ye Apostles assembled here from the ends of the earth, bury my body in Gethsemane: and Thou, O my Son and God, receive my spirit." Then repeated the words once said by her, "Be unto me according to Thy word" [Luke 1:38], and then lay down on the bed. Filled with spiritual rapture out of love for Him, surrendered her pure soul into the hands of the Lord. She felt no pain whatsoever, but it was as if she had fallen into a sweet sleep.

At once there began wonderful and joyous Angelic singing repeating the former words of Gabriel: "Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord with thee. Blessed are thou among women." [Luke 1:28]. With such triumphant hymns did the heavenly Hosts accompany the Holy soul of the Theotokos as she went in the arms of the Lord to the dwelling above.

The face of the Theotokos shone like the sun and a splendid and sweet perfume emitted from her most pure body, it was a scent that is impossible to find here on earth. With piety and fear, the Holy Apostles venerated the most pure body and were sanctified by contact with it. In the midst of these events which had accompanied the Koimisis (Dormition) of the Theotokos, they began the solemn procession to inter her most honorable body. The Holy Apostles bore her bier aloft on their shoulders; towards the head were Saint John the Theologian and Saint Peter on the other side, then Saint James (Iakovos) and Saint Paul opposite him. The other Holy Apostles and Hierarchs proceeded chanting, while Saint John the Theologian also carried the branch from Paradise which shone brightly. The rest of the faithful, with lights and censers, walked close by, surrounding the bed.

The solemn procession conveyed the sacred body of the Theotokos from Sion through Jerusalem to Gethsemane. Hovering over the bier and accompanying the procession there appeared a circular cloud reminiscent of the crown which shone with a bright radiance. In the hearing of all, there resounded ceaseless Angelic singing form out of the cloud that tilled the air.

The tomb in the Garden of Gethsemane was east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley. Finally, the Holy Apostles with all the multitude of the Christians reached the Garden. When they laid down the bier with the most precious body, again the Christians began to weep. All bewailed their orphanhood at the loss of such a treasure. In giving the last kiss, the Christians fell down before the sacred body of the Theotokos. When the Holy Apostles stepped before her bier to bid her farewell, each according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they uttered psalms of triumph and thanksgiving and chanted prayers.

Then even after an enormous stone had been rolled into place before the mouth of the tomb, the faithful did not wish to depart, held by their intense love for the Mother of God. Thus, the Holy Apostles also stayed by her tomb and did not leave Gethsemane for three days, chanting continually. During all this time, there could be heard in the air the wonderful chanting of the Heavenly Hosts that were praising God and blessing His immaculate Mother.

While the Holy Apostle Thomas was enlightening the lands of India by preaching the Holy Gospel, the honored Dormition of the Mother of God took place. All the Holy Apostles had been caught up from various lands on the clouds of heaven, and were transported to Gethsemane, to the bier of the All-Blessed Virgin. By God’s special arrangement, Saint Thomas was not brought there. This was permitted by the will of God, that the faithful might be assured that the Mother of God was bodily assumed into Heaven. For just as they were more greatly assured of the Resurrection of Christ, through the disbelief of Thomas, so did they learn of the bodily assumption into heaven of the All-Pure Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, through the delay of Saint Thomas.

On the third day after the burial, the Holy Apostle Thomas was suddenly caught up in a cloud in India and transported to the tomb of Theotokos. From the vantage point, he beheld the translation (metastasis) of her body into the heavens, and cried out to her, "Whither goest thou, O All-Holy One?" And, removing her cincture, she gave it to Thomas, saying, "Receive this, my friend." And then she was gone.

Thereafter, he joined the other Disciples keeping watch over the sepulchre of the Theotokos. I beseech you, my fellow disciples, open the tomb that I may at least behold and venerate the sacred relics. The Holy Apostles then rolled away the stone and opened the tomb. All were aghast when they discovered that her remains had vanished, not realizing that just before she had been bodily transported to Paradise. All that remained were the burial clothes, which emitted a wonderful fragrance. They then prayed to the Lord that He would reveal to them where the body of the Theotokos had been transported.

The Ever Virgin Mary appeared to the Holy Apostles after her repose, as did her Son. After he bodily disappeared from the tomb, it was towards evening and they sat down in order to refresh themselves with a little food. At this meal they spoke and thought of nothing but of the Virgin’s empty tomb. Suddenly, they heard Angelic singing. Raising their eyes, they beheld standing, in the air, the Theotokos, who were surrounded by a multitude of Angels. She was suffused with an ineffable Light, and said to the Holy Apostles, "Rejoice, for I am with you all the days of your lives!" Indeed, she is not only with her Son’s Apostles, but she is also with all the faithful and devout Orthodox Christian of all the ages. Upon seeing her, they were filled with joy and cried aloud, "All Holy Mother of God, save us!"

Thus, they were convinced that the Mother of Life, although she had died, yet rose, like her Son, to Eternal Life and that her sacred body, having been raised, was lifted up to Heaven by Jesus, her Son and the Savior of our souls. [Resource: The Life of the Virgin Mary the Theotokos]

Please note: In the Roman Catholic tradition there appeared a new dogma foreign to Eastern Orthodox Tradition that of the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary. This was spread by the Jesuits in the Roman Catholic world . In 1950, the so-called Jubilee Year, the Roman Pope Pius XII triumphantly proclaimed a second dogma, the dogma of the Assumption of the Mother of God with her body into heaven. It is their belief that she was assumed bodily before her death. "In the view of the Roman theologians, she accepted death voluntarily so as to emulate her Son; but DEATH HAD NO DOMINION OVER HER." Dogmatically this teaching ws deduced in Roman theology from the Roman dogma of the Immaculate Conception and is a further logical deduction from the Roman teaching on original sin. The Orthodox Church considers both the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption as heresies.

In the Eastern Orthodox Holy Tradition the Ever-Virgin Mary and Theotokos died indeed and therefore, we refer to it as her DORMITION (KEEMISIS) OR FALLING ASLEEP. In our Holy Tradition not only she physically died, but was buried by the Holy Apostles in the tomb in the Garden of Gethsemane.

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"GLory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George