My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE HOLY DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS, THE
SUMMER LENT AND PASCHA.
Queen of the Heavenly Host, Defender of our souls, we thy
servants offer to thee songs of victory and thanksgiving, for
thou, O Mother of God, hast delivered us from dangers. But
as thou hast invincible power, free us from conflicts of all
kinds that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, unwedded Bride! [Kontakion, Akathist to the Theo-
tokos].
“She doth pray for us, and the scepters of kingdoms are confirmed by Her prayers” (daily Nocturne). Saint John Maximovitch writes, “There is no intellect or words to express the greatness of Her Who was born in the sinful human race but became “MORE HONORABLE THAN THE CHERUBIM AND BEYOND COMPARE MORE GLORIOUS THAN THE SERAPHIM.” “Seeing the grace of the secret mysteries of God made manifest and clearly fulfilled in the Virgin, I rejoice; and I know not how to understand the strange and secret manner whereby the Undefiled has been revealed as alone chosen above all creation, visible and spiritual. Therefore, wishing to praise Her, I am struck dumb with amazement in both mind and speech. Yet still I dare to proclaim and magnify Her: She is indeed the Heavenly Tabernacle” [Ikos of the Entry into the Temple]. “Every tongue is at a loss to praise Thee as is due; even a spirit from the world above is filled with dizziness, when it seeks to sing praises, O Theotokos. But since Thou art good, accept our faith. Thou knowest well our love inspired by God, for Thou art the Protectors of Christians, and we magnify Thee” (Irmos of the 9th Canticle, Service of the Theophany).”
The Holy Dormition (Koimisis) is often referred to as the “Summer Pascha” because it shares many thematic similarities with the All-Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter). Both Holy Feasts highlight the triumph over death and the promise of resurrection and Eternal Life. Just as Holy Pascha celebrates Our Lord Christ’s triumph over death and His Glorious Resurrection, the Dormition celebrates the Theotokos’s TRANSLATION (METASTASIS) from the earthly life into Eternal Life, becoming a testament to Christ’s promise of resurrection for all who believe in Him.
The Holy Scripture tells us that when our Lord Jesus Christ was dying on the Cross, He saw His Beloved Mother and His beloved disciples John and said to the Virgin Mary, “Woman, behold your son!” [John 19:25-27). and to Saint John, “Behold your mother!” From that hour, the Holy Apostle took care of the Theotokos in his own home. We note three important truths concerning “His mother”: (1) In calling Mary “woman” Jesus is using a term of dignity and affection. (2) In saying to “the disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, to Saint John, “Behold your mother”, Jesus symbolically establishes Mary’ role as mother of all faithful disciples–of the entire Church. If Mary had other offsprings, Jesus would not have placed her under the care of John. The Orthodox Church’s teaching concerning Mary’s eternal virginity is ratified by Christ’s action.
Along with the Scriptural reference in the Books of Acts 1:14 that confirms that the Virgin Mary was with the Holy Apostles on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Tradition of the Church holds that she remained in the home of the Holy Apostle John in Jerusalem, continuing a ministry in word and deed.
The commemoration of the Holy Dormition of the Theotokos and the preparation for the Holy Feast begin August 1st with a two week fasting. A strict fast is observed on most of the days (no meat, dairy, olive oil, or wine), with the exceptions of fish on the Holy Feast of the Transfiguration (Metamorphosis) (August 6th) and the day of the Dormition. Oil and Wine are allowed on Saturdays and Sundays. All Orthodox Christians are aware of the spiritual purpose and importance of fasting. However, while they may know of the Dormition Fast but not all adhere to our sacred tradition. The purpose of fasting is to bring us more in line with another Mary, the sister of Saint Lazarus, and away from their sister Martha, who in the very well known passage was told by the Lord “you are anxious and troubled about many things.” Fasting is intended to bring us to the realization of “the one thing needful!” It is to help us put the Almighty God first and our own desires last. Fasting turns us away from ourselves and toward God.. In other words to emulate the Mother of God and be obedient servants of our Creator and keep His word in our hearts.
All our divine services throughout the ecclesiastical year offer the opportunity to worship as a family. There is no better way of strengthening our family than to pray and worship together. Our lives are Christ centered and it is He Who will protect, inspire, preserve and guide us to live righteously according to His commandments. We all understand the brevity of our earthly life and therefore we need our life to reflect our faith and values taught to us by our Savior Jesus Christ. Just as we prepare spiritually during the fasting periods of our Church to celebrate the upcoming holy days, we must also prepare ourselves spiritually to enter life everlasting. The absolute value of God’s Kingdom requires urgent preparedness and decisive action to preserve one’s life eternally.
On the weekdays before the Feast, PARAKLESIS (SUPPLICATORY) services are conducted. These consist of the Great Paraklesis and Small Paraklesis during which we supplicate the Theotokos and pray she will continue her intercessions to our Lord and God. Orthodox Christians give the priest the names of their family members to pray for their spiritual and bodily well being at every Paraklesis service. Our divine services encourage the faithful to make prayer, worship, the Mysteries (Sacraments), a top priority in their lives.
Prayer does not only cleanse us from sin, it also protects us from great dangers. Truly the king and Prophet David, avoided many difficult wars through prayer, precisely because he gave prayer precedence as the only weapon of his army, a weapon that permitted his soldiers to enjoy victory readily and without fear. For while the other kings had placed the hope of victory in the experience and the skill of their generals and the arms of their soldiers, King David armed his army with sacred prayer and did not rely upon the pride of his generals and the leaders of battalions. Prayer is a weapon and a secure protection which repels in the same manner one single soldier or many countless soldiers. Real prayer, will purify the soul from our sins. This we are taught by the story of the Publican in the Gospel (Luke 18:9-14), who beseeched God to show mercy on him and to forgive his sins, and who was really granted this grace.
This is why the Holy Apostle Paul insists and constantly reminds us: “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Collosians 4:2). In another place he says, “Rejoice always, PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus fro you” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Also, “Praying always with all prayer and supplications in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18). With such divine words the great Apostle Paul exhorts us to live our life with prayer and to nurture constantly our mind with it, because all human beings have need of prayer just as trees have need of water. As the trees cannot bear fruit unless they drink from their roots abundant water, so also we cannot produce the precious fruit of piety unless we are nurtured by prayers, [ A homily of Prayer by Saint John Chrysostomos]
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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
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 