The Dormition of the All-holy Mother of God

We magnify thee, O all-holy Mother of Christ our God, and we glorify thine all-glorious falling asleep.

An explanation of the Gospel read on the feast of the Dormition of the All-holy Mother of God, after the priest Grigory Dyachenko

● St Gabriel (Kikodze) the Hierarch, a word on the day of the Dormition of the All-holy Mother of God

● Archbishop Zosime (Shioshvili), The Dormition — Mariamoba

The All-holy Virgin longed ceaselessly for heaven, and prayed to be taken to the heavenly dwelling, that she might delight in the radiance of her Son and God. As one who had sown the teaching of Christ on earth, she saw that the holy harvest of men's souls was already ripe: the Church had been founded and ordered, and Christianity, and with it the glory of the Mother of God, had spread through all the world. Now she besought her Son still more fervently to take her to heaven as soon as might be.

The All-holy Mary lived on Mount Zion, in the house of John the Theologian, and often went to the places sanctified by the footsteps of the Redeemer of the world. But for prayer she most often chose Golgotha and the Mount of Olives, at whose foot lay the garden that John the Theologian had inherited from his father Zebedee. Once, as she prayed on the Mount of Olives, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that the time of her going up to heaven was near, and that it would come to pass in three days. In confirmation of this news he gave her a branch of a date palm planted in paradise, and told her that this branch, which shone with divine grace, was to be carried to her grave. With godly joy the Mother of God received the branch of paradise. She fell down before the Lord, gave thanks, and besought Him that at the hour of her going out of the body her eyes might not see the prince of darkness and the terrors of hell, and that the Lord Himself might receive her soul with His divine hands. She asked too that before her end she might be given to see the holy Apostles, who were scattered over the world preaching.

When she learned the joyful news of her coming blessed falling asleep, her face shone with such heavenly joy that her divine glory filled everyone with awe.

The All-holy Mary made ready for her falling asleep, and first of all told John the Theologian of it. She bade them carry the branch of paradise to her grave. She gave her instructions calmly. She told them to prepare candles, incense and everything needed for burial. John at once told all this to the Apostle James, the son of Joseph the Betrothed and the first bishop of Jerusalem, who spread the news not only in Jerusalem but through all its surroundings, on every side. People came from everywhere to the house of John the Theologian. When they heard from the Mother of God herself that she was to be taken to heaven, they wept bitterly and filled the house with loud lamentation, beseeching the comforter of all not to leave them orphaned and forsaken. The Mother of God gave them hope and promised that she would not forsake them, and that she would be a swift helper and intercessor for all who turned to her in sorrow and despair. In this promise of hers lies buried the comfort of all mankind.

All gazed on her face with devotion and listened to her words; and the Mother of God did not forget to leave a will concerning her few possessions and her burial. Her two garments were left to two poor widows who received their food from her and served her with fervent love. She loved everyone, but above all those who needed her help. She wished her body to be buried in the cave of Gethsemane, by the valley of Jehoshaphat, between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem, where her righteous parents and Joseph the Betrothed lay at rest.

As she was telling John and James her wishes, suddenly a great noise was heard, like the coming of a storm, and all saw a bright cloud surrounding the house. The Lord fulfilled the wish of His All-holy Mother: the holy Apostles, caught up by divine power from the various ends of the earth, were brought by these clouds to the house where she was. The eyewitnesses and disciples of the Lord were granted the grace of being present at the falling asleep and burial of the Mother of God. The Apostles gathered at the door of the house rejoiced and could not understand why this miracle had come to pass. John the Theologian came out to meet them and told them that the day of the Mother of God's going to the Lord had come.

When they saw the All-holy Mother of God, full of radiant gladness, they could no longer hide their tears; it was terrible and grievous to part from the Mother who had taught and comforted them, who had taken the place of their King and Teacher. How were they to bear such loneliness and orphanhood, how were they to remain in this world without their Mother and guide?!

Mary, full of grace, asked them not to weigh down her joy with tears but to rejoice with her: “I am going to my Son and Lord. You will carry my body to Gethsemane and bury it there, and you will go on with the preaching laid upon you; and, if the Lord wills, you will see me again after my falling asleep.” At this time the Apostle Paul was there too, with his disciples: Dionysius the Areopagite, Hierotheus, Timothy and others of the Seventy. The Lord had gathered them and made them worthy to see the Mother of God, to receive her blessing and to be present at her burial.

The All-holy Virgin called each one to her, calling them by name, and showed tenderness to each for their faith and for the labour they had borne in preaching Christ. She comforted them and gave them hope that she would not leave the world orphaned, and that she would hear the prayer of all who turned to her.

The third day after the angel's appearing came. The third hour of the day drew near, the time at which the falling asleep had been foretold. Candles were burning in the house; the Apostles, surrounding the bed of the Mother of God, glorified the Lord, and she prayed fervently. Suddenly the roof of the house opened, the light of divine glory shone on those who were there, all were filled with awe, and the rays of heavenly light darkened everything earthly. Surrounded by the ranks of the heavenly powers, the King of glory — Christ Himself — appeared to His All-holy Mother. Rejoicing in the radiance of her Son and God, she spoke the words of the God-inspired hymn: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” She raised herself from the bed, bowed down before the Lord and heard the divine call: “Come, My beloved, come, My chosen one, and inherit the dwelling of eternal life.” The All-holy Mother of God repeated her prayer: “Receive my soul in peace and deliver me from the region of darkness.” The Lord comforted her: the dark power of the serpent is crushed, and He Himself calls her to pass boldly from earthly life into heavenly. The Ever-Virgin cried out with joy: “My heart is ready, O God; be it unto me according to Thy word.” She lay down again upon the bed and gave her soul into the hands of her Son. She had borne Him without pain, and He released her soul from her body without any pain — He kept her holy body from corruption. Then the singing of angels was heard: “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women!” And the soul of the Mother of God, in the hands of the Lord, with festal splendour and the escort of the heavenly powers, went up into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Apostles, who were made worthy to see the All-holy Mother of God go up to heaven, stood trembling and gazing at the sky, as once they had gazed after the ascended Lord. They had forgotten everything earthly — even themselves. When they came to themselves, they looked at the all-holy body and saw that her face shone with heavenly light, and a wondrous fragrance came from it.

With love the company of Apostles sang to her: “Received into the heavenly dwelling of thy Son, thou art at every hour, O Theotokos, the help of thy people.”

And from the height of heaven the voice of the Mother of God was heard, boldly addressing her Son and Lord: “Keep for ever those whom Thou hast given me.”

All who were there venerated the all-holy body with trembling and the fear of God. All the afflicted who touched her bed received healing, and they glorified her with the Archangel's song: “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee.” The holy Apostles made ready for her burial; though they mourned the parting in this world, they were comforted by the thought that they had gained an intercessor and one who prays for them before God in heaven. Peter, Paul, James and the other Apostles carried her body on their own shoulders. John the Theologian went before them with the radiant branch of paradise. The rest of the faithful and a multitude of people escorted her bier with censers and lighted candles, going with singing from Zion to Gethsemane; and during the procession, until the very burial, a cloud like a radiant crown looked down from above upon the body of the Mother of God and upon those in the procession. From heaven the singing of angels was heard.

Many unbelieving Jews heard the extraordinary voices, saw the festal procession and told the high priests and the elders. These were filled with anger and envy when they saw with what honour the Mother of Jesus, whom they had crucified, was being escorted. The leaders of the Jews sent a band of soldiers to scatter the people. They ordered them to kill the Apostles and burn the body of the Mother of God. But divine power did not allow this evil deed. The radiant crown of cloud came down and surrounded the procession like a wall. The pursuers heard the singing and the sound of footsteps but, struck with blindness, saw nothing. In the crush many of them broke their heads against the city wall; others lost their way and looked for guides. One Jewish priest, Athonias, behaved with particular insolence. He dared to speak terrible blasphemies at the bier of the Mother of God and reviled her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Seething with old envy and enmity, he rushed at the bier to throw the all-holy body to the ground; but as soon as he touched it, an angel of the Lord with the sword of God's wrath cut off both his hands. The severed hands fell upon the bier, and he himself fell to the ground with terrible lamentation. The fearful punishment brought him to his senses. He felt his guilt and cried to the Apostles: “Have mercy on me, servants of Christ!” The Apostle Peter halted the procession and said to Athonias: “We have no power to heal you; only He whom you crucified can do all things — our Lord Jesus Christ; but neither will He heal you until you believe with all your heart and confess with your lips that Jesus is the true Messiah and the Son of God.” Then Athonias said aloud: “I believe that Christ is the promised Messiah and the Saviour of the world.” The salvation of a lost soul gladdened the Apostles and the faithful greatly, and the Apostle Peter told Athonias to turn with faith to the Mother of God and to set his arms against the severed hands that lay upon the bier. At once the hands grew whole and Athonias was healed. Only thin red lines like threads remained about his elbows. Athonias fell down before the bier and worshipped the Lord Jesus and His All-holy Mother, praised and glorified her, and went on with the Apostles. Many Jews, when they heard of this miracle, repented and came to the bier of the Mother of God; they were healed, and their sight too was restored to them. The merciful Mother of the race of men, as by her giving birth she brought joy to the whole world, did not wish by her falling asleep to grieve anyone; she received all, and gave hope even to her enemies.

When the procession reached Gethsemane, with tears and lamentation all kissed the all-holy body for the last time, and only in the evening were the holy Apostles able to lay her in the tomb. They covered the entrance of the cave with a stone. After the burial they did not leave the place for a long while. For three days they offered prayers and hymns there to the Mother of God. During this time angels glorified the Lord and the All-holy Virgin with heavenly singing.

It fell to the Apostle Thomas to share in making known the rising of the Mother of God, just as once by his doubt he had confirmed the truth of Christ's resurrection. By the will of God he came to Gethsemane on the third day after the burial of the Mother of God. Filled with deep sorrow, he came to the tomb lamenting, and poured out the grief of his heart that he had not been made worthy to see the Mother of God for the last time and receive her blessing. Nor had he seen the miracles that were wrought at her falling asleep and burial. Out of sincere compassion the holy Apostles decided to roll away the stone from the tomb, so that Thomas could see the holy body of the Mother of God and venerate it. But as soon as the stone was rolled away they saw that only the grave-clothes remained in the tomb, and an inexpressible fragrance came from them. Her precious body was nowhere to be found. They were astonished and amazed. With devotion they kissed the mantle left in the tomb, and besought the Lord to reveal to them the mystery of this glorious miracle. That same evening the Queen of Heaven herself set them at rest.

By the most ancient tradition, after the resurrection of Christ the first place at the table of Christians was left empty; at that place there was always a piece of bread, as “the Lord's portion” — in honour and remembrance of Christ. After the meal each in turn would take up this bread, call upon the name of the All-holy Trinity, and end the prayer thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, help us.” After this they would share out “Christ's portion” and eat it as a blessing from the Lord.

The Apostles always kept this rule, whether they ate alone or with others.

They did the same at the evening meal after returning from Gethsemane. They were thinking and speaking only of the Mother of God, and could not understand what had become of her precious body. At the end of the meal, when they had taken up “Christ's portion” and were glorifying the All-holy Trinity, suddenly the singing of angels was heard, and they saw the All-holy Virgin in the heavens; surrounded by the heavenly powers and shining with inexpressible glory, she said to the Apostles: “Rejoice! I am with you at every hour.” The rejoicing Apostles and the faithful who were there cried out together: “All-holy Mother of God, help us.” In this way the holy Apostles became certain, and handed down to the whole Church the unshakeable faith, that the Mother of God was raised from the dead on the third day by her Son and God and taken up in the body into heaven.

To comfort the sorrowing and to assure those who had not been there, the Apostles took the mantle that had been left in the tomb and returned to Jerusalem, and very soon they appeared again in the various parts of the world to preach the Gospel.

The Church calls the end of the Mother of God her falling asleep, because she slept only a little while and rose as from sleep. The Mother of God overcame the laws of nature. The return of a body made of earth to the earth — such a death did not touch her body. In giving birth she kept her virginity; at her end she was joined to life; after giving birth she remained incorrupt, and in death she kept life. She fell asleep in order to awake to blessed eternal life. She stands before the life-creating fountain, that by her prayer she may save our souls from eternal death. The Mother of God, who prays without sleeping, intercedes for us and gives us faith as our comfort in sorrow.

The tomb of the Mother of God, hewn in the rock, like the tomb of her Son, has remained an object of veneration for all believers. From the most ancient times the Church has appointed 15 (28) August for the commemoration of the Dormition of the Mother of God. It is among the twelve great feasts of the Lord, for on this day the Saviour of all came to meet His Mother and settled her in His dwelling.

Even after her falling asleep the All-holy Mother of God has not forsaken the world; as she promised, she is the intercessor of all who turn to her, and to many who are sorrowful and afflicted she has shown many miracles of mercy. Which of us, tossed on the stormy sea of life, does not feel that the Mother of God hears our lament — how quickly she hears us, how swiftly she helps and comforts us! Calling on the Mother of God as intercessor has become part of Christian worship. From the first century the Church has asked her help and glorified her; the evening service each day ends with a prayer to her: “Most glorious, ever-blessed Mother of God, ever-Virgin, offer our prayer to thy Son and our God, that through thee He may have mercy on our souls.” The Mother of God comforts all who turn to her:

“O all-holy Mother of God, help us and deliver us who are clothed in thee; O Lady, save us.”