Devotional for the Dormition of the Theotokos

[Vasiliki D.]

A thread dedicated to the dormition of the Theotokos:


What should we offer the Mother of the Word but words?

Like always rejoice in like, because it recognizes it as its own. Let us, then, open the starting-gates of speech, let us loosen the reins a little, and spur this discourse on as if we were riding a race-horse. And you, O Word of God-ride with me as my helper; give words to my stammering mind, make the track smooth for my speech, and lead my course straight twoards your good pleasure, the goal of a wise person's every word and thought.

Today the holy, incomparable virgin enters the heavenly sanctuary that lies above the universe. She longed for virginity that she was transformed into it, as if consumed by the purest fire. Every virgin, after all, loses her virginity in giving birth; but she, who was a virgin before giving birth, remained so during her labours and even after them. Today the holy, living ark of the living God, the one who carried her own maker within herself, comes to her rest in the temple of the Lord not made by hands.

David-her ancestor and God's-leaps for joy (2 Sam 6:4; 1 Chr 15:25); the angels join in the dance, the archangels applaud, the virtues give praise, the principalities rejoice with them, the pwoers exult, the dominations delight, the thrones make festival, the cherubim sing their hymn, and the seraphim glorify God. They glorify him in no negligible way, when they give glory to the Mother of glory.

Today, the sacred dove, the pure and innocent soul who was also purified by the Holy Spirit, has flown from the ark-I mean from the body which received God and is the source of our life; and she has found "a place fo rest for her feet" (Gen 8:9), flying up to the intelligible world and pitching her tent in the spotless land of our heritage on high.

St John of Damascus.

http://www.icon-art-studios.com/images/Dormition-LG.jpg

[Vasiliki D.]

"What hands shall lay you to rest?"

What arms shall carry you, who carried in your arms the Uncontainable One?

What funeral prayers shall we make at your grave? With what songs shall we send you on your way? What lips may sing of your passing? What voice? What words shall express with appropriate grace the great things done for you (Lk 1:49)?

Therefore, in place of all others, we shall use these words of you:

'Blessed are you among women' (Lk 1:42), for all generations (cf. ibid. 1:48). Blessed are you in heaven and glorified on earth. Every tongue shall praise you gratefully, and proclaim you Mother of Life. All creation is full of your glory (cf. Is 6:3); all things are made holy by your myrrh-like fragrance.

Because of you, sin's aggression is over; the curse of our first mother has been turned into grace. Because of you, all (angels) sing with us, 'Glory in heaven, peace on earth' (Lk 2:14).

No tomb can contain you, for corruptible things cannot hide the forces of slavery cannot capture a royal soul.

St Andrew of Crete

[Vasiliki D.]

"Blessed are you too, region of Gethsemane!"

"In you Gethsemane, all of us have seen the ever-virgin Mary buried in her tomb and taken up to heaven - we disciples, and also this crowd, which gathered in such numbers for her funeral. She was taken from our view here, beyond any dispute, before her tomb was sealed with a stone, so that no one might find an easy opportunity, in the absence of seals and guards, to convince unbeleivers of a theft. But see: with hymns of praise she was brought to this tomb, and then left the tomb empty; now she fills paradise with her glory, and she shares the refreshment of the life of heaven."

"Now she lives on, as a participant in the delights of God."

St Germanus of Constantinople: Homily II

[Vasiliki D.]

... When Mary saw him, she was disturbed in spirit; she groaned and shed tears, and cried out in a loud voice,

"John, my son, do not forget the words your Master addressed to you on my behalf, when I wept for him on the corss and said, 'You are going away, my Son, and to whom do you leave me? With whom shall I live?' And he said to me, as you stood and listened, 'John is the one who will look after you.' Now, then, my son, do not forget what you have been commanded on my account. Remember that he loeved you above all the Apostles; remember that you, rather than any of the others, leaned on his breast. Remember that it was to you alone, as you reclined on his breast, that he spoke the mystery that no one knows except me and you, sinc eyou are the chosen virgin, and since he did not wish me to grieve, for I was his dwelling place. For I said to him, 'Tell me what you have said to John.' and he gave you a command and shared it also with me. Now, then, son John, do not abandon me."

When she had said this, Mary wept quietly. But John could not bear it; his spirit was troubled, and he did not understand what she had been saying to him, for he did not realise that she was about to depart from her body. Then he said to her,

"Mary, Mother of the Lord, what do you want me to do for you? After all, I have left my servant with you, to provide you with food. Surely you do not wish me to transgress the command of my Lord, which he laid upon me when he said, 'Travel around the whole world, until sin is abolished! (cf. Mt 28:19) Now, then, tell me what burdens your soul. Do you lack anything?"

And Mary said to him,

"John, my son, I do not need any of this world's goods; but when, on the day after tomorrow, I depart from the body, I beg you to show me a kindness: keep my body safe, and lay it only in a sepulcher. Guard it, with your brother Apostles, on account of the high priests. For with my own ears I heard them saying, 'When we find her body we will commit it to the fire, because that deceiver came forth from her!'"

When John heard her saying, "I shall depart from the body," he fell on his knees and said with tears,

"O Lord, who are we, that you let us see such tribulations? For we have still not forgotten our earlier troubles, and now see-we must endure further tribulation! Why, O Mary, do I not depart from the body, that you might keep watch over me?"

When Mary heard John say this, weeping, she begged those standing nearby to be silent-for they, too, were in tears-and she restrained John, saying,

"Child, be patient with me and cease your weeping!"

Then John rose and wiped away his tears.

Excerpt from:
'The dormition of Our Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary' By John, Archbishop of Thessalonica.

[Note by me: What utter humility does our Mother show when she says to Saint John "be patient with me"! I nearly fell off my chair when I read this ... how could John do anything BUT arise and wipe away his tears; she was not just a woman to be respected and admired but truly a woman of inspiration. My inspiration in life is her humility and love to other people, may her prayers guide all of us in our life, Vasiliki]

[Vasiliki D.]

How many do you image there were then, dear friend, gathered from all points of the compass to be with her?

Dionysius speaks of "many of our Holy brethren," so it seems clear that the seventy, those appointed disciples of Christ in second place, were also present in the divinely chosen gathering. For it was right both that [the twelve], the protagonists and willing witnesses of the mystery [of Christ] should be there, and that some others, too, should be brought together by the Holy Spirit in that moment-others who stood next to them in rank, because they shared after them in the responsibility of speaking divine things. Dionysius makes this clear when he adds, "James, brother of God, was there, and Peter, the leader and first in seniority among those who spoke of God." One is struck with wonder at the thought that all of them arrived at the same time!

St Andrew of Crete

[Paul Cowan]

One is struck with wonder at the thought that all of them arrived at the same time!

Not all of them. By the providence of God one was 3 days late; again. But yes, imagine the surprise of the apostles when they were transported hundreds of miles in an instant to see her departure. What incredible joy and sadness and joy.

[Olga]

Paul, you are quite right. Poor Apostle Thomas "missed out" twice, firstly at Christ's resurrection, then at the Mother of God's Dormition. But his "missing out" was, of course, not in vain, as, both times, a great theological truth was revealed.

I still find the Exaposteilarion of the Dormition, particularly as sung in Slavic churches, one of the most moving of all hymns. I would rank it alongside Noble Joseph, another quite short and deceptively simple hymn, as true jewels of Orthodoxy.

[Vasiliki D.]

Dear Paul, whether the Apostles did or did not arrive simultaneously is neither here or there for me because I dont know the churches teaching on the matter. The excerpt was by one of the Saints of our church so he could be wrong :D its irrelevant, it was the words that completely blew me away .. they personify the event and bring it to life ... here is one more (one for each day until the Old Calendar's have finished the feast) I hope you enjoy it dear soul:

Excerpt from 'Encomium on the Dormition of our Holy Lady, the Mother of God' by St Theodore the Studite, 4:

" ... But this is what the blessed Apostles answered to her, either speaking on their own or quoting the words of the prophets:

(1) "Hail", one said, "ladder set up from earth to heaven on which the Lord came down to us and returned to heaven again, as in the vision of the great patriarch Jacob (Gen 28:12)!"

(2) "Hail, miraculous bush where the angel of the Lord appeared in flames of fire, where the flame burned without consuming, as Moses realised, who alone saw God face to face (Ex 3:2)!"

(3) "Hail, fleece moistened by God, from which a basinful of heavenly dew flowed forth, according to Gideon, that worker of wonders (Jg 6:37-8)!"

(4) "Hail, city of the great king, which all the admiring sovereigns praised, according to David the psalmist (Ps 47:2,5 LXX)!"

(5) "Hail, spiritual Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, from whom the glorious king came forth who was to become ruler of Israel, and whose goings-forth were from the beginning, from eternal days,' according to the divine Micah (Mic 5:2)!"

(6) "Hail, shady mountain of virgins, from which the holy one of Israel appeared, according to Habakkuk, whose proclomation was divine (Hab 3:3)!"

(7) "Hail, shining golden lamp radiating light, from which the inaccessible light of God has shone out on those in darkness and the shadow of death, according to the inspired Zechariah (Zech 4:2; Lk 1:79)!"

(8) "Hail, altar of purification for all mortal creatures, through which 'the Lord's name is glorified among the pagans from the rising of the sun to its setting,' and where 'a sacrifice is offered to his name in every place,' according to the holy Malachi (Mal 1:11)!"

(9) "Hail, 'light cloud where the Lord dwells,' according to Isaiah, who spoke the most sacred things (Is 19:1)!"

(10) "Hail, holy book of the Lord's commands, newly written law of love, through which we can know what pleases God, according to the mournful Jeremiah (Jer 25:13; 38:33 LXX)!"

(11) "Hail, locked gate, through which the Lord God of Israel comes in and out, according to Ezekiel, who gazed on God (Ezek 44:2)!"

(12) "Hail, unquarried mountain-peak, higher than human hands, from which that rock was cut which became the corner-stone, according to Daniel, that great teacher about God (Dan 2:45; Ps 117:22)!"

[Nina]

The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary


The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary: After the Ascension of the Lord, the Mother of God remained in the care of the Apostle John the Theologian, and during his journeys She lived at the home of his parents, near the Mount of Olives. She was a source of consolation and edification both for the Apostles and for all the believers. Conversing with them, She told them about miraculous events: the Annunciation, the seedless and undefiled Conception of Christ born of Her, about His early childhood, and about His earthly life. Like the Apostles, She helped plant and strengthen the Christian Church by Her presence, Her discourse and Her prayers.

The reverence of the Apostles for the Most Holy Virgin was extraordinary. After the receiving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Apostles remained at Jerusalem for about ten years attending to the salvation of the Jews, and wanting moreover to see the Mother of God and hear Her holy discourse. Many of the newly-enlightened in the Faith even came from faraway lands to Jerusalem, to see and to hear the All-Pure Mother of God.

During the persecution initiated by King Herod against the young Church of Christ (Acts 12:1-3), the Most Holy Virgin and the Apostle John the Theologian withdrew to Ephesus in the year 43. The preaching of the Gospel there had fallen by lot to the Apostle John the Theologian. The Mother of God was on Cyprus with St Lazarus the Four-Days-Dead, where he was bishop. She was also on Holy Mount Athos. St Stephen of the Holy Mountain says that the Mother of God prophetically spoke of it: "Let this place be my lot, given to me by my Son and my God. I will be the Patroness of this place and intercede with God for it."

The respect of ancient Christians for the Mother of God was so great that they preserved what they could about Her life, what they could take note of concerning Her sayings and deeds, and they even passed down to us a description of Her outward appearance.

According to Tradition, based on the words of the Hieromartyrs Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), Ignatius the God-Bearer (December 20), St Ambrose of Milan (December 7) had occasion to write in his work "On Virgins" concerning the Mother of God: "She was a Virgin not only in body, but also in soul, humble of heart, circumspect in word, wise in mind, not overly given to speaking, a lover of reading and of work, and prudent in speech. Her rule of life was to offend no one, to intend good for everyone, to respect the aged, not envy others, avoid bragging, be healthy of mind, and to love virtue."
When did She ever hurl the least insult in the face of Her parents? When was She at discord with Her kin? When did She ever puff up with pride before a modest person, or laugh at the weak, or shun the destitute? With Her there was nothing of glaring eyes, nothing of unseemly words, nor of improper conduct. She was modest in the movement of Her body, Her step was quiet, and Her voice straightforward; so that Her face was an expression of soul. She was the personification of purity.

All Her days She was concerned with fasting: She slept only when necessary, and even then, when Her body was at rest, She was still alert in spirit, repeating in Her dreams what She had read, or the implementation of proposed intentions, or those planned yet anew. She was out of Her house only for church, and then only in the company of relatives. Otherwise, She seldom appeared outside Her house in the company of others, and She was Her own best overseer. Others could protect Her only in body, but She Herself guarded Her character."

According to Tradition, that from the compiler of Church history Nicephorus Callistus (fourteenth century), the Mother of God "was of average stature, or as others suggest, slightly more than average; Her hair golden in appearance; Her eyes bright with pupils like shiny olives; Her eyebrows strong in character and moderately dark, Her nose pronounced and Her mouth vibrant bespeaking sweet speech; Her face was neither round nor angular, but somewhat oblong; the palm of Her hands and fingers were longish...

In conversation with others She preserved decorum, neither becoming silly nor agitated, and indeed especially never angry; without artifice, and direct, She was not overly concerned about Herself, and far from pampering Herself, She was distinctly full of humility. Regarding the clothing which She wore, She was satisfied to have natural colors, which even now is evidenced by Her holy head-covering. Suffice it to say, a special grace attended all Her actions." (Nicephoros Callistus borrowed his description from St Epiphanius of Cyprus (May 12), from the "Letter to Theophilus Concerning Icons."

The circumstances of the Dormition of the Mother of God were known in the Orthodox Church from apostolic times. Already in the first century, the Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite wrote about Her "Falling-Asleep." In the second century, the account of the bodily ascent of the Most Holy Virgin Mary to Heaven is found in the works of Meliton, Bishop of Sardis. In the fourth century, St Epiphanius of Cyprus refers to the tradition about the "Falling Asleep" of the Mother of God. In the fifth century, St Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem, told the holy Byzantine Empress Pulcheria: "Although there is no account of the circumstances of Her death in Holy Scripture, we know about them from the most ancient and credible Tradition." This tradition was gathered and expounded in the Church History of Nicephorus Callistus during the fourteenth century.

At the time of Her blessed Falling Asleep, the Most Holy Virgin Mary was again at Jerusalem. Her fame as the Mother of God had already spread throughout the land and had aroused many of the envious and the spiteful against Her. They wanted to make attempts on Her life; but God preserved Her from enemies.

Day and night She spent her time in prayer. The Most Holy Theotokos went often to the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord, and here She offered up fevent prayer. More than once, enemies of the Savior sought to hinder Her from visiting her holy place, and they asked the High Priest for a guard to watch over the Grave of the Lord. The Holy Virgin continued to pray right in front of them, yet unseen by anyone.

In one such visit to Golgotha, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her and announced Her approaching departure from this life to eternal life. In pledge of this, the Archangel gave Her a palm branch. With these heavenly tidings the Mother of God returned to Bethlehem with the three girls attending Her (Sepphora, Abigail, and Jael). She summoned Righteous Joseph of Arimathea and other disciples of the Lord, and told them of Her impending Repose.

The Most Holy Virgin prayed also that the Lord would have the Apostle John come to Her. The Holy Spirit transported him from Ephesus, setting him in that very place where the Mother of God lay. After the prayer, the Most Holy Virgin offered incense, and John heard a voice from Heaven, closing Her prayer with the word "Amen." The Mother of God took it that the voice meant the speedy arrival of the Apostles and the Disciples and the holy Bodiless Powers.
The faithful, whose number by then was impossible to count, gathered together, says St John of Damascus, like clouds and eagles, to listen to the Mother of God. Seeing one another, the Disciples rejoiced, but in their confusion they asked each other why the Lord had gathered them together in one place. St John the Theologian, greeting them with tears of joy, said that the time of the Virgin's repose was at hand.

Going in to the Mother of God, they beheld Her lying upon the bed, and filled with spiritual joy. The Disciples greeted Her, and then they told her how they had been carried miraculously from their places of preaching. The Most Holy Virgin Mary glorified God, because He had heard Her prayer and fulfilled Her heart's desire, and She began speaking about Her imminent end.

During this conversation the Apostle Paul also appeared in a miraculous manner together with his disciples Dionysius the Areopagite, St Hierotheus, St Timothy and others of the Seventy Apostles. The Holy Spirit had gathered them all together so that they might be granted the blessing of the All-Pure Virgin Mary, and more fittingly to see to the burial of the Mother of the Lord. She called each of them to Herself by name, She blessed them and extolled them for their faith and the hardships they endured in preaching the Gospel of Christ. To each She wished eternal bliss, and prayed with them for the peace and welfare of the whole world.

Then came the third hour (9 A.M.), when the Dormition of the Mother of God was to occur. A number of candles were burning. The holy Disciples surrounded her beautifully adorned bed, offering praise to God. She prayed in anticipation of Her demise and of the arrival of Her longed-for Son and Lord. Suddenly, the inexpressible Light of Divine Glory shone forth, before which the blazing candles paled in comparison. All who it saw took fright. Descending from Heaven was Christ, the King of Glory, surrounded by hosts of Angels and Archangels and other Heavenly Powers, together with the souls of the Forefathers and the Prophets, who had prophesied in ages past concerning the Most Holy Virgin Mary.
Seeing Her Son, the Mother of God exclaimed: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God My Savior, for He hath regarded the low estate of His Handmaiden" (Luke 1:46-48) and, rising from Her bed to meet the Lord, She bowed down to Him, and the Lord bid Her enter into Life Eternal. Without any bodily suffering, as though in a happy sleep, the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave Her soul into the hands of Her Son and God.

Then began a joyous angelic song. Accompanying the pure soul of the God-betrothed and with reverent awe for the Queen of Heaven, the angels exclaimed: "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee, blessed art Thou among women! For lo, the Queen, God's Maiden comes, lift up the gates, and with the Ever-Existing One, take up the Mother of Light; for through Her salvation has come to all the human race. It is impossible to gaze upon Her, and it is impossible to render Her due honor" (Stikherion on "Lord, I Have Cried"). The Heavenly gates were raised, and meeting the soul of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Cherubim and the Seraphim glorified Her with joy. The face of the Mother of God was radiant with the glory of Divine virginity, and from Her body there came a sweet fragrance.

Miraculous was the life of the All-Pure Virgin, and wondrous was Her Repose, as Holy Church sings: "In Thee, O Queen, the God of all hath given thee as thy portion the things that are above nature. Just as in the Birth-Giving He did preserve Thine virginity, so also in the grave He did preserve Thy body from decay" (Canon 1, Ode 6, Troparion 1).

Kissing the all-pure body with reverence and in awe, the Disciples in turn were blessed by it and filled with grace and spiritual joy. Through the great glorification of the Most Holy Theotokos, the almighty power of God healed the sick, who with faith and love touched the holy bed.
Bewailing their separation from the Mother of God, the Apostles prepared to bury Her all-pure body. The holy Apostles Peter, Paul, James and others of the Twelve Apostles carried the funeral bier upon their shoulders, and upon it lay the body of the Ever-Virgin Mary. St John the Theologian went at the head with the resplendent palm-branch from Paradise. The other saints and a multitude of the faithful accompanied the funeral bier with candles and censers, singing sacred songs. This solemn procession went from Sion through Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane.

With the start of the procession there suddenly appeared over the all-pure body of the Mother of God and all those accompanying Her a resplendent circular cloud, like a crown. There was heard the singing of the Heavenly Powers, glorifying the Mother of God, which echoed that of the worldly voices. This circle of Heavenly singers and radiance accompanied the procession to the very place of burial.

Unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken aback by the extraordinarily grand funeral procession and vexed at the honor accorded the Mother of Jesus, complained of this to the High Priest and scribes. Burning with envy and vengefulness toward everything that reminded them of Christ, they sent out their own servants to disrupt the procession and to set the body of the Mother of God afire.

An angry crowd and soldiers set off against the Christians, but the circular cloud accompanying the procession descended and surrounded them like a wall. The pursuers heard the footsteps and the singing, but could not see any of those accompanying the procession. Indeed, many of them were struck blind.

The Jewish priest Athonios, out of spite and hatred for the Mother of Jesus of Nazareth, wanted to topple the funeral bier on which lay the body of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, but an angel of God invisibly cut off his hands, which had touched the bier. Seeing such a wonder, Athonios repented and with faith confessed the majesty of the Mother of God. He received healing and joined the crowd accompanying the body of the Mother of God, and he became a zealous follower of Christ.
When the procession reached the Garden of Gethsemane, then amidst the weeping and the wailing began the last kiss to the all-pure body. Only towards evening were the Apostles able to place it in the tomb and seal the entrance to the cave with a large stone.
For three days they did not depart from the place of burial, praying and chanting Psalms. Through the wise providence of God, the Apostle Thomas was not to be present at the burial of the Mother of God. Arriving late on the third day at Gethsemane, he lay down at the tomb and with bitter tears asked that l he might be permitted to look once more upon the Mother of God and bid her farewell. The Apostles out of heartfelt pity for him decided to open the grave and permit him the comfort of venerating the holy relics of the Ever-Virgin Mary. Having opened the grave, they found in it only the grave wrappings and were thus convinced of the bodily ascent of the Most Holy Virgin Mary to Heaven.
On the evening of the same day, when the Apostles had gathered at a house to strengthen themselves with food, the Mother of God appeared to them and said: "Rejoice! I am with you all the days of your lives." This so gladdened the Apostles and everyone with them, that they took a portion of the bread, set aside at the meal in memory of the Savior ("the Lord's Portion"), and they exclaimed : "Most Holy Theotokos, save us". (This marks the beginning of the rite of offering up the "Panagia" ("All-Holy"), a portion of bread in honor of the Mother of God, which is done at monasteries to the present day).

The sash of the Mother of God, and Her holy garb, preserved with reverence and distributed over the face of the earth in pieces, have worked miracles both in the past and at present. Her numerous icons everywhere pour forth signs and healings, and Her holy body, taken up to Heaven, bears witness to our own future life there. Her body was not left to the vicissitudes of the transitory world, but was incomparably exalted by its glorious ascent to Heaven.

The Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated with special solemnity at Gethsemane, the place of Her burial. Nowhere else is there such sorrow of heart at the separation from the Mother of God, and nowhere else such joy, because of Her intercession for the world.

The holy city of Jerusalem is separated from the Mount of Olives by the valley of Kedron on Josaphat. At the foot of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane, where olive trees bear fruit even now.

The holy Ancestor-of-God Joachim had himself reposed at 80 years of age, several years after the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (November 21). St Anna, having been left a widow, moved from Nazareth to Jerusalem, and lived near the Temple. At Jerusalem she bought two pieces of property: the first at the gates of Gethsemane, and the second in the valley of Josaphat. At the second locale she built a tomb for the members of her family, and where also she herself was buried with Joachim. It was there in the Garden of Gethsemane that the Savior often prayed with His disciples.

The most-pure body of the Mother of God was buried in the family tomb. Christians honored the sepulchre of the Mother of God, and they built a church on this spot. Within the church was preserved the precious funeral cloth, which covered Her all-pure and fragrant body.
The holy Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem (420-458) testified before the emperor Marcian (450-457) as to the authenticity of the tradition about the miraculous ascent of the Mother of God to Heaven, and he sent to the empress, St Pulcheria (September 10), the grave wrappings of the Mother of God from Her tomb. St Pulcheria then placed these grave-wrappings within the Blachernae church.

Accounts have been preserved, that at the end of the seventh century a church had been built atop the underground church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, and that from its high bell-tower could be seen the dome of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord. Traces of this church are no longer to be seen. And in the ninth century near the subterranean Gethsemane church a monastery was built, in which more than 30 monks struggled.

Great destruction was done the Church in the year 1009 by the despoiler of the holy places, Hakim. Radical changes, the traces of which remain at present, also took place under the crusaders in the year 1130. During the eleventh to twelfth centuries the piece of excavated stone, at which the Savior had prayed on the night of His betrayal disappeared from Jerusalem. This piece of stone had been in the Gethsemane basilica from the sixth century.

But in spite of the destruction and the changes, the overall original cruciform (cross-shaped) plan of the church has been preserved. At the entrance to the church along the sides of the iron gates stand four marble columns. To enter the church, it is necessary to go down a stairway of 48 steps. At the 23rd step on the right side is a chapel in honor of the holy Ancestors-of-God Joachim and Anna together with their graves, and on the left side opposite, the chapel of St Joseph the Betrothed with his grave. The right chapel belongs to the Orthodox Church, and the left to the Armenian Church (since 1814).

The church of the Dormition of the Theotokos has the following dimensions: in length it is 48 arshin, and in breadth 8 arshin [1 arshin = 28 inches]. At an earlier time the church had also windows beside the doors. The whole temple was adorned with a multitude of lampadas and offerings. Two small entrances lead into the burial-chamber of the Mother of God. One enters through the western doors, and exits at the northern doors. The burial-chamber of the All-Pure Virgin Mary is veiled with precious curtains. The burial place was hewn out of stone in the manner of the ancient Jewish graves and is very similar to the Sepulchre of the Lord. Beyond the burial-chamber is the altar of the church, in which Divine Liturgy is celebrated each day in the Greek language.

The olive woods on the eastern and northern sides of the temple was acquired from the Turks by the Orthodox during the seventh and eighth centuries. The Catholics acquired the olive woods on the east and south sides in 1803, and the Armenians on the west side in 1821.

On August 12, at Little Gethsemane, at the second hour of the night, the head of the Gethsemane church celebrates Divine Liturgy. With the end of Liturgy, at the fourth hour of the morning, he serves a short Molieben before the resplendent burial shroud, lifts it in his hands and solemnly carries it beyond the church to Gethsemane proper where the holy sepulchre of the Mother of God is situated. All the members of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, with the head of the Mission presiding, participate each year in the procession (called the "Litania") with the holy burial shroud of the Mother of God..

The rite of the Burial of the Mother of God at Gethsemane begins customarily on the morning of August 14. A multitude of people with hierarchs and clergy at the head set off from the Jerusalem Patriarchate (nearby the Church of the Resurrection of Christ) in sorrowful procession. Along the narrow alley-ways of the Holy City the funeral procession makes its way to Gethsemane. Toward the front of the procession an icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is carried. Along the way, pilgrims meet the icon, kissing the image of the All-Pure Virgin Mary and lift children of various ages to the icon. After the clergy, in two rows walk the black-robed monks and nuns of the Holy City: Greeks, Roumanians, Arabs, Russians. The procession, going along for about two hours, concludes with Lamentations at the Gethsemane church. In front the altar, beyond the burial chamber of the Mother of God, is a raised-up spot, upon which rests the burial shroud of the Most Holy Mother of God among fragrant flowers and myrtle, with precious coverings.

"O marvelous wonder! The Fount of Life is placed in the grave, and the grave doth become the ladder to Heaven..." Here at the grave of the All-Pure Virgin, these words strike deep with their original sense and grief is dispelled by joy: "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee, granting the world, through Thee, great mercy!"

Numerous pilgrims, having kissed the icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, following an ancient custom, then stoop down and go beneath it.

On the day of the Leave-taking of the feast (August 23), another solemn procession is made. On the return path, the holy burial shroud is carried by clergy led by the Archimandrite of Gethsemane.

There is an article in the "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate", 1979, No. 3 regarding the rite of the litany and Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the Holy Land.

Today flowers are blessed in church, and people keep them in their homes. During times of family strife or illness, the flower petals are placed in the censer with the incense, and the whole house is censed. See the Prayer at the Sanctification of any Fragrant Herbage.

[Vasiliki D.]

Sweet Mother of us all,

In birth, you preserved your virginity; in death, you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos. As mother of life, you departed to the source of life, delivering our souls from death by your intercessions.

Mother, deliver us from the temptations and unjust accusations of the cunning and evil serpant; he who has brought games and confusion into our lives and through his jealousy has manipulated our actions and altered the will of God in our lives. Help us to love each other and, Mariam, be 'patient with us' - we are only little children who need you to guide us daily with your motherly care and perfect example.

Mother of our Lord, Theotokos, Mariam, love of my life, my heart cries out to you in great affliction and grief; wipe away my tears and set me on the straight path - guard and protect those whom I love and those who do not love me.

... through the mercy of your Son and our Saviour, Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

[Olga]

Vasiliki, you wrote:



whether the Apostles did or did not arrive simultaneously is neither here or there for me because I dont know the churches teaching on the matter.


Here is an excerpt from the Synaxarion for the Dormition:

But when, by divine dispensation, one of the Apostles, who had been absent from the burial of the life-giving body, arrived on the third day, he was greatly grieved and distressed that he had not been found worthy of what they had. All his fellow Apostles, who had been found worthy, by a common vote opened the tomb for the sake of the Apostle who had been absent, so it seemed good to all, for him also to venerate that all-blameless body. When they looked they were amazed. For they found it empty of the holy body, and containing only the winding sheet, which remained as a consolation for those who were about to grieve and for all the faithful, and as a sure witness of the Translation. For even until today the tomb hewn from the rock is visible and venerated, and remains empty of a body, to the glory and honour of our most blessed Lady, Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary.

Holy Tradition tells us that this apostle, not present with the others at the burial of the Mother of God, was Thomas. As Nina's post concurs, this is the teaching of the Church.