After Jesus entered the Kingdom of Heaven, John the Theologian began to take care of the Mother of God. And when he went on a long journey and he was not around, the Mother of God lived in the house of his parents.
Believers constantly came to her to see the Mother of God with their own eyes and talk about the events that are happening in her life, about her son Christ and about his birth. She, in turn, constantly preached Christianity and prayed a lot.
As the legend says
The icon "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" - what is depicted on it? All this below.
So, when mass persecution of Christians began, Mary and the Theologian went to Ephesus, where John was going to preach the Christian faith to people. It was then that the Mother of God visited Lazar the Four Days, who lived in Cyprus. And whenMary ascended to Holy Athos, she said these words: “This place will be for Me in the lot given to Me from the Son and My God. I will be an intercessor for this place and for God about it Intercessor.”
Quite shortly before her Assumption, the Mother of God visited Jerusalem. Soon, she was known all over the world as the Mother of God. And here the believers went to preach to her, and the enemies ardently wanted to kill her. But the Lord safely kept her from all attacks and dangers.
At the Holy Sepulcher
The Virgin Mary returned home cheerful. She was glad to meet her son. The only thing she asked the Lord about was that he would gather all the apostles for her death, who, meanwhile, were preaching Christianity in different parts of the world. Very often she came to the Holy Sepulcher. There she prayed for a long time and thought about something. And on one of those days, during a prayer, the Archangel Gabriel descended to her from heaven. He told her that soon her earthly life would end and her life in heaven would begin.
Actually, this is where the story of what the icon "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" is begins.
What is depicted on the icon?
That day has come. The hour of Assumption was approaching. The Mother of God lay and prayed on a bed, which was decorated with beautiful fabrics, and many candles burned around it. The apostles gathered next to her. Everyone was waiting for the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos to happen.
This icon captures precisely this anxious hour. Suddenly the candles went out and the room was lit up with blinding light. itChrist himself descended from heaven, accompanied by angels and archangels and many other souls. This is the meaning of the icon "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin"
Mary was delighted to see her son alive and unharmed, and then got up from her bed and bowed to him to the very ground. According to ancient tradition, without any suffering and pain, Holy Mary gave her soul into the hands of Jesus and the Lord. Following the Divine light, singing was heard in the room, the heavenly gates opened and received the soul of the Mother of God.
About the options for the execution of the image and the burial itself
Each icon "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" is made in its own style. But it reflects the same events. Somewhere there is simply a picture of the dying hour of Mary, surrounded by the apostles. And somewhere above the Mother of God lying on the bed, you can see the Divine light and Jesus with Angels and Archangels.
After the soul of the Virgin ascended to heaven, a luminous circle appeared above her body like a large crown. Until the very burial, this circle accompanied the body of Mary.
Dozens of believers saw her off on her last journey, which the Jewish priests and some leaders did not like. At one point, one such priest, by the name of Athos, ran up to the tomb of the Virgin Mary and tried to knock the body of the Virgin Mary to the ground. For this, an invisible angel who followed the coffin cut off his hands. The priest fell on his knees, repented of his evil intentions and began to ask for mercy, and the Apostle Peter healed Athos. The icon "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in some versions canhave an image of this scene.
Further, according to legend, the Jewish soldiers rushed with weapons to the crowd of people who were carrying the coffin with the body of the Mother of God, but a mysterious circle blocked their way. They buried the Virgin Mary in a cave, the entrance of which was closed with a large boulder stone. What was the surprise of the believers when, after three days of tireless prayer, they returned to the cave and opened the coffin, and the body of the Mother of God was no longer there! Her burial shroud was visible only at the bottom.
This miracle indicated that the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven with her body.
A little about the holiday itself
The many churches and monasteries that were built in honor of this event testify to the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos and her ascension to heaven. And on this majestic and solemn day, all believers can feel that the Mother of God is with us, and through prayer to her, everyone will receive her maternal intercession and intercession. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the oldest holiday that appeared many centuries ago. The church is preparing for it through a special Assumption fast, which was established in ancient times.
