Looking into the church calendar on August 28, you can see this date highlighted in color. After looking at the description, it is easy to find out that the day of the Assumption of the Virgin is celebrated, but what does the word "assumption" mean? What is the death and resurrection of the soul? Perhaps, many do not know the answer to this, as well as the history of the holiday itself. Let's try to figure it out together.
Church traditions
From the words of Holy Scripture one can learn that, after the ascension of her son Jesus Christ into heaven, the Mother of God remained in the care of St. John the Theologian.
Many church traditions explain the Assumption in different ways, what is the resurrection of the soul, the emergence of the celebration of death. The customs and rules for celebrating the Assumption are little covered in the scriptures, as are all the main points of the end of the earthly path of the Mother of God.
Also, from the entire sacred history of the New Testament, everyone knows how highly the Mother of the Lord was honored among the apostles when she was with them in Jerusalem.
KUnfortunately, very few manuscripts of that time have come down to us. Most of these creations were collected in the Holy Gospel and the New Testament.
Thanks to new archaeological devices, after numerous excavations in Jerusalem, the creations of St. John the Theologian were nevertheless found.
These documents mention the life of the Mother of God, show her Assumption itself, what kind of event it is for the people and the whole history of that period.
This apocrypha (a secret written history that was not included in the canon of the Bible) says that after the mass persecution of King Herod Agrippa against the Church, the Mother of God, together with John the Theologian, moved for a while to the city of Ephesus.
When the persecution was stopped, the Mother of God, together with John, returned to Jerusalem, where she settled in his house on Mount Zion.
History of the holiday
As the legend says, when one day the Mother of God went to the Mount of Olives to pray, she met the Archangel Gabriel there, in whose hands was a branch of a paradise palm tree. He preached to the Virgin Mary that after three days she would repose in Heaven, the Lord would lift her, her own mother, into the Kingdom of Heaven, in which she would be with him forever.
Upon returning to the house, the Mother of God told Saint John about her meeting with the Archangel Gabriel and her future death.
In her will, she asked to be buried in Gethsemane, next to her parents and her quitrent, the righteous Joseph.
In addition, the will was instructed to give two of her chasubles to the poor girls who served with hergreat affection and hard work.
Presentation of the Virgin Mary to the Lord
The very presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was supposed to come on the 15th day of August at the third hour of the day. At this time, candles were lit in the temple, and Mary was lying on a beautifully decorated bed. In an instant, a sea of light flooded into the Temple, in which Jesus Christ himself appeared with angels, archangels and all heavenly powers, and he approached the Virgin Mary.
Seeing the Son, the Blessed Virgin joyfully said to him, and the Lord with trembling and pride took her to himself, and she, having heard his approval, gave her most pure soul to His only Son.
According to church beliefs, after the death of the Mother of God, the apostles put her body in the tomb and blocked the entrance to it with a large stone. Three days after his death, the Apostle Thomas joined them, who tearfully asked and begged for a chance to say goodbye to the Blessed Virgin Mary. At his request, the apostles rolled away the stone and entered the cave with it, but what was their surprise when they found only the robe of the Virgin, and she herself was not there, and a pleasant fresh smell of herbs came from the cave itself.
Celebration in temples
From ancient times, it was customary to celebrate this holiday with a morning service, at which believers brought cereal seeds for illumination and blessing. This happened after a night service with sunrise.
The people call the Most Holy Theotokos the Lady and from this the feast of the Assumption bears another name Lady of the Day, Mrs. Among the people, it is customary to call the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God the Second Most Pure, and the Assumption of the Blessed One - the FirstPure.
Celebrated this holiday with a great feast, with home-brewed beer, sweet dishes and pies.
So, one of the great and last of the twelfth feasts of the church calendar in August is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The spiritual meaning of the celebration
Such a phenomenon as death has always caused fear, hesitation, surprise and awe in the soul of every person.
On the path to eternal life, everyone needs to go through the path of learning, experience and joy in ordinary worldly life. It is the righteousness of today's life, our actions and deeds that affect the future eternal life in peace and happiness. This concept of death is the foundation of the Christian faith.
If we remember the Holy Scriptures, then death is not something noble, but, on the contrary, the process of the fall, the disobedience of the soul to the human will of God.
According to the teachings of the Church, the concept of death is the Dormition. What is death and why is it needed? It can be said with certainty that our Creator did not want human death at all, but people themselves predicted it by constant falls and disobedience.
But even in such a situation, the gates to Paradise are opening before us, where there will be next to the Creator those who to this day do not violate the laws of God, who constantly strive to do good and bring joy and help to others.
Celebrating the death of the Virgin Mary
On the icons depicting the Assumption of the Virgin, next to her bed, Christ always rises, in whose hands is a small figure of a baby,symbolizing the soul of the dead Mother of God. This children's figurine is a prototype of the rebirth of the Soul after death, which her Son came to accept.
Historical information
In the writings, which speak of the liturgical practices of the ancient Greek Church, the first references to the Assumption of the Virgin appeared at the end of the 6th century.
The Emperor Mauritius, who ruled in those days, made this day a church day. In most churches, this day was celebrated on January 18, but according to some experts who study the writing of that period, it was Mauritius who moved its celebration to August, on Victory Day over the Persians.
It falls just at the end of the Assumption Lent, which lasted from August 1 to 15 according to the old style and from 14 to 28 according to the new style, and directly on the 28th - the Assumption.
Preparatory period and celebration itself
As mentioned earlier, the feast of the Assumption begins with a very severe two-week fast. This is one of the four annual fasts, and it is considered one of the most ancient and strict. Even fish is allowed to eat once for the entire post and on a certain day.
Priests celebrate in blue robes. The Church Liturgy begins in the evening and lasts all night, and from the very morning the Liturgy of the Assumption itself is served. On the third day, a shroud is taken out, symbolizing the attire of the Virgin Mary, similar to the shroud of Christ. The only difference here is the image on it of the Mother of God, lying in a coffin.
According to the custom of the Church, at the morning liturgy beforeWhen the shroud is buried, laudatory prayers are read, kontakion and troparion are sung, and then a solemn procession with the shroud around the temple follows.
As can be seen from all that has been said, the significance of the holiday is very great. From his story, we can conclude that the righteous path of life is always rewarded by our Creator. All the incredible miracles of the ascension give hope to every believer to gain eternal life after death.
In all the prescribed canons and stichera of the holiday, the greatness and joy of the Assumption of the Virgin are emphasized. Here there is no place for sorrow and grief about death, but there is a great happiness of victory over it.
The whole day of August 28 (Assumption) people spend in prayer and joy, eating cooked meals at the family table after a long night liturgy
