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Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary The high lot of the blessed Virgin in the work of God’s gracious vision for the salvation of the world made her whole life wonderful and instructive. “Wonderful is your birth, exclaims the Church, wonderful is the way of upbringing, wonderful, wondrous and inexplicable for mortals is everything about you, Bride of God!” After the Savior, comforting and pleasing His most pure Mother from the cross, adopted in His place His beloved disciple John the Theologian, who shared her suffering with her, the disciple took her to himself (John 19:28–27) and did not leave her until her dormition, serving her as his mother. Her stay was in the house of St. John the Evangelist, in Jerusalem in Zion. Already during her life, her prophetic words about herself began to come true over her: behold, from now on all my generations will bless me. With the spread of the glory of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, His Most Pure Mother of God, who lived on earth, was also blessed. After the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven, she remained with the disciples in prayer (Acts 1:14), and received the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. For the apostles and all believers, it was consolation and edification. Talking with them, she conveyed to them all the words that she had composed in her heart; told about the miraculous events of the Annunciation, the seedless conception and the incorruptible birth of Christ, His infancy” and all earthly life. Like the apostles, she planted and established the Christian Church with her presence, word and prayers. The apostles' reverence for the Mother of God was extraordinary. After receiving the Holy Spirit, they stayed in Jerusalem for about 10 years, serving the salvation of the Jews and wanting to see and hear divine words from her more often. Having her as the vicar of Christ His Lord, looking at her holy face and listening to her words, Christ’s disciples were filled with great joy. Many of those newly enlightened by faith even came from distant countries to Jerusalem to see and hear the Mother of Christ God. During the persecution instituted by Herod against the young Church of Christ (Acts 12:1–3), Rev. Virgin Mary with St. John the Theologian, around 43 AD, she retired to Ephesus, where it was the Theologian’s lot to preach the Gospel. However, according to legend, she was not only in Ephesus, but also in Cyprus with St. Lazarus, who was a bishop there, and also on Mount Athos, about which, as Stephen the Holy Mountain says, the Mother of God prophetically said: “This place will be my lot, given to me by my Son and my God. “I will be an intercessor for this place, and an intercessor for God for it.” Likewise, the reverence of the ancient Christians for the Mother of God was so great that they betrayed everything about her life that they could only notice from her saint. words and deeds, and even told us about her appearance. According to the legend of St. Ambrose of Milan, based on the words of Dionysius the Areopagite and Ignatius the God-Bearer, the Most Holy Theotokos, while living on earth, “was a Virgin not only in the flesh, but also in spirit, humble in heart, wise in words, not quick in speaking, tireless in reading scriptures, cheerful in labors, chaste in conversations, did not offend anyone, She wished good to everyone, did not disdain the wretched, did not laugh at anyone, and her appearance was an example of her inner perfection. She turned all her days into fasting: she indulged in sleep only when required by necessity, but even then, while her body was at rest, she was awake in spirit, repeating what she read in her sleep, or reflecting on the fulfillment of assumed intentions, or devising new ones. She only left the house to go to church, and then only in the company of her relatives. However, although she appeared outside her house, accompanied by others, she was her own best guardian; others guarded only her body, and she cared for her own morals.” And St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, and after him Nicephorus Xanthopoulos, who lived - the first in the 4th, and the second in the 14th century, mention on the basis of legends that have reached them, even about the appearance of the Virgin Mary. “The appearance of her face was like the appearance of a grain of wheat, yellow hair, sharp feathers, and the apples of their eyes were like the appearance of an olive fruit; her eyebrows are slanted and fairly black; the nose is not short; lips like the color of a rose; the face is neither round nor sharp, but little extended; extend the hand and fingers; Her clothes are simple, just as even now the holy veil reveals her holy heads.” At the time of his blessed Dormition, St. The Virgin Mary arrived again in Jerusalem. Her glory, as the Mother of God, had already spread throughout the earth and armed many envious and proud Jews against her, who attempted on her life: but God protected her from her enemies. Living with St. John the Theologian, in Jerusalem, Rev. The Virgin remained in unceasing prayer, constantly having a divine desire to contemplate her Son, who sits at the right hand of God. She often visited places that her Son and God had sanctified with the feet of His most pure feet. Burning unceasingly with love for God, St. The Virgin often prayed and sighed for her relocation to the blessed abodes of Her Son and our God. And as it was foretold to her about the incarnation of the Son of God from Her: so, when she approached her departure from the earthly vale, the Lord revealed to her about her blessed dormition. The circumstances that preceded and accompanied the Dormition of the Mother of God are known to Orthodoxy. Churches from apostolic times. In the 1st century, Dionysius the Areopagite wrote about the Dormition of the Mother of God. In the 2nd century, the legend about the bodily migration of St. The Virgin Mary to Heaven is found between the writings of Melito, Bishop of Sardis. In the 4th century, the legend of the Dormition of the Mother of God is pointed out by St. Epiphanius of Cyprus. In the early century, Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke about the Dormition of the Mother of God to the Greek Queen Pulcheria: “although there is no narrative in sacred scripture about the circumstances of her death, we know about them from the most ancient and faithful tradition.” This legend was collected and presented in detail in the church history of Nikephoros Callistus in the 15th century. Rev. The Virgin Mary ended her earthly life in old age. From the most ancient legends about the Dormition of the Mother of God, collected by Nikephoros, the following is known. The Dormition of the Mother of God was accompanied by many miraculous signs, which are all majestically depicted by the Church in her sacred songs. At the time of the repose of the Mother of God, the Apostles were caught up on clouds from different countries and placed in Jerusalem. On the very day of her dormition, the Lord with the Angels and Saints appeared to meet her soul in an extraordinary light that illuminated the departing church. Like the pillar of cloud that in ancient times overshadowed and protected God’s chosen people (Ex. 14:19–20), the circle of cloud on the day of burial also overshadowed and protected the most holy body of God’s chosen girl and mother, carried by the apostles for burial. According to the will of Rev. Virgin, her holy body was laid in Gethsemane, located on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, between the tombs of her righteous parents and her betrothed. On the third day after death, when ap. Thomas, who was not present at the burial of St. Virgin, came to Gethsemane and opened her tomb; her most pure body was no longer in the tomb. The Lord moved His most immaculate Mother to the heavenly abodes. Just as He Himself rose on the third day and on the fortieth ascended into heaven with His most pure flesh: so His Mother, on the third day after her death, was taken into heaven by the wondrous sight of God with her body, in accordance with the prediction of the prophet David: rise, Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy holiness (Ps. 132:8). After the Dormition of the Mother of God, when the apostles during their meal talked about the failure to find the body of the Mother of God in the tomb, they saw the Most Rev. The Virgin in heaven, “I live, standing with many angels and shone with ineffable glory, even as I say to them: Rejoice.” Burial place of St. The Virgin still serves as an object of reverence and worship not only for Christians and even for infidels. The repose of the Mother of God is called the Dormition. For she, “as if she fell asleep in death for a short time, soon from it, as if she arose from sleep, and the death of the grave, like shaking off the sleepy slumber from her eyes, saw immortal life and glory in the light of the face of the Lord.” In honor and memory of the Dormition of the Mother of God, a holiday has been established by the Church since ancient Christian times. It is mentioned in the 4th century in the writings of Jerome and Augustine. Jerome testifies that a church was built on the tomb of the Mother of God, and although he does not mention who built this church, according to the true legends of Palestinian Christians, it was built by Queen Helen, Equal to the Apostles. In the 5th century, Anatoly of Constantinople, in the 8th century, St. John of Damascus and Cosmas of Maium, in IX Theophan of Nicea - wrote canons for the day of the Assumption, which are now sung by the Church on this day. The Feast of the Assumption is the great twelfth, universal. Jerome calls the Feast of the Assumption a triumph incomparable with the feasts of the Saints, “for on this, he says, the Savior of all Himself in all His glory joyfully met and infused His Mother with Him.” After the fifth Ecumenical Council, which confessed the human nature of Jesus Christ, at the request of the Emperor Mauritius (582–603), who won the famous victory over the Persians on the 15th day of August, the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God became the most solemn in law. Churches. In the songs of the canon on the day of the Assumption it is called a famous, solemn and divine holiday. In addition to this, the Dormition of the Mother of God is right. The church is praised with a special akathist in honor of this event. The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, within the pre-celebration and post-celebration, lasts 10 days from August 14 to 25. Celebration of St. Sophia - the wisdom of God The meaning of the image of Sophia, the wisdom of God, is explained in the words of Solomon’s parables: Wisdom built for herself a house, and established seven pillars (IX, 1). Here, by the word wisdom, or in Greek Sophia, they mean the Son of God, as the ap. Paul: We preach Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God (1 Cop. 1:24). In accordance with the explanation of the apostle, they understand the wisdom of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer, St. Ambrose of Milan, Augustine. So, Divine Wisdom is the Lord who created a house for Himself. This house in the broadest sense signifies the Church of God, as Athanasius the Great explains, or more specifically, the Mother of God, like an animated church of the Savior. By the word: house they mean the Mother of God of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer is right. The Church, which in its proverbs and hymns, on the feasts of the Mother of God, calls the Mother of God house, scroll, mountain, gate, and other representative and prophetic names. Therefore, the words: Wisdom created a house for herself mean holy. Virgin Mary, through whom God, for the salvation of the world, took on human nature and became visible; – The Word became flesh and dwelt in us, and we saw His glory, glory as the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14). The prophetic image of the incarnate Sophia - the Wisdom - of God served as a model for her iconographic images, which were in ancient churches built in Byzantium - in the Justinian Church, in Kyiv, Novgorod and other places. Icons of St. Sophia - the Wisdom of God, Byzantine and Kiev, depict the union of the heavenly and visible Church, through the incarnation of the Son of God - the Wisdom of God, representing a house or church, and in it standing the Mother of God in a tunic, with a veil on her head, under a canopy supported by seven pillars. Many icon items are adapted to this number. The hands and hands of the Mother of God are drawn outstretched, her feet firmly planted on the crescent moon (Ap. 12:1). Under the breasts of the Mother of God, on her right hand, the Eternal Child is depicted, blessing with his right hand, and having power in his right hand. Above the canopy are inscribed the words: Wisdom created for herself a house, and established seven pillars. Above the house above, God the Father is depicted in the radiance of rays, having the power in his left hand, and blessing with his right, from His mouth come the words: I established its pillars; and surrounded by rays - the Holy Spirit. On both sides of the image of God the Father and the Holy Spirit the heavenly Church is represented: - seven archangels stand in the clouds: on the right - Michael with a flaming sword in his hand; Uriel holds the lightning down; Raphael - alabaster of the world; on the left is Gabriel with the lily; Selaphiel with rosary; Jehudiel with the royal crown; Barachiel with a bunch of flowers on a white board. On the steps of the house on both sides, before the Mother of God, the Church of God on earth is represented; the Old Testament seers of the Incarnate are depicted - the forefathers and prophets: Moses with the tablets; Aaron in a miter, like a great bishop, with a frozen staff; David in the royal robe, with the Ark of the Covenant; Isaiah with a charter on which it is written: Behold, the Virgin will conceive in her womb and give birth to a Son; Jeremiah with a scroll; Ezekiel holding the gate shut; Daniel with a stone. However, not all images of Sophia - the Wisdom of God - are the same; for example, the Novgorod icon is a kind of Deesis; it depicts the Almighty in royal clothes or dalmatics, with fiery wings, like a great angel of counsel (Is. 9:6), on a fiery throne on seven pillars. Surrounding the Almighty is a blue sky with stars, on the sides is the Mother of God with an icon of Jesus Christ and St. John the Baptist as the closest witnesses of the incarnate Word of God. At the top of the image is the Savior in a circle of fire and the inscription: The Wisdom of God; even higher again is the starry blue sky, and on the golden throne is the gospel, before which three angels on each side kneel. However, all images of Sophia express one main idea: the Mother of God, who served as the incarnation of the Son of God, or the Wisdom of God incarnate from her. Therefore, the celebration of Sophia - the Wisdom of God - is done right. Church on the Mother of God days, for example, in Kyiv on the day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary; in Novgorod, Vologda, Tobolsk, Moscow and other places on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Celebration of the Seven-City Icon of Our Lady The Icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, called the Seven-Gorod Icon, was painted by the Monk Dionysius of Glushitsky in the 10th century and, probably, by hermits from his monastery brought to impenetrable forests, at a distance of 20 versts from his monastery, across the Dvinitsa River. A parish church for the Semigorodnaya volost was built there. During the terrible plague that devastated the Vologda volosts in the 15th century, all the inhabitants of this volost died out. For about a hundred and fifty years the church stood desolate. In 1593, one old woman Juliania from the family of Beloozersky nobles, who had been ill for a long time and had been lying in relaxation for three years in the Moscow Novodevichy Convent, had a vision. The Mother of God appeared to her and promised healing if she went to the Seven-City Hermitage and renewed it. Having made a vow to fulfill what was commanded, the old woman received healing. Arriving at the site of the monastery, she found only one church here, and in it the Dionysian icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God. She built a cell, and around 1602, I lived here with several sisters in a dormitory until my death. At the end of the 17th century, this monastery was converted into a men's monastery. In 1810 a wide road was cleared for 13½ versts by forest for those traveling to the miraculous Seven-City Icon of the Mother of God, from which many miracles and healings performed were recorded in a special monastery book. Celebration of the Vladimir Rostov Icon of the Mother of God Alimpiy, tonsure of Nikon, abbot of the Sergius Monastery, being very skilled in icon painting, painted icons for the abbot and for the brethren. If he heard that there were dilapidated icons somewhere in churches, he took them to himself and corrected them without demanding payment. He was never seen idle. Only the divine service, which he did not omit for any work, distracted him from icon painting, and he spent most of the night in prayer and singing. If he happened to receive payment for his work, he used part of it for expenses for icon painting, another for alms to the poor, and a third for his own needs. For his great virtues and pure life, with the approval of the abbot, he was ordained a priest. The presence of divine grace in him was revealed by the gift of miracles. Like medicine, he anointed the scabs of the sick with his vases and healed them. One Christ-loving layman wanted to make a Deesis and two local icons for the church. He instructed two Pechersk monks to negotiate this matter with Alimpiy. The monks took money from him several times, but kept it without telling Alimpius, and finally announced that Alimpius did not want to paint icons. The person who ordered went to complain to the abbot. Alimpiy said that he had never heard of this order. They sent for boards on which icons should be written. They appeared miraculously written. Divine grace soon glorified these icons. There was a fire, and the church where these icons were burned down, but they were found completely unharmed. Prince Vladimir Monomakh witnessed this miracle. One icon depicting St. He took the Mother of God and moved her to Rostov, where she became famous for her miracles and still remains in the Rostov Assumption Cathedral, known under the name of Vladimir. Celebration of the Pskov-Pechersk Icon of the Mother of God The Pskovopechersk Icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God was revealed in 1473 by the healing of a blind wife, and resides in the Pskovopechersk Monastery, founded in the provincial town of Pecherakh, 56 versts from Pskov. From the appearance of the icon over the ancient cave, the city and the monastery and the icon received their name. The revealed icon became famous for many miracles, in memory of which a holiday was established on August 15th. In 1521, the Pskov merchants Vasily and Theodore donated a new icon of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary to the Pechersk Monastery, which had become famous since 1524 for its miracles. But both icons became especially famous during the invasion of Pskov and the Pechersk Monastery of Stefan Batory, King of Poland, in 1581. On the 27th day of August of this year, according to the legend of the Pskov chronicle, a certain pious man Dorotheus received an apparition and revelation from the Mother of God about a future attack on the city from the corner of the fortress at the Intercession Monastery. Why did Abbot Tikhon of the Pechersk Monastery, who even before the siege was summoned to the city with the miraculous Pechersk and tenderness of the Mother of God icons of the Pechersk Monastery, begin, at the order of the Tsar and the Bishop, to perform religious walks with these icons to the mentioned place. In the cathedral church of Pskov they performed daily prayers for rights. the king, his children and all rights. Christians, so that the Lord would turn away his righteous anger. On September 6, Abbot Tikhon and Archpriest Luka, in consultation with other clergy, but in the morning with the good news they called the citizens to the cathedral and from there again made a procession of the cross to the Pokrovsky corner with the miraculous Pechersk icon of the Mother of God, with the relics of St. the noble prince of Pskov Gabriel and with the ancient Pechersk banner. The whole people accompanied them with crying and sobbing, not expecting any help and protection from anywhere other than God. On the 7th and 8th of September there were intensified and incessant attacks by Batory against the walls of Pskov to conquer it. Finally, the sad news about the breach in the walls and about the occupation of the walls of Pskov by enemies reached the multitude of people who had gathered in the cathedral for continuous prayer. Fear took possession of the hearts of all; raised their hands to the sky with sobs; the elderly, wives and children filled the church with screams and, as the chronicle says, the entire floor was drenched in tears, begging for the protection of the city and for instilling good advice and courage in its defenders. At this very time, as everyone rushed to defend the breached place and firmly repelled the enemies, it occurred to the defenders to place a large Pskov gun at the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary and use it to defeat the enemies. This order shook the ranks of the besiegers and forced them to retreat. The king, seeing his fleeing soldiers, immediately sent his fresh, best troops to help them, with a decisive command not to retreat from the walls until the city was completely captured. The battle resumed and the defenders again began to weaken from the strong pressure of the enemies. Then the governors sent to the cathedral to tell the clergy to bring the relics of St. from the cathedral. Blessed Prince of Pskov Gabriel with miraculous icons of the Mother of God and others. The shrines were immediately raised; and ahead of them, three monks of the Pechersk Monastery arrived in the gap and loudly exclaimed to the commanders and soldiers: “Do not be afraid, brothers! Let's stand strong and rush together towards Lithuanian strength! The Mother of God comes to us with mercy and intercession and with the help of all the Saints! This unexpected, comforting and encouraging voice revived the weakened. Everyone repeated with joy: “The Mother of God is coming to us, we will die together for the faith of Christ and for rights. the king and we will not betray the city.” Following this, the spiritual ones appeared, carrying the relics of St. Blessed Prince Gabriel and miraculous icons. The prayer service began just before the breach in sight of defenders and enemies and continued with a procession to the Church of the Intercession. This reverent sight inspired such courage in the defenders that they all unanimously rushed into the gap towards the enemies; the women themselves intervened in the battle. The battle on both sides was hot, long-term and stubborn. When the night of September 8 was already approaching, the enemies were all driven out of the breach, knocked down from the walls and driven in disorder into the field, where they were already defeated by the people on the run, and others were taken prisoner. In order to at least cheer up his sad army with some kind of conquest and amuse the selfish mercenaries, Batory wanted to take the Pechersky Monastery located 56 miles from Pskov. There, besides the monks, there were only 200 or 300 warriors for defense, and they courageously repelled two attacks and captured three noble dignitaries. From that time on, the numerous enemy army fought most of all with the cold. John Vasilyevich overlaid the miraculous Pskovopechersk icon with gold and built a silver icon case for it. The Pskov-Pechersk monks, in remembrance of their deliverance from Batory, made a promise to go to Pskov every year with the icon on the seventh week of Easter. Gennady, Bishop of Pskov, approved in 1601 the charter for this walk, with a schedule of the entire order of church services. In addition to this annual offering of the Pskov-Pechersk icon to Pskov, there were sometimes temporary visits of it here during misfortunes. Celebration of the Ovinovo Icon of the Mother of God The Ovinovskaya icon of the Mother of God resides in the Paisiyev Monastery in Kostroma province. During the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, a certain boyar Ioann Ovinov, who lived on the shores of Lake Galich, tried to restore the dilapidated church in the Nikolaevsky monastery, near which he lived. On Sunday, John went out to see the site of the church building and, when he approached the monastery gates, he suddenly saw two beautiful young men carrying an icon of the Mother of God to meet him. They meekly said to him: “Rejoice, John, the parents of your wife are sending you this icon of the Most Pure Mother of God and commanded to build a church in her name and in the name of the Saint of Myra.” John prostrated himself before St. icon and, having accepted it, brought it into the monastery fence, placed it in the place where he wanted to build a church, and told the abbot and the brethren about the wonderful vision. Ovinov built a church in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God and placed in it the icon given to him, which began to be called Ovinov’s. When the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark, in 1433 he fought against his uncle, Georgy Dmitrievich of Galich, and took Galich: he transferred the miraculous icon with all its precious decorations to Moscow and placed it in the cathedral church. But the icon miraculously appeared in the same place. This phenomenon glorified the icon even more and made it an object of special reverence for believers. Our Reverend Father Macarius of Lezen the Wonderworker It is known from oral folk tradition about the Monk Macarius that he was a Roman by birth, and upon arriving from his fatherland in Russia, he chose a small island as his place of solitude, among a marshy swamp, located not far from the small river Lezena or Grezena, 110 versts from Novgorod. On this island, the Monk Macarius built himself a small dugout and lived in it, being in strict fasting and prayer. For a long time, his refuge from the world was not known to any people, but later the Lord revealed it through hunters who, while hunting animals, lost their way, searched for it for a long time, and finally saw smoke from a smoking dugout, and in it a desert dweller, the Monk Macarius, who, after prayer, strengthened them with a small crumb of dry bread, and then, after instruction in virtues, showed them the way to their homes. From that time on, hunters began to visit the monk, and with them other surrounding residents, who brought him everything he needed for his existence. Avoiding human rumor, the monk withdrew from the deserted island, three miles away, to a remote wooded place located near the Lezna River itself, and there he built himself a second wretched hut, intensifying his prayerful deeds in it. Soon, companions of piety began to flock to the monk, with whom the venerable Macarius built a small wooden church in the name of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and founded a desert monastery, where he was abbot for many years. The saint of God spent the rest of his life in feats of fasting and prayer, and died peacefully in his monastery, no later than the 15th century. The relics of St. Macarius of Lezensky rest hidden in the Makarievskaya desert, abolished in 1764, which is located 110 versts from the city of Novgorod to the north, 20 versts from the Lyuban station, on the left bank of the Lezna River. The local memory of St. Macarius is celebrated on August 15th. On this day there is a large gathering of pilgrims in the desert.