Transfer of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos

Prophet Micah; New-martyr Simeon of Trebizond; translation of the relics of Venerable Theodosios of the Kiev Caves

 

August 14, 2016

 

Hymns of the Day

 

Troparion of the Resurrection – Tone 7

Thou didst shatter death by Thy Cross, Thou didst open paradise to the thief; Thou didst turn the sadness of the ointment-bearing women into joy. And didst bid Thine Apostles proclaim a warning, that Thou hast risen O Christ, granting to the world the Great Mercy.

 

Troparion of the Dormition – Tone 1

In giving birth thou didst preserve virginity, and in thy dormition thou didst not forsake the world, O Theotokos, for thou wast translated unto life for thou art the Mother of Life. By thine intercessions deliver our souls from death.

 

Kontakion of the Dormition – Tone 2

The grave and death could not hold the Theotokos, who is unsleeping in her intercessions and an unfailing hope in her mediations. For as the Mother of Life she was translated to life by Him who dwelt in her ever-virgin womb.

 

Megalynarion

We bless thee in all our generation, O only Mother of God. The bonds of nature were vanquished in thee, O most pure virgin. And after childbirth didst remain a virgin, and thy death was united unto Life: and after childbirth didst remain a virgin, and after death thou art still alive. O thou Holy Theotokos mayst thou ever save thine inheritance.

 

Koinonikon

I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Alleluia.

 

Epistle – Philippians 2:5-11

Brethren, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Gospel – Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28

At that time, Jesus entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to Him and said, “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” As He said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts that Thou didst suck!” But He said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

 

The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos – August 15

The Dormition of the Theotokos is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, celebrated on August 15. The word "Dormition" is a derivative from the Latin word "dormitio", which means "falling asleep."

 

The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is the commemoration of the falling asleep, burial, resurrection, and translation of the Theotokos into heaven in the body.

 

The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is one of the oldest Marian feasts in the church. The roots of the feast go back to Jerusalem, where the apostles and the Christians of Jerusalem honored and kept alive the memory of the falling asleep of the Theotokos. Consequently, quickly, her empty tomb, in Gethsemane, became a destination for pilgrims from Jerusalem and the surrounding neighborhoods.

 

After the dogmatization of the doctrine of the Divine Motherhood of the Virgin Mary in the third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431), the commemoration of the falling asleep of the Theotokos became more popular amongst Christians in the vast majority of the Christian world.

 

In the late sixth century, in the year 588, the Emperor Maurice officially adopted the commemoration of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos into the liturgical calendar in the entire Byzantine Empire, and commanded that it be celebrated on August 15.

 

In the second half of the seventh century, the feast of the Dormition appeared in the West under the influence of the East. It was accepted in Rome under Pope Sergius I (687­701), and from Rome it passed over to the rest of Europe.

 

Up until the end of the ninth century, the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos was preceded by two periods of fasting: FIRST: before the feast of the Transfiguration (August 1-5) and SECOND: after the feast of the Transfiguration (August 7­15). In the tenth century, the two fasting periods were merged into one, which includes fourteen fasting days beginning on August 1st through August 14th.

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