The Dormition is the Pascha of the Theotokos

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Christ is in our Midst, my dear reader!

From the point of view of a secular, unbelieving person, this day is madness for us. If you love someone, could his death be a feast day for you? Yes, it can! And not just a feast day, but the greatest victory—the victory over death. If the Lord Jesus Christ is the God-Man, then His Resurrection was natural. After all, God cannot die. Christ’s divine nature is immortal, and it would follow that human nature in Him acquired immortality. But the Mother of God is like us in every way. She is flesh from flesh, bone from bone a true human being, having only our human nature. And so we see that for the first time in the history of the world, an ordinary human being has attained immortality. And moreover, she was taken up to eternal life in both body and soul, where even the highest divine spirits cannot penetrate. The Life and Dormition of the Mother of God is an ideal example of what mankind is called to in God’s plan for it.

The end of each one of our lives leads to one of two results—either death or dormition. A person will become either a corpse or a reposed one. It all depends upon how and for what he lived. Those who go to death cling to this life, to their health, their families, their houses, work, and so on. That is because their hearts cling to the earth, and they don’t know anything better than it. But those who were able in their earthly lives to get a taste of Heaven, its sweetness and grandeur, burn with the desire to leave this life as soon as possible in order to be with their beloved God. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better (Phil. 1:23).

When the soul in the spirit comes to know God and His love, there is nothing dearer to him. But in order that the soul be united with the spirit it must conquer its attachment to the flesh. If this does not happen, then after the death of the body, the soul remains alone and filled with passions and lusts. After the general resurrection our bodies will return to us with a different nature, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Our body will be renewed, but the soul will remain the same as it was when it left its earthly body. Death is when all around there is light, joy, and peace, but inside is darkness, stench, and godlessness. From this we can conclude that whether we go to dormition or to death depends on how we live this brief, temporary earthly life.

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol
Translation by OrthoChristian.com

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8/29/2022

See also
(Photos and Video) Thousands of Greek Orthodox Pilgrims Flock to Tinos for Annual Virgin Mary Commemorations (Photos and Video) Thousands of Greek Orthodox Pilgrims Flock to Tinos for Annual Virgin Mary Commemorations (Photos and Video) Thousands of Greek Orthodox Pilgrims Flock to Tinos for Annual Virgin Mary Commemorations (Photos and Video) Thousands of Greek Orthodox Pilgrims Flock to Tinos for Annual Virgin Mary Commemorations
It’s the second biggest religious celebration in Greece after the Resurrection of Christ and on the Greek Island of Tinos, the Feast of the Dormition— or the passing of the Virgin Mary from earthly life—of the Virgin Mary takes on an extra meaning.
A Transition to Life: The Dormition of the Mother of God A Transition to Life: The Dormition of the Mother of God
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
Every time we celebrate the Dormition of the Mother of God, it’s as if we’re having Easter – the Easter of the summer.
A Homily on the Dormition of Our Supremely Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary A Homily on the Dormition of Our Supremely Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
St. Gregory Palamas
A Homily on the Dormition of Our Supremely Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary A Homily on the Dormition of Our Supremely Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
St. Gregory Palamas
If, then, "death of the righteous man is honorable" (cf. Ps. 115:6) and the "memory of the just man is celebrated with songs of praise" (Prov. 10:7), how much more ought we to honor with great praises the memory of the holiest of the saints, she by whom all holiness is afforded to the saints, I mean the Ever-Virgin. Mother of God! Even so we celebrate today her holy dormition or translation to another life, whereby, while being "a little lower than angels" (Ps. 8:6), by her proximity to the God of all, and in the wondrous deeds which from the beginning of time were written down and accomplished with respect to her, she has ascended incomparably higher than the angels and the archangels and all the super-celestial hosts that are found beyond them.
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