“Although the Mother of God passes through death and is then taken up to heaven in body as well as in soul, she remains forever present in the world through her prayers,” Patriarch Daniel of Romania said on Saturday at the historic Chapel of St George the Great Martyr at the Patriarchal Residence.
His Beatitude explained the Dormition of the Mother of God according to the Synaxarion and the feast’s liturgical hymns.
“This account in the Synaxarion tells us that the Mother of God, after joyfully receiving the news that she would depart from this earthly life, fell asleep in the Lord. After her Dormition, they took her to the tomb. Three days after her burial, the Apostle Thomas arrived and also wished to see her tomb. When those present opened it, they found only the burial shroud of the Mother of God. From this, they understood that the Mother of God had been taken up to heaven.”
Patriarch Daniel emphasised that the Dormition of the Mother of God is not simply a translation to heaven, but “above all, a transition from earthly life, which is subject to decay or corruption, to an incorruptible existence. It is her grace-filled translation to the right hand of her Son in heaven, in the light and peace of the Holy Trinity.”
The icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God
The Patriarch of Romania highlighted several aspects of the icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which depicts her translation to heavenly glory.
“Although the Mother of God is laid upon the bier, her soul, like a small child clothed in a white garment, is raised in the hands of Christ, on His left side, close to His heart. For just as the Mother of God held her Son on her left arm, close to her heart, when He was a child and showed Him to the world, so now the Son in heaven holds her soul in His hands and shows it to the angels.”
Patriarch Daniel said that Orthodox iconography illustrates the unique relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother through the honour and veneration that the Son bestows upon His Mother.
At the same time, the Dormition of the Mother of God, celebrated in the final month of the ecclesiastical year, calls to mind the last days of every person’s earthly life and the end of history.
“In this sense, the icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God is placed above the doors of a church in the narthex, so that when the faithful leave the church, they may think about the final days of their lives on earth. For whatever spiritual state death finds them in, when the soul is separated from the body, in that state they will be judged or spiritually assessed.”
Preparation for eternal life
His Beatitude explained that the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God calls every Orthodox Christian to prepare for the passage, or translation, to heavenly life.
“The Christian passes in soul from transient earthly life to everlasting heavenly life, awaiting the resurrection of the dead, that is, eternal life also for the body, because complete salvation is not only that of the soul, but also of the body through which the soul acted in history.”
Patriarch Daniel emphasised that the Mother of God is invoked to pray for us at the hour of death and on the Day of Judgement.
In the final part of his sermon, the Patriarch of Romania said that the Mother of God desires all people to be saved and to rejoice in eternal blessedness in the Kingdom of the Most Holy Trinity.
“The Mother of God is the protector of families, children, mothers, parents in general, virgins, all the faithful, men and women, and in a special way she is the protector of the poor, widows, orphans and those whom no one loves any longer,” His Beatitude concluded.
Photo: Lumina Newspaper
