Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year signs. Celebration traditions in the church

What does holiday mean

The Virgin Mary, who gave birth after the immaculate conception of the Son of God, was famous during the years of her life for her extraordinary industriousness and meekness - she never turned with a reproach to the Almighty about the fate destined for her. By marrying a poor carpenter, because God commanded so, the girl saved herself for a higher purpose, despite numerous temptations. The woman also calmly endured the reproaches of her husband for infidelity, when the pregnancy became noticeable to everyone around.

After the birth of a son, the family was subjected to all kinds of persecution, as the prophets pointed out to the rulers about the danger of the baby for the rulers of that time. Mary made a lot of efforts to save Jesus and raise him to adulthood, to the time when the Son of God revealed his possibilities to the world and showed a large number of miracles to confirm his divine essence.

For every mother, the death of her child is a grief that cannot be compared with anything. The holy woman endured with dignity all the suffering that fell to her lot. After the death of her only child on the cross, she went with the apostles, continuing the work begun by the Son of God.

The Virgin Mary knew about her death in advance, so she bequeathed to everyone not to grieve, but to rejoice on the day of her death. According to biblical legends, on the eve of the Assumption, she was in a particularly high spirits, anticipating an early meeting with her beloved and dear people.

The Holy Scripture tells that after the death of Mary, all the pilgrims who came to see the holy woman on her last journey received healing from all diseases. And even evil people, who persecuted the Mother of God during their lifetime, immediately recovered after repentance. At night, the Body disappeared, and in the morning the Woman appeared to the apostles, as if woven from sunlight, accompanied by angels, and ordered her to rejoice in her happiness - at last she was reunited with Jesus Christ.

folk wisdom

Signs on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary have been collected over the centuries, embodying the connection between natural phenomena and human activity:

After the holiday, "Indian summer" begins. If the weather is clear and warm on Assumption, it will be cool until September 11;

If on this day there is a rainbow in the sky - autumn will be warm, lingering;

When frost appears on the night of the Assumption, an early and cold winter should be expected;

If there are a lot of cobwebs on this particular day, there will be severe frosts during a snowless winter;

When there is heavy fog on a holiday in the morning, which dissipates only in the afternoon, a strong harvest should be expected.

In tsarist times, before the Assumption, it was necessary to marry - after the holiday, the Meat Eater began, which was used for weddings. It was believed that a young man who had not received the consent of his beloved to marry before that time would not marry this year.

According to all the canons - both ecclesiastical and secular, it was necessary to collect the main harvest for the Dormition. That is why traditionally August 28 was celebrated in the villages as a harvest festival. Even the Soviet government, so that the people would not rebel, allowed them to arrange "Obzhinki" on this occasion in collective farms and state farms.

Rules for this day

Naturally, you should meet the morning in fasting and prayer, go to church and light a candle. You can’t do everything on the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos that is associated with great physical exertion:

Carry out carpentry and locksmith work;

engage in farming;

Nail something or cut and saw;

You can’t make a fire and cook food, it’s also forbidden to cut bread - it is believed that you need to break it with your hands so as not to attract all sorts of misfortunes to the house;

Religious traditions forbid unmarried women and girls to visit a hairdressing salon on this day - cutting hair on the Assumption causes the tears of the Virgin Mary;

You can only put on new, comfortable shoes in the Dormition - according to all signs, the corn, rubbed precisely during the trip to matins in the Dormition, will attract difficulties and problems in the life of a believer.

Swearing, swearing, uttered on August 28 is considered a particularly serious sin. On this occasion, all Orthodox clergy read sermons in churches, warning parishioners and instructing them on the true path.

The language was given to man to say a prayer and glorify God, and not for angry phrases and insults to his neighbor. Therefore, the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos should be held in meek fun, which has nothing to do with social gatherings and parties.

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For Orthodox people, death is not the end of life, but the liberation of the soul from sins, resurrection, cleansing, so the Assumption is really a holiday and every believer should know its date. The Virgin Mary prayed that she would soon see her son and be near him all the time. Her prayers were answered and one day she was taken up to heaven.

We offer you to learn the history of the holiday, its traditions and find out the answer to the question: what date is the Assumption in 2017.

Every year the holiday is celebrated on August 28 and this year there will be no exception. The day precedes the Dormition fast, lasts 14 days.

The Assumption Fast begins on August 14, 2017 and ends on August 27, 2017. This fast is established before the great feasts of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Dormition of the Mother of God.

This is the shortest multi-day post throughout the year. o In its severity, the Dormition Fast is equated with the Passion Week of Great Lent. But despite this, it is considered among the Orthodox and the easiest: both short and sweet.

The easiest - because the Mother of God takes care that the yoke of Christ is easy for us. And takes care of our body as well as the soul.

The sweetest because this Lent begins with the consecration of honey, and then the consecration of fruits: so that through the sweetness that the Lord gives for the body, we taste and see how good the Lord is.

On August 14, on the first day of the Dormition Fast, the Cross of Christ will be worn out for veneration. As once in the Old Testament, according to the word of the Lord, a tree descended into the bitter waters of Merra, and they became sweet, so the bitterness of our life - from the touch of the Cross of Christ - may it change into sweetness.

August 14 - the day of the Baptism of Russia. And baptism - this is such an immersion in the water of the cross - the grace of Christ, when the mystery of the Cross is revealed. And whoever recognizes it, he is ready to offer everything to the Lord - both his life and his death, in order to always be with Him. Therefore, the Holy Martyrs (on the Icons - they are always with the Cross in their hand) go ahead of everyone in the host of Saints. Our Russian Church, like no other, has become famous for the exploits of martyrdom. And there has always been a special reverence for the Mother of God, Her holy Dormition, to which many Monasteries have been dedicated since ancient times. In the Assumption of the Mother of God, as in the Pascha of the Lord, death - what is considered the greatest sorrow - becomes the greatest joy.

There is a pious custom to read the Akathist to the Dormition every day during the Dormition Fast or to perform the Paraklisis - prayer singing of the Canon to the Most Holy Theotokos “I passed through the water, like dry land ...”.

During Dormition Fast, we thank God that we have approached the end of summer, and we ask Him. to vouchsafe us to spend autumn in peace and serenity. The Mother of God in Dormition was preserved from the destruction of her body and ascended with her resurrected body into the Kingdom of God. So we, on the Feast of the Assumption, tea the resurrection of the dead and our eternal stay next to the Mother of God where the Risen Christ is.

Also on August 14, a small consecration of water is performed in churches, which is why the Honey Savior is often called the Savior on the Water. On this day, believers bathed in rivers and lakes for the last time of the year, thus washing away all sins from themselves. According to traditions, after the beginning of the Dormition Fast, they no longer bathed.

If you carefully study history, you can understand that a lot was written and said about the Virgin Mary in the period before the conception of Jesus Christ and before his crucifixion. When he was crucified on the cross, his mother did not leave him, she held his hand and felt all his suffering. The Virgin Mary believed that only the body had died and that very soon she would meet her son.

Years passed, Mary lived in the care of John's family, but Mary did not have peace. She often came to the place where her son was tormented, visited the cave where he ascended and asked for death in order to meet her son. And the Lord heard Mary and in an instant all the disciples of Jesus Christ gathered around her from all over the world, they suffered, feeling that the Virgin Mary would soon leave. Mary promised to pray for everyone and protect them.

In an instant, it became too light in the room, Christ appeared with angels and symbolically took her soul to take it to paradise. Maria died sleeping. For her, it was a joyful event, she fell asleep, hence the “assumption”. Mary was taken to the tomb, where her husband also rested. The apostles remained near the tomb for three days and prayed. The Apostle Thomas did not have time for the burial and was very saddened by this. Then the other apostles allowed to bow to the Mother of God and opened the entrance to the tomb. Opening the coffin, they saw that Mary's body was not there. She, like her son, ascended to heaven. It is believed that Mary did not die, but fell asleep and woke up for eternal life. The apostles raised their heads to the sky and saw smiling Mary there, who once again promised to pray for everyone. It was a miracle, just like the virgin birth.

It is worth noting that the holiday itself was previously called not the Assumption, but “Memory of the Blessed”, later it was called the “Feast of the Death of the Mother of God”.

Feast of the Assumption - signs, customs, traditions:

In Orthodoxy, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin belongs to the Twelve and has certain rules and traditions. On this day, as on other major church holidays, you cannot work, although there are some points that we will talk about later.

Before this day comes, it is necessary to fast, attend church, take communion, and repent. On the day of the Assumption, they pray to the Mother of God, asking for health, well-being, family happiness. The girls asked the Virgin Mary to send them a good groom, a child. If Assumption falls on Friday or Wednesday, then you can taste some fish. The conversation will be rescheduled for the next day. If the date of the holiday falls on some other day, then you can do whatever you want.

On this day, it is customary to gather with the whole family, spend time with mothers. It is not customary to grieve, swear, be offended on the Assumption, on the contrary, on this day they give each other happiness, kindness, smiles, good mood.

On this day, according to custom, the harvest ended, so the Assumption also celebrated the end of a successful harvest. They thanked the Mother of God for a good harvest and prosperity in the house. Seeds and ears of corn are brought to the church for the Dormition in order to consecrate them. There was a tradition to dress up a sheaf in a dress and put it under an icon.

Previously, it was believed that it was with the Assumption that the Indian summer begins, so they carefully watched the changes in the weather. If a rainbow appeared on August 28, then wait for a warm autumn. But if the weather is good on this day, then the Indian summer will not be very warm.

If you notice a lot of cobwebs in the house or barn, then this means that the winter will be without snow and frosty.

We looked at the Dormition for water: if she worries, then wait for a windy autumn, and a snowy winter.

If you already noticed frost on August 28, then expect early frosts, autumn will be short.

From Assumption, they began harvesting various nuts and mushrooms for the winter. By the way, if the Dormition is foggy, then expect a good harvest of mushrooms.

Hostesses on the Dormition always salted cucumbers for the winter. It was believed that they would not be covered with mold and would be well preserved.

The girls had a sign that if you do not look after yourself a groom in the Assumption, then you can sit all winter for a boyfriend. The guys tried to make an offer to the chosen girl as soon as possible in order to have time to get married.

The church does not support all sorts of divination, but on this day, young women divined in sand and wax to see their future.

Women on this day lay down on the ground and rolled on it, asking them to return their strength and good spirits.

After the Dormition - on August 29, Nut Savior is celebrated. They call it bread. It is by this day that the nuts are fully ripe and can be harvested. In addition, on this day they baked bread and pies from the new harvest.

What is not done on the Dormition:

As with many church holidays, there are certain prohibitions on the day of the Assumption.

Firstly, on this day, in no case do they quarrel with loved ones, especially with mothers.

It is believed that you can not walk on the Assumption with bare feet. People have noticed that this can lead to illness. On this day, comfortable shoes were worn, which could not rub or press on the legs.

According to different sources, there is also different information about whether it is possible to work on this day. Some sources say that it is absolutely impossible, while others say that on the contrary, all important things are completed on this day. Especially, you can work if the activity is related to helping people.

They do not take piercing objects on this day - it was believed that this could lead to trouble. Thus, neither knives, nor scissors, nor needles were used on the Dormition. And on this day it was impossible to stick a knife into the ground.

It was considered a serious sin on this day to drop bread or crumbs of bread that had been consecrated in the church.

There was a belief that the girls were not supposed to cut their hair on the Assumption, let alone throw it away. It was believed that such actions could cause the tears of the Mother of God.

In order not to attract various misfortunes and illnesses to your home, you cannot kindle a fire on this day.

Interesting facts about the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin:

The Feast of the Assumption is dedicated to many icons, paintings, poems, songs. Temples, settlements, streets are named in honor of this day. By the way, Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, is named after the Assumption of the Virgin, because the word is translated from Spanish as “assumption”.

Michelangelo da Caravaggio painted the painting "The Death of Mary" commissioned by the papal lawyer Laerzo Cherubini. It was intended for the family church of Santa Maria della Scala. The clergy rejected the picture because of the inappropriate posture of the Virgin Mary, and also because she was depicted dead, and not a woman who was miraculously raised to heaven, beautiful and peaceful. But Rubens saw in the picture one of the best works of Michelangelo.

The largest altarpiece in Venice is Titian's "Assumption of the Virgin". The picture consists of several levels, has bright shades, unusual postures and actions of the apostles and the Virgin Mary. This work immediately attracted the attention of many people, and Titian became very popular.

The classic icon dedicated to the Assumption looks like this: in the center of the canvas is a bed covered with a purple veil, on it lies the body of the Mother of God, the apostles stand around. Behind the bed is Jesus, who holds the holy soul of Mary in his hands. In addition, angels fly over the Virgin Mary and the Savior, witnessing this important event. It is believed that this is the simplest ancient image of the Assumption. Later, the creators of the icons began to expand the storyline.

Descriptions of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary are recorded in the form of apocrypha. The Bible does not contain such information.

The Catholic Church talks about the Dormition with an emphasis on the ascension of the Mother of God into heaven and her coronation as Queen of Heaven.

At the burial site of the Virgin in Jerusalem, solemn events are held on the day of the Assumption.

What you can eat in the Dormition Fast:

According to the church charter, people adhering to the Assumption fast must follow the following food restrictions:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday during the Dormition Fast - dry food.On days of dry eating, you can eat the following foods: dry unleavened bread (crackers), raw vegetables, fruits and dried fruits, honey, nuts, water, salt is allowed from spices.

Tuesday and Thursday during the fast - hot food without oil.These days you can eat dishes cooked on fire and without the use of vegetable oil. These dishes include vegetable and mushroom soups, tea, coffee, compotes, decoctions.

Saturday and Sunday during Dormition Fast- Eating vegetable oil and wine is allowed.

August 19, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, it is allowed to eat fish and seafood.

If the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on Wednesday or Friday, then the breaking of the fast is postponed to the next day, and on August 28 it is allowed to eat fish and seafood.

Is it possible to have a wedding during Dormition Fast?

As you know, August is the most favorable time for weddings. This month accounts for almost half of all marriages performed during the year. However, if you have scheduled a wedding for August, be sure to play it either before the 14th or after the 28th.

Wedding at Assumption Post, and even more so, marriage is considered a great sin. After all, fasting is a time of prayer, repentance, abstinence not only from certain foods, but also from various pleasures, including marital intimacy. Old people say that young people who get married during fasting never live together for a long time.

On August 28, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the day of her transition from one life to another. This holiday, dedicated to the Mother of God, completes the August two-week Assumption Fast.

When is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in 2017?

The Orthodox Church celebrates on August 28, 2017 one of the twelve main holidays of the year - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, Christians remember the death of the Virgin Mary, and the word "assumption" here means not death, but ascension to God.

History of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

After Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, the Virgin Mary remained in the care of the Apostle John. The beginning of the persecution of King Herod against Christians forced the Mother of God and John to settle in Ephesus. There the holy Virgin knelt in prayer, asking God to take her to him, and then one day the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that her earthly life would end in three days.

Before her death, the Virgin Mary gathered all the apostles. They gathered near her bed, where she accepted death. The coffin with the body of the Virgin was buried in a cave, and the apostles remained at its foot for another three days and prayed. The Apostle Thomas was late for the burial. He was allowed to go into the tomb and worship the body of the saint, but there was nothing inside, which marked the ascension of the spirit and body of the Virgin.

The meaning of the holiday

The Slavic word "assumption" means sleep. As they say, perhaps the meaning of the feast of the Assumption is in the understanding that there is no final death, and, accordingly, the fear of it. There is life on Earth in a physical body, and life in another space and dimension. Every life has its own laws of existence. Every person on Earth has everything necessary to create his life the way he wants to see it. And each of us has a choice of how to fill our lives, what to acquire, what to enjoy and in what direction to move. The main thing is to be honest with yourself and your desires.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a special holiday for all Christians, since it is dedicated to the Mother of God. Namely: her dormition. It is celebrated every year on August 28th. In the people this holiday is also called the First Pure.

What must be done on Assumption

Go to church for service

In the old days, these days, ears of wheat from the new crop were brought to the church for consecration. Now this is not practiced. But the service on this day is special - solemn and festive. It is also necessary to put a candle by all means, while remembering all relatives and friends.

Pray for the children

The Mother of God, as our ancestors believed, on this day especially sensitively listens to prayers for children. Therefore, you need to ask the Virgin Mary for health for the kids, and for the happy fate of girls of marriageable age.

Giving alms and feeding the poor on this day is considered a rule. Because on a day like the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, all people should feel joy and protection, including those who do not have financial stability.

Making preparations for the winter is not only possible, but necessary! It was believed that in the near future the garden would not have the variety of vegetables that could be prepared in reserve. Particular attention was paid to pickling cucumbers.

And, of course, on this day you can get married. Accepting matchmakers and discussing the details of the upcoming wedding is a very good sign that promises a happy married life.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a very important and revered holiday. Therefore, it is not surprising that a huge number of different traditions, beliefs, and, of course, prohibitions are associated with it.

What not to do on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On this day, in no case should you walk barefoot in the dew: it is believed that in this way only ailments can be collected.

You can not wear uncomfortable shoes: this can bring misfortune and trouble.

Our ancestors believed that on this day nothing sharp should be stuck into the ground, because it should rest.

On this day, it is also forbidden to cut food with a knife. Therefore, the housewives even tried not to cook anything that day in the kitchen. Festive dishes were prepared on the eve of the Dormition, and bread was broken by hand.

And especially on the Assumption, you can’t quarrel with anyone: otherwise there will be squabbles in the house all year.

Traditions on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos coincides with the end of the Dormition Fast, which is considered strict.

Anyone who has fasted for two weeks can begin to eat a variety of foods. But, if the Assumption of the Virgin falls on Wednesday or Friday, then you need to wait another day.

On this day, believers go to church to honor the memory of the Most Holy Theotokos. People will ask for help and protection from the Most Holy Theotokos.

Prayer for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Oh, great Virgin Mary, we pray to you, please hear us, deliver us from fears and horrors, from all evil spirits and evil. Save our house, our city and our country. All the righteous call on your name and pray to you. Save us from troubles, from sickness, the flood, from the invasion of our enemies, from fires and misfortunes. Have mercy on us and forgive all our sins. Let us glorify your name and your Son Jesus Christ. Deliver us from torment, O Holy Virgin Mary. Let us rejoice in Your reunion with Your Son in Heaven! May there be peace on earth and may Your name be glorified! In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From now on and forever. Amen!"

Folk signs on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• After the Assumption, the Indian summer begins, which will last the whole of September. In ancient times they said: "See the Dormition, and meet the autumn."
• If a rainbow appeared in the sky on this day, autumn will be warm. And the weather is good for the holiday - the Indian summer will be cool.
• A lot of cobwebs symbolize that the winter will be frosty and with little snow.
• During this period, Ukrainians complete the harvest: the last sheaf was left in the fields on the Dormition, and seeds and ears of various breads were brought to the church for consecration.
• After the Feast of the Assumption, people began to gather mushrooms and nuts in the forests and store them for the winter.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2017: pictures, postcards with congratulations

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2017: pictures, postcards. One of the greatest Orthodox holidays has come - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The holiday is celebrated annually on the same day - August 28. The holiday is dedicated to the glorification of the Mother of God.

The Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos precedes the strict Assumption Fast, which lasts for two weeks, on the eve of the holiday, an all-night vigil is held in the churches.

On this bright and important day for the entire Orthodox world, believers congratulate each other on the holiday. We offer you to familiarize yourself with a selection of congratulations on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the form of postcards and pictures in electronic form.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2017: pictures, postcards with congratulations

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the 12 main Orthodox celebrations, the Mother of God holiday. In 2019, it is celebrated on August 28th. The full church name of the holiday is the Assumption of the Most Holy Lady of Our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. It is dedicated to the memory of the death of the Mother of God. The word "assumption" does not symbolize the death of an ordinary person, but the ascension of the spirit and body to God.

history of the holiday

After the ascension of Jesus Christ to Heaven, the Blessed Mary remained in the care of the Apostle John. When King Herod began the persecution of Christians, the Mother of God and John settled in Ephesus. There she prayed daily and asked the Lord to take her to him as soon as possible. One day, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and informed her that after three days her earthly life would end.

Before her death, the Virgin Mary wished to see all the apostles who preached Christianity in different cities. Her wish came true. The apostles gathered at the bed of the Virgin, on which she humbly accepted death. The coffin with the body of the Mother of God was buried in a cave. The apostles remained at its foot for another three days and prayed. The Apostle Thomas was late for the burial. He was allowed to open the entrance to the tomb and bow to the holy remains. There was no body in the cave. The apostles were convinced of the bodily ascension of the Mother of God into heaven.

Traditions and rituals of the holiday

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated in the Orthodox Church with special solemnity. The holiday has 1 day of prefeast and 8 days of afterfeast. Priests wear blue clothes.

On the eve of the holiday, the Shroud is brought to the center of the temple, on which the face of the Mother of God is depicted. Then an all-night vigil is performed, during which stichera and canons are sung, proverbs are read, and the troparion to the Dormition of the Mother of God is performed. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the feast, in many cathedral and parish churches, the rite of the burial of the Mother of God is performed. During matins, at the great doxology, the clergy go to the Shroud of the Most Holy Theotokos located in the center of the temple and burn it. Then they carry her around the temple. After that, the clergy anoint the parishioners with consecrated oil (oil).

The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is preceded by a strict Assumption fast. On August 28, parishioners break their fast. The hostesses prepare festive dishes, which they treat to the family and the needy.

According to folk tradition, on August 28, people harvest vegetables and fruits and make preparations for the winter. In Russia, on this day, the guys got married.

What not to do on the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, you should not wear new or uncomfortable shoes, otherwise you will feel discomfort all year.

You can’t swear, offend your neighbors, refuse to help those in need, be rude and be in a bad mood.

In Russia, people compared the Mother of God with Mother Earth. On this holiday, it was forbidden to walk barefoot and stick sharp objects into the soil. These actions offended the land and caused crop failure.

Signs and beliefs on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• Rainy weather on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin portends a dry autumn.
• If the holiday coincides with the "Indian summer", then the winter will be frosty and with little snow.
• A girl who does not find a boyfriend before the Assumption will be unmarried until spring.
• Completing previously started business or helping a friend on this holiday is a good omen.
• If you rub or injure your leg on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, then life's difficulties and failures are expected ahead.

- one of the twelve great (twelfth) holidays of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is celebrated on August 28 (August 15, old style).

On this day, the Orthodox Church commemorates the death (Assumption) of the Mother of God - an event colored at the same time by sadness, because this is the day of the end of the life path of the Virgin, and the joy of her union with her son Jesus Christ.

Sacred Tradition narrates about the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos after the death of the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Most Pure Virgin was at that time in Jerusalem, later she moved with the Apostle John the Theologian to Ephesus, where she visited the righteous Lazarus in Cyprus and Mount Athos, which she blessed as her inheritance. Shortly before her death, the Mother of God returned to Jerusalem, where she visited the places with which the most important events in the life of her divine Son are connected: Bethlehem, Golgotha, the Holy Sepulcher, Gethsemane, Eleon. There she prayed earnestly.

On one of these visits to Calvary, the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her and announced her imminent migration from this life to the life of Heaven. As a pledge, the Archangel gave her a palm branch. With this news, the Mother of God returned to Bethlehem with three virgins who served her - Sepphora, Evigaea and Zoila. Then she called righteous Joseph of Arimathea and the disciples of Jesus Christ, to whom she announced her imminent death.

The Mother of God bequeathed her meager property to the widows who served her and ordered to be buried in Gethsemane, next to the graves of her righteous parents and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

On the day of the Dormition of the Theotokos, in a miraculous way in Jerusalem almost all the apostles were gathered to say goodbye to her, who had previously dispersed to different countries with the mission of preaching the Word of God. The Apostle Paul arrived later than everyone else. Only the Apostle Thomas was absent.

Suddenly a light shone, eclipsing the lamps, the roof of the upper room opened, and Jesus Christ descended with many angels. The Most Holy Theotokos turned to him with a prayer of thanksgiving and asked him to bless all those who honor her memory. Then the Mother of God joyfully betrayed her soul into the hands of Christ, and immediately angelic singing was heard.

With lit lamps, with the singing of psalms, the apostles buried the Mother of God, as she ordered, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in a cave where the bodies of her parents rested. After the funeral, the apostles remained at the cave for three more days and prayed.

On the third day, the apostle Thomas, late for the burial, reached Jerusalem. Wanting to say goodbye to the Blessed Virgin, he entered the cave and found it empty. The body of the Blessed Virgin was not there, only the burial shrouds remained. The astonished apostles returned to the house and prayed to God to let them know what had become of the body of the Mother of God. In the evening of the same day, the Mother of God herself appeared to the apostles who had gathered for dinner and said: "Rejoice! I am with you - all the days."

In honor of this event, on August 27, during the evening Divine Liturgy in all churches, the Shroud with the image of the Mother of God is taken out of the altar and placed in the middle of the temple. The shroud is in the middle of the temple until the burial rite, when it is carried around the church in procession.

The Orthodox Church calls the death of the Mother of God the Assumption, and not death, because death, as the return of her body to the earth, and the spirit to God, did not touch her. She only fell asleep in order to awaken at the same moment to an eternally blessed life and after three days with an incorruptible body to move into a heavenly incorruptible dwelling.

A temple was built on the burial site of the Mother of God in Gethsemane in the 5th century. There is a legend that a basilica was built here earlier by the holy Empress Helena. In 614, the temple was destroyed, but the tomb of the Mother of God was preserved. Most of the modern building dates back to the time of the Crusaders. This is an underground temple, which is reached by 50 steps, with aisles of Saints Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Mother of God, and Joseph the Betrothed, located on the sides of the stairs. The temple has a cruciform shape: in the center is the tomb of the Virgin with two entrances. It is here, according to tradition, before the feast of the Assumption from Little Gethsemane, near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, that the Orthodox carry the Shroud of the Most Holy Theotokos in procession along the same path that the apostles once carried the body of the Mother of God to burial.

The veneration of the Virgin Mary in the early Christian era is evidenced by an inscription in one of the Nazarene churches of the 2nd century, as well as frescoes in the catacombs.

In the 5th century, Anatoly of Constantinople, in the 8th century, Saints John of Damascus and Cosmas of Maium, in the IXth century, Theophanes of Nicaea wrote canons on the day of the Assumption, which the church now sings on that day. In the songs of the canon, the day of the Dormition is called a famous, solemn and Divine feast. Besides,

The Assumption of the Mother of God in the Orthodox Church is praised by a special akathist in honor of this event.

In Russia, the Assumption has long been one of the most beloved holidays: since the time of St. Prince Vladimir, Assumption churches began to be built everywhere - the first cathedral church in Kyiv, the Church of the Tithes, was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, and by the XIV century, the Assumption churches were the main ones in Suzdal, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Zvenigorod and in Moscow, where the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin became the main temple of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which all Russian tsars and emperors were crowned kings, and during the patriarchate, patriarchs were enthroned.

In honor of the Assumption of the Virgin, many villages in Russia. The village of Uspensky is even near Karaganda in Kazakhstan.

Uspensky is one of the most common Russian surnames.

The feast of the harvest was timed to coincide with the day of the Assumption of the Virgin in Russia. On this day, the farewell to summer took place - the meeting of autumn - the first autumn. Since the Dormition was considered the last day of summer, the holiday ended with the fact that on that evening in the huts for the first time they "blew a fire" - they lit a torch, a lamp or a candle and sat down to dine in the light. From the Assumption, the preparation of various supplies for the winter began. As a sign of the death of the Mother of God, in some villages, older women dressed in black clothes, thus commemorating the Mother of God.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources