Troparion, tone 1: In giving birth thou didst preserve thy virginity, and in thy falling asleep thou hast not forsaken the world, O Theotokos. Thou hast been translated to life, as thou art the Mother of Life. And by thy supplications thou dost deliver our souls from death.

Archangel Gabriel announced to the Theotokos (Mother of God) Her Dormition three days prior near the Mount of Olives. For this day, the apostles (with the exception of Thomas) were miraculously transported to Jerusalem from the ends of the earth on clouds. Having found out that she was to pass on to life eternal very soon, the apostles and many others grieved. But, as saint John the Damascene said: “…it has to be that everything which is made of the earth must return to it, before ascending to heaven. Thus, it has to be that the body through death, just like gold through fire, must be cleansed of all impurities, and will arise from the grave incorruptible, cleansed and enlightened by the light of immortality.”

And so it came to be that the hour of the passing of the Theotokos came, at which time the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to all present, along with a multitude of angels and saints, and accepted Her pure soul into His hands.

During the funeral procession many of those who despised Christ tried to upset the procession. One jewish priest, Athonius, went so far as to attempt to tip over the funeral bier. By Divine Providence, his hands were cut off by an angel and remained stuck to the pall until his healing by the prayers of the apostles.

The Theotokos was laid to rest by her parents, Joachim and Anna, and Joseph the Betrothed. On the third day after the burial, apostle Thomas arrived in Jerusalem and desired to venerate the body of the Theotokos. When the tomb was opened, only the garments of the Mother of God remained. The world was to witness the extraordinary miracle – Christ, the Son of the Theotokos, had raised Her holy Body from the sepulchre to be taken up to abode in Heaven with Her Soul forever.

On this Feast day the Holy Church teaches us that death is not the annihilation of our lives, but the transition from earth to heaven, from corruption to eternal immortality.

The feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God falls into the group of the twelve major feast days of the Orthodox Church, and is celebrated on August 28th until the leave take of the feast on September 5th. The two week lent ends on this feast day.