Dormition Of The Blessed Virgin Mary In 2019: What Date Will Be, What Should And Should Not Be Done On This Day

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Dormition of the Blessed Virgin: traditions and rules of the holiday

Together with the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the church year ends. It is obvious that for Orthodox Christians this holiday has a special meaning. Let's understand its meaning and traditions associated with it.

Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: what is the church holiday about

The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in 2019 falls on August 28. What do Christians celebrate? On this day, according to legend, the Virgin Mary left the mortal world. All the apostles, except Thomas, gathered at her mortal alone. Is the death of the mother of God the reason for the holiday?

Not really. After the death of Mary, Thomas witnessed her miraculous resurrection in the flesh. And it is the resurrection of the Mother of God that is celebrated on the day of the Assumption. This holiday is mirrored in relation to Easter - the day of the resurrection of Christ. But if on Easter religious people celebrate the uprising of God's son, then on the Assumption - the daughters of earthly parents.

The deep religious meaning of the Dormition lies precisely in the hope for the Last Judgment and a miraculous resurrection. Christians believe that their bodies will not remain forever rotting under the ground, but will be raised from the dead during the Second Coming. In the biblical fate of Mary, they see their future fate.

The Resurrection of the Virgin Mary is one of the central themes of the Bible, which is close to every Christian

Signs and beliefs

Despite the fact that the Christian Church has a very negative attitude to popular superstitions and omens, they still proliferated - including around church holidays. The Dormition was no exception - the people came up with many beliefs for this day.

For example, an old Slavic proverb says: "The purest came - the unclean one is carrying matchmakers." On this day, grooms went to woo the girls they liked. Therefore, it is still believed that unmarried girls have great chances to arrange a personal life at the end of the church year. However, if not a single groom came to the girl that day, then supposedly she would remain unmarried for another year.

Those who actively cultivated the land believed that one should not go barefoot to the Assumption. So, supposedly, you can show disrespect for the soil-nurse and be left without a good harvest. It is believed that this superstition appeared due to the fact that the holiday is generally considered "motherly". And the land was often revered by the pagans as a mother. Therefore, on this day she was entitled to special honors - for example, to take a break from human hands and feet.

On this day, according to tradition, they laid the table for the family, and also treated the disadvantaged with a part of their harvest. The hostesses always began to make preparations for the winter - it was believed that if you did not do this on Assumption, then you would have to sit from hand to mouth until spring.

On the Dormition, the weather for the coming months was also predicted. So, if you could see a lot of cobwebs, then the winter will be frosty, and little snow will fall. The rain on the Dormition predicted a dry autumn, and warm weather predicted a cold Indian summer.

The Dormition of the Theotokos is one of the most important church holidays, which symbolizes the human hope for eternal life.