On Sunday, August 15, 2021, millions of Christians celebrated the feast of Mary’s Dormition (Assumption). Pastors and scholars have spoken and written at length on the meaning of this feast.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
For those who want to nerd-out on Mariology, the Dormition offers quite the package.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
The New Testament and the Protoevangelion of James do not mention Mary’s death. The earliest sources come from Syriac and Coptic homilies of the mid-sixth century.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Multiple words are used as titles of the feast, such as koimesis<\/em>, metathesis<\/em>, metastasis<\/em>, and analepsis<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Some Byzantine-rite Christians use an elaborate rite to celebrate the Dormition vigil. The Dormition vigil uses the blueprint of Byzantine Matins and Lamentations of Holy Saturday. It is a dramatic and engaging service featuring the chanting of poetic verses, psalmody, and the veneration of a shroud.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Those interested in confessional differences might pose the question: did Mary die? There is no ambiguity in the Orthodox tradition. Yes, Mary died, and this is why the apostles were gathered to sing her into the kingdom in Gethsemane. (Note also the reliable aspect of sacred topography).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n There is some ambiguity on the details of Mary’s ascension. Some of the homilies claim that Mary’s soul ascended while her body awaits the general resurrection. Others assert that Christ raised her from the tomb on the third day.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n We could go on – there is much more to be explored here. But maybe we should pause here, and get to the heart of the matter – why should we care?<\/p>\r\n We should care because the Dormition feast reminds us of an event we must confront: we are going to die. We might do everything possible to avoid it. Others have and will exploit this reality – each passing day witnesses to the invention of a new diet or lifestyle that can prolong your life.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Accepting the inevitability of death does not mean that we live carelessly or irresponsibly. Live well. Live smartly. Respect and honor the body God gave you, as a temple that honors God.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n None of this changes a cold fact: we are a death-denying culture.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The power of the Dormition feast is the apparent absence of justice that someone as righteous as Mary must die. Didn’t her incomparable and unrepeatable “yes” warrant exemption from death? Is not her reception of the Holy Spirit to to give birth to the Divine Logos so that he could make his dwelling among us reason enough to offer her a chariot ride to heaven? After all, the Byzantines proclaim her to be “more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim” each and every day.<\/p>\r\n Perhaps the answer to this rhetorical question lies in the Church’s ancient sense of deep communion with Mary, long after her death. Ordinary Christians have shared stories of Mary’s appearances, healings, and interventions. They confess her as their trustworthy advocate. She pleads for all before God’s throne, the exemplar of a loving mother.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Mary epitomizes a point made by some of the best modern ecclesiologists. The Creed doesn’t lie: there is only one Church, of both heaven and earth. The global sense of Christian connection to Mary in heaven confirms the unity of heaven and earth. She is there with God, and here, with us. Her death only changed the manner of her presence to us – not its reality.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Mary died because she had to die – and we will die because we have to die. The event of Mary’s death was the ultimate liturgy: the apostles gathered around her and sang her into the kingdom, depicted marvelously by the festal icon, of Christ bearing his own mother into heaven.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Mary’s Dormition remind us of the promise of resurrection. God gave us life on earth; we are to live well, and live faithfully.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n God calls upon Christians to die well, and die faithfully, too. Mary showed us how to submit to death when the appointed time arrives. Perhaps one way to live faithfully before the appointed time is to make a dignified, Christin death possible for peoples who experience only brutality. God grant that the following prayer become reality for all – especially people who suffer from oppression.<\/p>\r\n A Christian ending to our life: painless, blameless, and peaceful, and a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ, let us ask: Grant this, o Lord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The event of Mary’s death was the ultimate liturgy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":57307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3117,43,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-scholarship-new-ws","category-eastern-liturgy","category-liturgical-year"],"yoast_head":"\nDid Mary Die?<\/h2>\r\n
Still a Death-Denying Culture<\/h2>\r\n
Why Wasn’t Mary Spared from Death?<\/h2>\r\n
Mary as Our Common Mother<\/h3>\r\n
A Good Death<\/h3>\r\n