I really like this icon. As is to be expected, all the
apostles are mourning her passing. And why not? Scripture lists her as among
the people present during the first Baptism of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’
Baptism. While nothing is found written in Scripture after that event, there is
no reason to think that she was not highly honored among Christians. “Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” exclaims Elizabeth
upon seeing Mary for the first time after she is pregnant. Would it be so
strange that the apostles would mourn her passing? While the records of the
apostles mourning her passing are all extra Biblical, they make sense. She was
full of the Holy Spirit. She suffered much. She was present at the Cross. She
is mentioned in the recollections of the apostles. Given that all the apostles
were the age of her only child, would it be so strange that they would honor
her in a special way, particularly since she was among the first of the
Spirit-filled? The older I get, the more I realize that Protestants go overly
far in almost making her disappear from history, removing her from all human
relationships, and almost making her little more than a baby incubator. Again,
this does not mean that one has to buy into every Roman doctrine, only that one
has to own up to the illogicality of every so removing her.
Also pictured on this icon is something that would be
natural. Yes, Jesus is God, but Jesus is also Man. Why would it be so strange
that he would mourn the earthly passing of his mother? May “Jesus wept” only be
applicable to Lazarus and not to Mary? It is as though upon Ascending, Jesus
becomes nothing more than God. His humanity appears to disappear, and it is
little acknowledged, outside of Orthodox circles (and maybe Roman) that the
two-natured person very well probably mourned the passing of his mother every
bit as much as he mourned in the New Testament over several other issues! But,
notice that Mary is pictured twice. Once she is pictured as the dead Mary, whom
her Son is mourning. The other time she is pictured as a glorified Mary in
white robes, going to the bosom of her Son. Both are true of us as well. Our
bodies shall die–unless the Lord come first–but our souls/spirits shall be with
the Lord. And we shall be clothed in white and every tear shall be wiped away.
But, yesterday (Note: The Feast of the Dormition is
celebrated on August 15 or August 28 for
those following the Julian Calendar), we remembered the pain of her passing, a
pain strong enough that this is one of the earlier feasts of the Church. By the
mid-300s, we have records of its being celebrated in Jerusalem on August 15. It
may have been celebrated earlier than that, but we simply do not have records.
Images of her holding Jesus in her arms are found by the early second century,
when those trained directly by the Apostles were still alive. Mary’s impact on
the Church was strong enough and early enough that the fundamentalist claims of
her being a replacement mother-goddess fall (that is unless one buys into the
mid-19th century pseudo-history concoctions of the Germans). I am not arguing
that there have not been some Roman extremes concerning Mary. Yes, there have
been, and various of those have been repudiated by the Orthodox. But, those extremes
do not justify the Protestant/Evangelical/Fundamentalist extremes on the other
side.
The bottom line is that Mary died. One of the most
courageous women found in Scripture went to her deserved reward. A woman who
was told by an angel that a sword should pierce her heart, because of the pain
she would feel, was finally laid to rest. The pain was over. The mourning was
done. Rest had come. Joy had begun.
Source: http://www.pravmir.com/dormition-theotokos-icon/
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