History of the Feast of the Dormition of Theotokos
By John
Sanidopoulos
The
origin of the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is closely connected with
her public veneration in the early fourth century, when Christmas began to be
celebrated in Rome, and peaked at the Third Ecumenical Synod of Ephesus in 431,
when controversy arose over the title "Theotokos". A few years later,
in the Armenian Lectionary of 434, which preserves the ancient liturgical
practices of the Jerusalem Church between 417 and 439, it says that a feast of
Mary the Theotokos was celebrated on August 15th, "at the second mile from
Bethlehem," with Scripture readings that focused on the Nativity of Christ
and the Mary as the Mother of God. In Egypt, this same feast was celebrated on
January 18th under the influence of the Holy Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria (+
444), who presided over the Third Ecumenical Synod. In Constantinople, the
veneration of the Theotokos was promoted by Holy Patriarch Anatolios (+ 458),
who also composed the first liturgical hymns to the Theotokos.
At the
beginning of the sixth century, a magnificent basilica was erected over the
tomb of the Virgin Mary in Gethsemane. With this, the feast of Mary the
Theotokos celebrated on August 15th took on a new meaning and became the solemn
celebration of Mary’s dormition and translocation into heaven under the name of
the Feast of the Dormition. In some liturgical calendars of the East, the feast
was referred to as the "Journey of the Theotokos into Heaven", or the
"Deposition of Mary", i.e. the interment of Mary into her grave.
In
Constantinople, the Holy Empress Pulcheria (+ 453) promoted devotion to the
Theotokos and built three churches in her honor. Being present at the sixth
session of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod of Chalcedon (451), she asked the Holy
Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem (+ 458) for some relics of the Theotokos to be
enshrined in the Church of the Theotokos at Blachernae, in Constantinople.
The Holy
Patriarch replied: “We have received from ancient and the most reliable
tradition that at the time of the glorious dormition (falling asleep) of the
Mother of God, the whole company of the Apostles were brought together in
Jerusalem. So, amid divine and heavenly praises, they commended her holy soul
to the hands of God and, taking her God-conceiving body, they carried it in
procession to Gethsemane and there placed it in a little tomb. For three days a
choir of Angels continued to sing above Her tomb. After the third day, when
finally Saint Thomas arrived, (he had been absent and desired to venerate the
body that had borne Christ God), they (the Apostles) opened the tomb and found
no trace of her blessed body. Thus, taking the winding sheets, which were
filled with fragrance, the Apostles closed the tomb. Wondering at this mystery,
they could only think that He, Whom it had pleased to be born of her in the
flesh, the Lord of Glory, desired that after her departure from this life, her
immaculate and all-pure body would be honored by incorruptibility, being
translocated (to heaven) before the universal resurrection of the dead” (cf.
Cyril of Scythopolis, Life of Euthymios, 3, 40, written about 515).
On July
2, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Deposition of the Venerable Robe of Our
Lady the Mother of God at Blachernae. It seems that, instead of the holy relics
requested, the imperial city had received Mary’s vestments which were found in
Nazareth and brought to Constantinople in 474, i.e. after the death of Juvenal
and Pulcheria.
The
solemn celebration of the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos was
extended to the entire East during the sixth century. Since the feast was
celebrated on different days, it was decreed by Emperor Maurice (582-602) that,
in the entire Roman Empire, the feast will be celebrated on August 15th under
the name of Dormition which, literally translated, means “the falling asleep”
(1 Thess. 4:14). St. Modestos of Jerusalem (+ 634), to whom the oldest extant
homily of the Feast of the Dormition is ascribed, fully accepted the Jerusalem
tradition concerning Mary’s wondrous departure and the translocation of her
most pure body to heaven (cf. Migne, P.G. 86, 3277 ff.).
In the
middle of the seventh century, the Feast of the Dormition was introduced in
Rome from where it gradually spread to the entire West. However, at the end of
the eighth century, the Western Church changed the name of the feast to the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. The Assumption of Mary was
celebrated in the West under Pope Sergius I in the eighth century and Pope Leo
IV then confirmed the feast as official. The Dogma of the Assumption of Mary
was introduced into the Roman Catholic Church in 1950, when Pope Pius XII
defined it ex cathedra in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus.
In the
East, the celebration of the feast was enhanced by the famous homilies of St.
Andrew of Crete (c. + 720) , St. Germanos of Constantinople (+ 733) and
especially St. John of Damascus (+ 749). According to his testimony, the tomb,
which harbored the purest body of the Mother of God for only a short time, became
an object of public veneration and the source of numerous miracles and special
graces (cf. Hom. on Dorm. 1, 13). St. John of Damascus, in the homily he
delivered at the Basilica of the Dormition in Jerusalem, pointed to Mary’s tomb
and said: “Her immaculate body was placed here, in this renowned and
all-glorious tomb, from whence after three days it was taken up to the heavenly
mansion” (cf. Hom. on Dorm. 11, 14).
The
liturgical hymns extolling the wondrous dormition of the Theotokos, for the
most part, were composed during the eighth and ninth centuries by such renowned
hymnographers as St. Germanos of Constantinople (+ 733), St. John of Damascus
(+ 749), St. Kosmas of Maiuma (+ 760), St. Theophanes Graptos (+ 845) and
others.
The Feast
of the Dormition is one of the Twelve Major Feasts of the Orthodox Church and
is celebrated with uncommon solemnity. In preparation for the feast, a two week
period of fasting is prescribed for the faithful, called the Fast of the
Dormition, which begins on the first day of August. Since the Feast of the
Transfiguration of the Savior falls within this time on August 6th, some refer
to the fast up to this time as the Savior’s Fast. Historically, the Fast of the
Dormition can be traced to the ninth century, which coincided with the two week
procession of the Holy Cross throughout Constantinople during this same time to
sanctify the air and buildings and drive away the diseases of the summer. It
was officially introduced into the Orthodox discipline by the Synod of Constantinople
in 1166.
Liturgically
speaking, the Feast has one day of pre-festivity and eight days (octave) of
post-festivity during which time the mysteries of Mary’s wondrous death and her
glorious translocation to heaven are celebrated. The leavetaking (apodosis) of
the feast on August 23rd is celebrated almost as solemnly and festively as on
August 15th.
According
to an old custom, flowers and medicinal herbs are blessed after the Divine
Liturgy on the Feast of the Dormition. This custom most probably originated
from the traditional belief that after Mary’s glorious translocation into
heaven, her holy tomb was filled with a “heavenly fragrance” and flowers"
(cf. St. Germanos, I Hom. on Dorm.) The herbs, used by people as natural
medicine, are blessed in commemoration of the numerous healings and
extraordinary graces bestowed on the pilgrims at Mary’s tomb (cf. St. John of
Damascus, Hom. on Dorm. 1, 13). The blessing of the herbs on the Feast of
Dormition may have been introduced as a replacement of the procession of the
Holy Cross during this time to banish summer diseases.
Preaching
at the tomb of Mary, St. John of Damascus reminded the people: “Divine power is
not circumscribed by any place and neither is the inexhaustible goodness of the
Mother of God. For if the graces were restricted only to her tomb, only a few
people would gain them. Now her graces are poured out in every place throughout
the world” (cf. Hom. on Dorm. 2, 19).
In his
Homily on the Dormition, St. John of Damascus makes the Tomb of Mary speak:
“Why do
you seek in the tomb what has been translocated into heaven? Why do you exact
from me an account of her dissolution? I had no power to go against the divine
command. Leaving the winding sheet, that holy and sacred body, which filled me
with myrrh, sweet fragrance and holiness, has been caught up and has departed
with all the powers of heaven accompanying it. Now the Angels keep watch over
me. Now the divine grace dwells in me. I have become a well of healing for the
sick, a defense against demons, a refuge to those who flee to me. Draw near in
faith, you people, and you will receive grace in streams” (cf. Hom. on Dorm. 2,
17).
Source: johnsanidopoulos.com/2017/08/history-of-feast-of-dormition-of.html
