On this, the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, we commemorate the holy Martyr and Archdeacon Lawrence of Rome, the Hieromartyr Sixtus, Bishop of Rome, together with the Martyrs Felicissimus and Agapitus, Deacons (258); Martyr Romanus, soldier, at Rome (258); the Blessed Lavrentii, Fool-for-Christ, at Kaluga (1515).
Through the intercessions of Thy Saints, O Christ God, have mercy on us and save us!
After the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the most holy Mother of God continued to live on earth several years. One Christian historian says ten years, and another, twenty-two years. Apostle John the Theologian, according to the instructions of the Lord Jesus Christ, took her in to his home and cared for her with great love as her own son, until the end other life. The Most Holy Mother of God became a mother to all twelve of the Apostles in general. They prayed with her with great joy and were comforted to listen to her instructive conversations about the Savior. When the Christian faith had spread to other lands, many Christians came from distant countries to see and hear her.
Living in Jerusalem, the Mother of God loved to visit those places the Savior had frequented, where he had suffered, died, rose from the dead, and ascended to Heaven. She prayed at these places, weeping, remembering the suffering of the Savior, and rejoicing at the places of His Resurrection and Ascension. She often prayed that Christ would soon take her to Himself in Heaven.
One day, when the Most Holy Virgin was praying thus on the Mount of Olives, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her with a branch from date palm in Paradise, and told her the joyful news that in three days she would finish her earthly life, and the Lord would take her to Himself. The Most Holy Mother of God silently rejoiced over this news. She told her adopted son, St. John, and began to prepare for her end. At that time the other Apostles were not in Jerusalem, as they had dispersed to other countries to preach about the Savior. The Mother of God wanted to bid farewell to them, and so the Lord, in a miraculous manner gathered all the Apostles to her, except Thomas, transporting them by His omnipotent power.
Grief befell them over losing the Mother of the Lord and their own spiritual Mother, when they learned why God had gathered them. But the Mother of God comforted them, promising not to leave them and all Christians after her death, and promising also to pray for them. Then she blessed them all.
At the hour of her death, an extraordinary light shown in the room where the Mother of God lay. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, surrounded by angels, appeared and received her pure soul.
The Apostles buried the pure body of the Mother of God according to her wishes, in the Garden of Gethsemane, where the body of her parents and the righteous Joseph were buried. At the funeral, many miracles were performed. From touching the deathbed of the Mother of God, the blind regained their sight, demons were driven away, and all sorts of illnesses were cured. Crowds of people followed her most pure body. Jewish priests and leaders tried to break up the procession, but the Lord invisibly protected it. One of the Jewish priests, by the name of Athonius, ran up and seized the bier on which was laid the body of the Mother of God, in order to overturn it. But an invisible angel chopped off both his hands. Athonius, struck by such a wondrous miracle, repented and the Apostle Peter healed him.
Three days after the burial of the Mother of God, the absent Apostle Thomas arrived in Jerusalem. He was greatly saddened that he had not been able to say farewell to the Mother of God, and with all his heart desired to venerate her most pure remains. The Apostles felt so sorry for him that they decided to go and roll away the stone from the tomb, to give him the possibility to venerate for the last time the body of the Mother of God. But when they opened the tomb, her most holy body was nowhere to be found, but only one piece of burial shroud was there. The amazed Apostles returned to the house together and prayed to God to reveal to them what had become of the body of the Mother of God. In the evening, at the end of dinner during prayer, they heard angelic singing. Looking up the Apostles saw in the air the Mother of God, surrounded by angels, in the radiance of heavenly glory. The Mother of God said to the Apostles: "Rejoice! I am with you always, and will pray for you before God!"
The Apostles exclaimed to her in joy, "Most Holy Mother of God, help us!" Thus the Lord Jesus Christ glorified His Most Holy Mother. He resurrected her and took her most holy body to Himself and set her higher than all his angels.
The Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God is celebrated by the Holy Orthodox Church as one of its major Feasts, on the 15th of August (August 28, Old Calendar). Preceding this Feast there is a two-week fast, beginning August 1. This Feast is called the Dormition ("falling asleep") because the Mother of God died quietly, as if falling asleep, and more importantly because of the short sojourn of her body in the grave. After three days she was resurrected by the Lord and ascended into Heaven.
How can we find words to describe the holiness, the purity, the sanctity of the one whom God selected to give flesh to the Son of God? St. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, (Luke 1:41) cried out, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" (Luke 1:42). She also called her "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43).
Yet today in our nation many Orthodox Christians do not honor the "Mother of the Word." Some even accept the false teaching of all the protestant faiths: that our Lady was not "ever-Virgin." Part of the confusion among our faithful is the result of blatant errors in translating the Greek text into other languages. One such error is found in today's Gospel lesson. At the end of the lesson, a woman in the crowd joyously offers the following Spirit-filled words: "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee and the breasts which nursed Thee" (Luke 11:27). According to all the mainline versions (King James, Revised Standard, etc.), Christ said in reply, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it" (Luke 11:28). This sounds as if the Lord is making light of the woman's praise of His mother, or even dismissing it. In actuality, however, He is agreeing with her! The key is the translation of the Greek word "menounge." The correct translation of this word is "of course" or "indeed" NOT "rather." It is interesting to note that in two other instances where this word is used, the King James translators chose to give the true meaning:
Thus, in truth, the Lord is agreeing heartily with the woman's praise of His Mother. In essence, He is saying "Of course, my Mother is blessed! She is the most perfect example of a human being who hears and keeps the word of God."
Beloved! Not only did the Theotokos keep the word of God by her total surrender to His divine will for her (see Luke 1:38), she ALONE: kept THE Word of God within her tiny womb for nine months; gave milk to THE Word of God made flesh for another nine months; was established by THE Word of God as "more honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim!" Is it not proper that all of us give honor to her who is "INDEED" honored by her Son, and our Lord, Jesus Christ?
- Fr. Demetrios Carellas
+ Who are the peacemakers? Those who make peace. Do you see others quarreling? Be the servant of peace between them. Say to one man what is good about another; and to the other speak well of the first. Do you hear the evil spoken of one by another who is angry? Do not betray what you hear. Close your ears to the outcry of an angry man; offer him the enduring counsel of peace.
- St. Augustine of Hippo (+430)