Homily Two on the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
(Delivered in 1962)
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
(Delivered in 1962)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, today the entire Church of Christ, and together with it we, are spiritually triumphant and exultant, glorifying the glorious Dormition and transfer from earth to heaven of our common Christian Mother, our Sovereign Intercessor, the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Praised by the ancient Prophets and blessed by the Holy Spirit for the joy and blessedness predestined for Her by God, She, the Most Pure One, living on earth, does not yet see the fulfillment of these Divine predictions upon Herself; on the contrary, great sorrows, needs, and spiritual experiences accompany Her earthly life. In Her earthly life, the words of righteous Symeon were fulfilled over Her exactly: "And a sword shall pierce through your own soul" (Luke 2:35). How much grief did the Most Holy Virgin endure, how many hidden tears were shed by her on earth when she saw the terrible suffering and death of her Beloved Son! And now, on the very day of the Dormition of the Mother of God, Her tearful sowing and work come to an end. From the moment of Her migration from earth to heaven, Her unearthly greatness, Her glory and blessedness begin, and are revealed before the eyes of the entire universe.
The Holy Tradition of the glorious Dormition of the Mother of God tells the following. After the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ to heaven, His Most Pure Mother visited with special love those places near Jerusalem that were marked by the prayer, suffering and death of Her Beloved Son. The Mount of Olives, Golgotha, the garden where the Body of the Savior was buried, became the favorite places of Her prayers and outpourings of the holy feelings of Her heart. She often and for a long time thought about Her death and the future afterlife, often even turning to the Lord with a prayer for Her imminent departure from this life and a blessed union with Him - Her Son and God. And then one day, when She was praying on the Mount of Olives, the Heavenly Messenger, the Archangel of God Gabriel, appeared to Her, who had previously announced to Her the seedless conception and birth from Her of the Savior of the world. Now, appearing before the Most Pure One, he announced to Her that the time had come for Her transfer from earth to heaven and the communion of the gracious consolations of the Holy Spirit.
Filled with deep faith in the future eternal blessed life, She accepted this news from the Archangel not with fear and sorrow, but with a feeling of the most lively joy and the greatest gratitude to God. The Archangel of God handed Her a branch of paradise, a symbol of Her future joy and blessedness. Before Her death, the Most Pure One wished to see the Holy Apostles and prayed to Her Son to fulfill this desire. The Apostles were at that time scattered throughout the world, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom to all nations. And so, at the prayer of the Most Holy Virgin, they instantly, enraptured by Divine power, flock through the air on the clouds to the place where the Most Pure One was staying in Jerusalem, to give Her the last honors and with their holy hands bury Her immaculate body. But this miracle was not enough; At the moment of Her Dormition, heaven itself opened and the Lord of Glory Himself with a multitude of Angels and Saints descended to meet His Most Immaculate Mother.
The Lord Himself appears to show to all ages and peoples the greatness which the Blessed Mary had attained by the height of Her humility and the holiness of Her angelic life. Her most pure body, which bore within itself God the Word, did not see decay, no longer being subject to the law of natural destruction; on the third day after Her repose she was resurrected by the Lord and in a new glorified body was raised from earth to heaven. The Holy Apostles were convinced of this wondrous transfer of Her to heaven by the following miraculous events. By God's providence, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ, the Apostle Thomas, did not arrive in Jerusalem on time with all the disciples, but reached it only on the third day, greatly grieving that he was not worthy to be near the Most Pure Mother of God in the last minutes and receive Her blessing.
Then the other Apostles, in order to console him, went with him to Gethsemane, where the body of the Most Pure One was buried, in order to venerate Her; however, when they opened the tomb, Her body was not found in the tomb. The Apostles were greatly grieved and perplexed about what had happened. But behold, toward evening, when they were all gathered together in the Upper Room on Zion, the Mother of God appeared to them, shining with heavenly glory, with a multitude of Angels and Saints, and said: “Rejoice! I am with you always.” And, of course, the Apostles greatly rejoiced and were consoled by the fact that the Mother of God, according to Her own word, would be constantly with them, preserving them by Her prayerful intercession on all paths of a difficult life filled with dangers, assuring them at the same time even more of the truth of the resurrection of the dead.
Thus, the death of the Mother of God is only a quiet, peaceful sleep or, as the Orthodox Church calls it, a dormition. The death of the Mother of God does not contain anything terrible or joyless for the mind and heart of a Christian; on the contrary, the departure of the Most Holy Virgin convinces the Christian that for him, too, death should not be an object of fear and despair, but of the greatest joy and brightest hope, for it is only a sleep - more or less prolonged, after which will follow a joyful awakening in a new glorified body for a blessed life in heaven.
The Mother of God, having tasted death, especially assures us of this because if there had been something unnatural, evil and terrible in death and in our redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, then who else but the Most Holy Virgin would not have been subjected by the Lord to this evil; but She dies, thus paying off the debt of nature with all earthly creatures - for the consolation and comfort of all of us who have to pass through the gates of death, so that we know that death is inevitable for us and that, at the same time, it is not evil for man. Death is inevitable and death is harmless - these are two truths that we must always remember in order to worthily prepare ourselves for the hour of death and not fear it or tremble. Death was very terrible for man before the coming of Christ the Savior to earth, when sin - its power - reigned in the human race and there were no means of freeing ourselves from it and from death. But after the appearance of the Lord on earth, when He gained victory over sin and death, all its horror disappeared, it became like a peaceful dream, after which comes the joyful morning of the general resurrection.
Dear brothers and sisters, a worthy veneration of this feast on our part will be a worthy preparation for death, and for this we must try to the best of our ability to overcome the sin or vice that lives in us as its cause. Imitating the example of the Most Pure Mother of God, let us walk the narrow, difficult path that leads to eternal life. On this path, patience is necessary, strengthening ourselves with which, with hope in God's help, we must magnanimously endure all misfortunes, sorrows and illnesses, so that, having stood on it, we can reach the endless blessedness of the Heavenly Kingdom. If we, like the Most Pure Virgin Mary, spend our lives pleasing to God, keeping the commandments of God, in purity of spirit and body and constant repentance for our sins, then on the day of our repose a wondrous miracle will occur over us, and our coffin will become a ladder to heaven.
Let us turn today with fervent prayer to the Mother of God, Who then ascended into heaven to appear as a Protection and Intercessor for the world; let us tenderly ask Her for Her Maternal protection over our entire life, so that through Her intercession we may all attain a peaceful, serene end and rest with the righteous. Let us pray to Her from the depths of our souls and with love let us call out to Her: "Rejoice, O Joyful One, Who does not abandon us in Your Dormition." Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
