“O strange wonder! The Source of Life is laid in a tomb,” proclaims the sacred hymnography at Vespers for the Feast of the Dormition, celebrated on August 15.The hymnographer marvels at the mystery of the Virgin Mary’s death. She lived without personal sin and gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of death. How, then, could she herself have died? How could she have been laid in a tomb?
Because Mary was sinless and was the Mother of the Lord, one might expect her to have been taken directly into heaven without passing through death. Nevertheless, in accordance with the will of her Son, she experienced death as all human beings do. Her Dormition bore witness to the reality of Christ’s Incarnation and revealed the path from death to resurrection that awaits all humanity.
At the time of Christ and during the early centuries of the Church, certain heretics claimed that Christ did not possess a real human body. According to this belief, His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and victory over death were merely appearances rather than actual events. If His Mother had not truly died, they might likewise have concluded that she did not possess a real human body.
This would have lent support to their heretical teaching. A hymn from the Afterfeast of the Dormition therefore states that Christ willed His Mother to undergo a natural death so that unbelievers might not doubt the reality of His saving dispensation.(Menaion, August 17, Matins, Lauds, Glory)
It is one thing to speak about death and quite another to experience it. The Virgin Mary also passed through death. As the Mother of the Lord, as well as our Mother and Protectress, she experienced that solemn and fearful moment and can therefore show even greater compassion toward those who are dying.
Indeed, she shows particular tenderness toward those approaching death and hastens to their aid. Angeliki Z. recounted the following experience to me: “Toward daybreak on December 3, 1997, my mother died. As she drew her final, labored breath, her expression suddenly changed, as though she were seeing something terrifying. I immediately lit some incense and cried out with all my soul: ‘Most Holy Mother of God, take my mother to your right hand!’ My mother immediately became peaceful. She looked at me, smiled sweetly, and passed away in peace.”
For this reason, whenever we ask the Lord to grant us “a Christian ending to our life, peaceful, without shame and suffering,” we also call to remembrance “our most holy, pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.”
According to one tradition, at the time of the Virgin Mary’s death, her soul descended into Hades, where the Archangel Michael showed her the sufferings of the condemned. Deeply grieved by what she witnessed, she pleaded with her Son to grant them relief from Pascha until Pentecost. The Lord heard her supplication. Thus, the souls of the condemned are granted a period of relief from Pascha until Pentecost.“Mother! Darkness! Despair! We wait for Pascha so that we may catch our breath,” the soul of a son in Hades once said to his mother.
Because the Theotokos passed through Hades and witnessed the suffering of the condemned, her intercession before the Lord for the salvation of our souls is filled with sorrow and tender mercy, and it carries great power.“Rejoice, O you who plead before the righteous Judge,” we say to her (Salutations to the Theotokos, Third Stasis).
If you found this article helpful, feel free to share it with someone who may also benefit from it.
Next in this series: The Dormition and Funeral of the Theotokos
Leave a Reply