Mother of God Feast of Christianity. It is celebrated every year on the 15th of August with the New Calendar and on the 28th of August with the Old (Old Calendarists). In the Orthodox Christian Church, the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary includes, firstly, the death and burial of the Virgin Mary and, secondly, her resurrection and metastasis to heaven.
The Birth of the Virgin Mary
The Virgin Mary’s parents are Saints Joachim and Anna. St. Anna’s parents were another holy couple, the priest Matthan and Mariam (grandfather and grandmother of the Virgin). Righteous Matthew was a priest of the true God and belonged (like all those people) to the religion of the Old Testament, the religion that had the 10 commandments and the prophets and waited for the coming of Christ.
Joachim and Anna, who lived in Nazareth, could not have children for years. They prayed with sorrow and promised that if God sent them a child, when he was three years old they would dedicate it to God, taking him to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. God heard their prayers, but he answered when the time was right and so, in old age, St. Anna’s infertility was resolved and the couple had a baby girl, Mariam. (Let us say here that the name is Mariam, while we Greeks call it “Mary”. In the New Testament, which is written in Greek, the Virgin Mary is named after the Greek form of her name, Mary). We celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary on September 8, while her parents celebrate September 9 and St. Anna separately on July 25 and December 9.
Becoming the "Panagia", the Holiest of them All
When Mary was about 13 years old, it was time to leave the Temple. Her parents had fallen asleep (died) and the priests of the temple engaged her to another holy and righteous man, Joseph.
As soon as the engagement took place, the archangel Gabriel visited Mary. His visit is narrated in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke and, as it seems, the evangelist Luke heard it from the Virgin Mary herself (whom he personally met and painted). The angel greeted her and announced that God had chosen her to give birth to His Son and Savior of men. The angel did not give any lily or anything else to the Virgin Mary. The tradition of the lily is a myth, derived from paintings depicting evangelism in Western Europe since the Middle Ages. He only spoke to her.
It is important that the angel waited until the Virgin Mary accepted and only then did he leave. God did not impose His will on her, but only when she answered in the affirmative did she conceive Jesus.
The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on March 25, 9 months before Christmas.
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary
It is said that the Virgin Mary lived 15 years after the resurrection of Christ. During her last earthly years, she lived in Gethsemane, a village outside Jerusalem (where Christ was arrested on the night of His martyrdom). She had some friends, Christians, who treated her as their spiritual Mother.
One day an angel informed her that it was time to go to Her Son again. The Virgin gave her friends two garments [the tunic and the cloak, ie the head covering, the ones she is depicted wearing in her pictures (3)] and when it was time, she lay down on her bed and surrendered her spirit. Christ came down in person and took Her, as we see in the images of the Assumption (The Orthodox Christian Church suggests that they “slept”, not that they died because there is no death, only a journey to eternal life).
Besides, on the 15th of August, Panagiotis, Maria and Despina celebrate.
In Greece, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is celebrated with special splendor, and is also called “Summer Easter”. In many Aegean islands (Tinos, Paros, Patmos) they decorate and carry an epitaph in honor of the Virgin Mary. In towns and villages throughout the territory, in churches dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, traditional festivals are organized, which end in a generalized feast. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is not a mourning event for the people, because the Virgin Mary “moved to life”. Besides, on the 15th of August, Panagiotis, Maria and Despina celebrate.
References:
The New Testament.
“First Gospel of James” – “Speech to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin” (these two texts are included in the appendix of the book by Th. Riginiotis “The occult gospels and the formation of the New Testament”, published by Pyrra 2006).
Thomas Tsonaka, “Who is the Virgin Mary”, Patras 1985.
“SanSimera”.
