Τετάρτη 15 Αυγούστου 2018

Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15): The "Easter of the Summer" in the Orthodox Church


 
Photos from here
 
August 15th Celebrations In Greece

August 15th Customs and Traditions In Greece

August 15th Celebrations in Greece for the Virgin Mary

The Litany of Panagia of Tripolitsa in Tripoli

Finding of the Panagia Evangelistria Icon in Tinos

The Ecclesiastical Year and the People of Tinos

Video: 1947 Footage of Panagia of Tinos Feastday

Photos: Today's Last Paraklesis Service In Tinos

My Experience of the Feast of the Dormition in 1991

The Holy Snakes of the Virgin Mary in Kefallonia (1 of 2) (photo)

 

The Holy Snakes of the Virgin Mary in Kefallonia (2 of 2)

The Holy Snakes of Kefallonia and the Calendar Change of 1924

The Annual Appearance of the Snakes of the Panagia in Kefallonia

The Chapel of Panagia Krifti (The Hidden Panagia)

Panagia of Mikrokastrou and the Dormition Monastery

The Castle of the Panagia in Leros

The Chapel of Panagia Kavouradaina in Leros

Panagia Gourlomata of Leros

 
The Monastery of Panagia Panahrantos in Andros

Chapel of Panagia Thalassini in Andros

Panagia Thalassomahousa of Strofades Monastery

The Monastery of Panagia Chrysoleontissa in Aegina

The Monastery of Panagia Spiliani in Nisiros

The Chapel of Panagia Makrini in Samos

The Monastery of Panagia of "Toso Nero" In Sifnos

Worshipping Among Stylites!

August 15th Celebrations On Mount Athos

Lecture: Monk Moses On Panagia Athonitissa (Greek)

August 15th Celebrations In Asia Minor

The Liturgies at Soumela and Akhtamar on August 15 and 19

88 Years Later, A Liturgy at Soumela Monastery

The Historic Divine Liturgy At Soumela in Pontus

Ecumenical Patriarch Celebrates Paraklesis In the Ruins of Panagia Paramythia After 40 Years

August 15th Celebrations In Israel

The Feast of the Dormition at the Tomb of Mary in Gethsemane

The Miraculous Panagia of Jerusalem Icon

August 15th Celebrations In Bulgaria

Bulgaria Honors Dormition of Mary

August 15th Celebrations In Romania

Romania Adds August 15 Among Free Days For Workers

August 15th Celebrations In Russia

12 Greeks Who Built the Dormition Cathedral in the Kiev Caves

August 23 - Apodosis of the Feast of the Dormition

The Annual Miracle of Panagia of Harou in Leipsi

The Miraculous Panagia Faneromeni of Nea Artaki in Evia

Video: Contemporary Miracles of Panagia Malevi (Greek)

The Monastery of Panagia Mavriotissa in Kastoria

The Appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos to St Sergius of Radonezh

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The Life of the Holy Theotokos: Whom the Grave Could Not Contain
 
Theotokos (tag) 
 
Orhtodox Icons of Theotokos from all the world (photo: Theotokos of Kykkos, Cyprus)

 The All-Holy Mother of all the world
 
Mary and the Temple
 
The Theotokos as the Throne of God
 
The Mother of God as "Eye" and "Earth"
 
Icons of the Mother of God 
 
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Δευτέρα 6 Αυγούστου 2018

6 Αυγούστου: Η Ορθόδοξη Γιορτή του Φωτός & η λάμψη της Χιροσίμα! // August 6th: The Light of Transfiguration & the flash of Hirosima!

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Τετάρτη 1 Αυγούστου 2018

August: the holy month of the Virgin Mary in the Orthodox Church


Ελληνικά για το θέμα εδώ & εδώ!
Icon from here

On August 15, now and 1500 years, the Orthodox Christians celebrate the Dormition of Theotokos (Mother of God, Virgin Mary). Thus, the entire month of August is dedicated by the Orthodox Church to the Mother of God, Mother of Jesus Christ.
From 1 to 14 August, we, the Orthodox Christians fast, we partake in the Holy Liturgy and commune the body and blood of Lord (Holy Communion) and each evening we chant the Small and Great Supplication (Paraklesis) to the Theotokos.
These are two wonderful poetry and music projects, by which Christians pray to the Virgin. The Small Supplication is written by a holy monk, whose name was Theostiriktos (= Relying on God), or by the saint Theophan the "Written Upon", the Confessor, who had twelve lines of verse cut into his skin (hence the nickname "written upon") by red-hot iron, from the tyrannical and iconoclastic emperor Theophilos, in the 9th century A.D.!
The Great Supplication is written by the pious emperor of Nicaea Theodore II Laskaris, when Constantinople was conquered by the Western European crusaders, in the 13th century A.D.
Through the centuries, millions of Orthodox Christians, men and women, speak to Mother of God singing or reading these wonderful holy prayers.

 The Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Theotokos (from OrthodoxWiki) 
 
 
The Dormition (Falling Asleep) of the Theotokos is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, celebrated on August 15. For those churches using the Julian Calendar, this feast falls on August 28 in the secular calendar. The Feast of the Dormition, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ's mother. It proclaims that Mary has been "assumed" by God into the heavenly kingdom of Christ in the fullness of her spiritual and bodily existence.  

 About the feast
 
According to Orthodox Tradition, Mary died like all humanity, "falling asleep," so to speak, as the name of the feast indicates. She died as all people die, not "voluntarily" as her Son, but by the necessity of her mortal human nature which is indivisibly bound up with the corruption of this world. The feast was added to the Roman calendar in the seventh century as the Dormitio. In the eighth century, the title was changed to the Assumptio (Assumption).
The Apostles were miraculously summoned to this event, and all were present except Thomas when Mary passed from this life. She was then buried.
Thomas arrived a few days later, and desiring to see her one more time, convinced the others to open her tomb. Upon doing so, the Apostles discovered that her body was no longer present. This event is seen as a firstfruits of the resurrection of the faithful that will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. The event is normally called the Dormition, though there are many Orthodox parishes in English-speaking countries with the name Assumption. In Greek, Dormition is Koimisis—falling asleep in death—from which the word cemetery derives.
As with the nativity of the Virgin and the feast of her entrance to the temple, there are no biblical or historical sources for this feast. The Orthodox Church teaches that Mary is without personal sins[1], as well that Mary truly needed to be saved by Christ as all human persons are saved from the trials, sufferings, and death of this world. She truly died and was raised up by her Son as the Mother of Life and participates already in the eternal life of paradise. This life of paradise is prepared and promised to all who "hear the word of God and keep it." (Luke 11:27-28)
The dormition of the mother of the Theotokos, the Righteous Anna, is celebrated on July 25.

Celebration of the feast

 The feast is preceded by 14 days of strict fasting, with the exceptions that fish is eaten on the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6). On weekdays before the feast, either the Great Paraklesis (service of supplication) or the Small Paraklesis is celebrated.
On the eve of the feast, Vespers is served and contains three Old Testament readings that have New Testament meaning. In Genesis 28:10-17, Jacob's Ladder which unites heaven and earth points to the union of God with men which is realized most fully and perfectly in Mary the bearer of God. "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" In Ezekiel 43:27-44:4, the vision of the temple with the door to the East perpetually closed and filled with the glory of the Lord, symbolizes Mary. And in Proverbs 9:1-11, Mary is also identified with the "house" which the Divine Wisdom has built for herself.
Sometimes Matins is served on the morning of the feast. The Gospel reading is from Luke 1:39-49, 56. It is read on all feasts of the Theotokos and includes the Theotokos' saying: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed."
Divine Liturgy is served on the day on the feast. In some churches, it is the custom to bless flowers on this feast before the Liturgy. The epistle reading is from Philippians 2:5-11, and speaks of "Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men." The gospel reading is taken from Luke 10:38-42 and 11:27-28 together; this reading is also always read on all feasts of the Theotokos. In it, the Lord says, "blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" 

 Hymns

  Troparion (Tone 1) [2]
In giving birth you preserved your virginity,
In falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos.
You were translated to life, O Mother of Life,
And by your prayers, you deliver our souls from death.
Kontakion (Tone 2)
Neither the tomb, nor death could hold the Theotokos,
Who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions.
For being the Mother of Life,
She was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb.
Forefeast hymns 
Troparion (Tone 4)
Dance with joy, O peoples!
Clap your hands with gladness!
Gather today with fervor and jubilation;
Sing with exultation.
The Mother of God is about to rise in glory,
Ascending from earth to heaven.
We ceaselessly praise her in song as truly Theotokos.
Kontakion (Tone 4)
Today the universe dances with joy at your glorious memorial,
And cries out to you, O Mother of God:
"Rejoice, O Virgin, pride of Christians!"
See also
Orthodox icons of Theotokos from all the World
Why the Orthodox Honor Mary
The Theotokos as the Throne of God
Theotokos (tag)
Mother of God (Virgin Mary), Orthodox Church and African peoples
 
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Saint Elesa the 14-years-old Virgin & Martyr of Kythera Island (August 1)

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