THE DORMITION OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY, THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY.
The Lord Who, on Mt. Sinai, commanded
by His Fifth Commandment: "Honor your father and your mother"
(Exodus 20:12), showed by His own example how one should respect
one's parent. Hanging on the Cross in agony, He remembered His mother
and indicating to the Apostle John, said to her: "Woman behold
your son" (St. John 19:26). After that, He said to John: "Behold
your mother" (St. John 19:27). And so providing for His mother,
He breathed His last. John had a home on Zion in Jerusalem in which
the Theotokos settled and remained there to live out the end of her
days on earth. By her prayers, gentle counsels, meekness and
patience, she greatly assisted the apostles of her Son. Primarily,
she spent her entire time in Jerusalem often visiting those places
which reminded her of the great events and of the great works of her
Son. She especially visited Golgotha, Bethlehem and the Mount of
Olives. Of her distant journeys, her visit to St. Ignatius the
Theophorus [God-bearer] in Antioch is mentioned, as well as her visit
to Lazarus (whom our Lord resurrected on the fourth day), the Bishop
of Cyprus, her visit to the Holy Mountain [Athos] which she blessed
and her stay in Ephesus with St. John the Evangelist [The Theologian]
during the time of the great persecution of Christians in Jerusalem.
In her old age, she often prayed to the Lord and her God on the Mount
of Olives, the site of His Ascension, that He take her from this
world as soon as possible. On one occasion, the Archangel Gabriel
appeared to her and revealed to her that within three days she will
find repose. The angel gave her a palm-branch to be carried at the
time of her funeral procession. She returned to her home with great
joy, desiring in her heart once more to see in this life, all of the
apostles of Christ. The Lord fulfilled her wish and all of the
apostles, borne by angels in the clouds, gathered at the same time at
the home of John on Zion. With great rejoicing, she saw the holy
apostles, encouraged them, counseled them and comforted them. Following that, she peacefully gave up her soul to God without any
pain or physical illness. The apostles took the coffin with her body
from which an aromatic fragrance emitted and, in the company of many
Christians, bore it to the Garden of Gethsemane to the sepulchre of
[her parents], Saints Joachim and Anna. By God's Providence, they
were concealed from the evil Jews by a cloud. Anthony, a Jewish
priest, grabbed the coffin with his hands with the intention of
overturning it but, at that moment, an angel of God severed both his
hands. He then cried out to the apostles for help and was healed
since declaring his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle
Thomas was absent, again according to God's Providence, in order that
a new and all-glorious mystery of the Holy Theotokos would again be
revealed. On the third day, Thomas arrived and desired to venerate
[kiss] the body of the Holy All-pure one. But when the apostles
opened the sepulchre, they found only the winding sheet and the body
was not in the tomb. That evening, the Theotokos appeared to the
apostles surrounded by a myriad of angels and said to them: "Rejoice,
I will be with you always". It is not exactly known how old the
Theotokos was at the time of her Falling Asleep but the overwhelming
opinion is that she was over sixty years of age.
Respectfully Taken From the:
"The Prologue of Ohrid"
by St. Nikolai of Zica, Serbia(Velimirovic)
No comments:
Post a Comment