“Come, all you ends of the earth, let us praise the blessed passing of the Mother of God. She delivers her sinless soul into the hands of her Son; through her holy Dormition, the world is given new life.” (Stichera at the Litija)
The feast of the birth of John the Baptist is sometimes called the summer Christmas, so also the Dormition (falling-asleep) of the Mother of God might be called the summer Pascha. In both these feasts the cosmic change accomplished by the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God is seen in the lives of human beings, for in Christ the order of mortality is overturned. In the mystery of Mary’s falling-asleep, we see our sinfulness is over-written by the sinless one, who in obedience turns over her “sinless soul” to the incarnate God.
The Gospel today is a story not about Mary, the Theotokos, but about Mary of Bethany, but the words addressed by God to her sister Martha become iconic for all human beings: “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. (Luke 10:42)” What has she chosen? To sit at the feet of our Lord, to put Jesus at the center of her life, and to listen to him. This is Mary’s eternal mission, as she tells the stewards at the wedding in Cana: “Do whatever he (Jesus, her Son) tells you. (John 2:5)” This is the mystery the ends of the earth celebrate today, for it has transformed the meaning of human life, and “through he holy Dormition, the world is given new life.”
Meditation by Archpriest David Petras
August 13 is the feast-day of St. Maximus. Because it is also the leave-taking of the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, the liturgical commemoration is transferred to Saturday. Today Maximus is considered one of the “pillars of Orthodoxy,” and Fr. John Meyendorff called him “the father of Byzantine theology.” His accomplishments are many – he was martyred because of his faithful defense of the incarnation of our Lord, that he was truly human in every way (except sin) and had a human will. He had to live many years in exile.
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 (Kontakion for the Dormition).
Today, the Holy Father appointed Father Andriy Rabiy as an auxiliary bishop of the archieparchy of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians. He was assigned Father Andriy Rabiy the titular see of Germaniciana; he is currently protosyncellus (Vicar General) of the same archieparchy.
As the Apostles recognized, “it is good for us to be here”.
Our parishioner and KofC brother, John Burger, penned an article for Columbia magazine (the monthly publication of the Knights of Columbus). John’s article, “