Monday, August 15, 2016

Happy Feast of the Dormition!

Today we celebrate the great Feast of the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Mother of God. This morning, pilgrims who were camping out after the annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch joined us for Matins (morning prayer) with the burial procession and Divine Liturgy. It was a beautiful 3-hour marathon of a celebration! During the burial procession with the shroud of the Mother of God, we chant verses from the Song of Songs. When we come back inside the chapel and place the shroud on the tomb, we then sing the "stations" at her tomb, similar to the stations sung during Jerusalem Matins on Great and Holy Saturday. Here is one beautiful line from the second station:


"As an infant upon earth, God rested upon His holy Mother; now the holy Mother rests and makes her abode in God!"



After Matins, we all venerate the shroud of the Mother of God. We venerate this body which contained God and which is now in heaven. May we, too, open ourselves to the Divine Life who wants to dwell within us, as we celebrate this beautiful feast!

2 comments:

  1. Sisters, I have one question.
    Do you recognise Mother/ Saint Teresa of Calcutta like Saint? I'm asking, because the Orthodox Church doesn't accept her being a Catholic one.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we recognize all Catholic saints. Those saints who are specifically of the Roman Catholic Tradition we do not typically celebrate with hymnography in the Divine Office, but we acknowledge them as saints.

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