Titles and Theology
The Virgin Mary is also called 'Panagia,' meaning 'the All-Holy.' Her full liturgical title is 'Our All-holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorified Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.' Orthodox tradition maintains her virginity before, during, and after the birth of Jesus, represented in iconography by three stars on her shoulders and forehead.
The Council of Ephesus recognized her as superior to all created beings, although not divine. Church Fathers including Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, and John of Damascus consistently referred to her as 'the Virgin' and 'Ever-Virgin.' The Orthodox Church teaches that she required salvation from death through her Son, even while remaining without personal sins, and rejects the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception held by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Great Feasts of the Theotokos
Five of the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy commemorate events related to Mary. Four are principal feasts centered on her person: the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8), the Entrance or Presentation into the Temple (November 21), the Annunciation (March 25), and the Dormition (August 15).
The feast of the Nativity of Mary may have originated in Syria or Palestine at the beginning of the sixth century, when, following the Council of Ephesus, the veneration of the Mother of God was greatly intensified. Wonder-working icons of the Theotokos, such as those of Vladimir, Kazan, and Tikhvin, carry their own commemorations.
The Dormition
The Dormition of the Mother of God is celebrated on August 15 (August 28 for churches following the Julian calendar) as one of the Great Feasts. By church tradition, Mary received notification from the Archangel Gabriel that she would die three days later, and the apostles were miraculously transported from across the world to gather at her bedside in Jerusalem. The name of the feast reflects the teaching that Mary experienced death like all humanity, 'falling asleep.'
All the apostles were present except Thomas, who was preaching in India and arrived after her death; by tradition he received her girdle as a sacred token. At her request, Mary's body was buried in Gethsemane, but when the apostles opened the tomb three days later they found it empty. Orthodox theology teaches that Christ had taken her body to heaven to be reunited with her soul, an event understood as a prefigurement of the resurrection of the faithful at Christ's Second Coming. The Church acknowledges there are no biblical or historical sources for this feast, relying instead on Sacred Tradition.
The feast was added to the Roman calendar in the seventh century as the Dormitio before being renamed Assumptio (Assumption) in the eighth century. The Divine Liturgy for the feast includes the epistle from Philippians 2:5–11 and a gospel combining Luke 10:38–42 with 11:27–28.
Relics & Shrines
Principal pilgrimage destinations associated with the Dormition traditions include Mary's Tomb and the Basilica of the Dormition in Jerusalem, the House of the Virgin Mary at Ephesus, and the shrine of the Cincture (girdle) of the Theotokos at Constantinople. The location of her death remains uncertain in tradition, named as either Jerusalem or Ephesus.
Multiple traditions exist regarding her birthplace as well: some sources place it at Sepphoris, where a fifth-century basilica has been excavated, while other accounts mention Nazareth or a house near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem.
Customs & Traditions
The Dormition Fast (August 1–14) precedes the summer feast. During this fourteen-day strict fast the faithful abstain from meat, poultry, dairy products, fish, oil, and wine, except on weekends when wine and oil are permitted; the feast of the Transfiguration on August 6 falls within the fast, when fish is additionally allowed. Throughout the fast the Paraklesis, the supplicatory canon to the Theotokos, is chanted — either the Great or Small Paraklesis on weekdays.
In many places flowers and fragrant herbs are blessed at the Dormition, and some parishes maintain the custom of blessing flowers before the Liturgy.
