The Ascension of St. Mary

Fourth Sunday after the Festival of the Ascension of St. Mary

Through the Paschal Journey of the Lord,
the Mother of God enters the dying of Christ,
for we are “baptized into the dying of Christ.”

Through her full receptivity in synergy with the Divine,
she is assumed body and soul into Heaven.
As the New Eve, she manifests in her person
the destiny of the whole and entire Church of Christ.

Thus the Mother of God, in her ascension,
becomes a first witness to the Apostle's Creed regarding the Parousia & Eschaton.
Her journey in Christ confesses our faith in the Resurrection of the Lord,
and likewise confesses our faith in the resurrection of the body (of each & all the members of Christ's Body) and Life Everlasting.

In this same light of faith, the Oriental Orthodox Churches
name the Feast of the Dormition of the God-bearer
as
The Festival of the Ascension of St. Mary.

A symbol of the life and pilgrimage of the Church itself,
this Marian Feast is an invitation for all of us
to encounter Christ, to embrace His life in the Spirit,
to become most Christ-like:
divinized through all the gifts of the Spirit
given to the Church in Pentecost.

Click here & scroll down to see how the Miracle of Transfiguration illumines the Oriental Churches.