The return ceremony of the copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan to the Russian Orthodox Church is timed to coincide with this great holiday, the foreign church relations department of the Moscow Patriarchy reported. The shrine was taken away from Russia many years ago and was kept in the Vatican for the last 11 years.
According to the Gospel, Archangel Gabriel told the Mother of God about her approaching death. She wanted to bid farewell to the Apostles who were preaching Christ all over the world. They were miraculously transported to her deathbed. As the time of her death neared, the Lord Jesus Christ descended from Heaven and took her soul.
The Assumption is a popular subject of the Russian icon-painting.
The Apostles buried the body of the Mother of God in Gethsemane. On the third day Apostle Thomas arrived and was very saddened he had been unable to take his leave of her when she had been alive. To make him feel better, the other apostles rolled away the tombstone to let him pay his respects to the body. But on entering the tomb, they found that the body was not there - only the winding sheet remained. And now they understood and believed that the Mother of God had been resurrected.
Thus, the Dormition of the Mother of God is not a sad event, but a joyous one. Her death is but a short sleep, after which follows her resurrection and ascension to heaven.
Orthodox Christians believe that the Mother of God keeps praying for all the mankind.
The long Assumption fast ends on the Assumption Day.
