WEBVTT 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:04.219 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:08.359 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:13.720 Glory be to Christ. Fifty or so years ago, when 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.820 I was a young and relatively newly ordained priest, 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:22.379 I was the second priest at this large church 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:26.579 in Minneapolis, St. Mary's Cathedral. And the 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:32.560 pastor, a charming gentleman, Russian -born, 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:37.920 would always begin his Holy Day services, his 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:50.340 Holy Day sermon, with the words, Today is an 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:55.539 ancient and glorious feast. Glorious and ancient 00:00:55.539 --> 00:01:00.390 feast. And indeed, that is true of all the holy 00:01:00.390 --> 00:01:03.270 days of all the special feast days of the church 00:01:03.270 --> 00:01:10.250 because these were celebrated for centuries and 00:01:10.250 --> 00:01:14.469 they are expressive of the faith that we hold. 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:20.769 Today, of course, is the feast of the Dormition, 00:01:20.950 --> 00:01:25.670 the falling asleep, the Assumption of the Blessed 00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:33.890 Virgin Mary. You know the story behind this, 00:01:34.049 --> 00:01:40.230 that when the apostles were miraculously called 00:01:40.230 --> 00:01:45.349 and transported back to Jerusalem to be present 00:01:45.349 --> 00:01:53.170 at the death of the Virgin Mary, the one apostle 00:01:53.170 --> 00:01:57.329 who was not there, of course, just like when 00:01:57.329 --> 00:02:02.719 Jesus appeared in the Gospel. was St. Thomas. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.639 St. Thomas came late and said, I want to look 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:14.139 one more time on the face of the mother of my 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:19.280 Redeemer. They went into Mary's tomb, the body 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:23.340 was not there, and in its place were flowers. 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:28.270 This is the reason why in many churches We place 00:02:28.270 --> 00:02:32.389 and bless flowers especially on the Feast of 00:02:32.389 --> 00:02:40.610 the Dormition. This story is related in a document 00:02:40.610 --> 00:02:43.430 which is called The Assumption of the Virgin 00:02:43.430 --> 00:02:49.550 Mary. It claims to be written by the Apostle 00:02:49.550 --> 00:02:54.909 St. John, the same one who wrote the gospel story 00:02:54.909 --> 00:02:58.310 about when Thomas... was not there the first 00:02:58.310 --> 00:03:06.090 time. Realistically, we know that this document 00:03:06.090 --> 00:03:09.229 really dates from about the third or fourth century. 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:13.789 And that's quite beside the point in a way because 00:03:13.789 --> 00:03:18.930 it relates, it puts in writing the tradition 00:03:18.930 --> 00:03:21.990 of the church which had been there all along. 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:27.620 The story about the If you want the miraculous 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:31.599 disappearance, the translation of the body of 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:40.199 the Virgin Mary. I want to share with you this 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:49.000 morning two sermons from the 8th century. One 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:53.900 by St. John of Damascus. who lived at St. Savas 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:58.080 Monastery outside of Jerusalem, and the other 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:02.060 by St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:10.080 St. John of Damascus is known for a number of 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:13.340 his writings, not only his scriptural commentaries, 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:17.220 but he wrote one of the early textbooks, so to 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:21.779 speak, on the Orthodox faith. appropriately entitled 00:04:21.779 --> 00:04:26.660 on the Orthodox faith. And what I always found 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:31.699 fascinating about St. John, he says in his preface, 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:39.339 he says, I do not want to say anything new. And 00:04:39.339 --> 00:04:41.660 that's such a different attitude from academic 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:43.939 world nowadays where they want to come up with 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:47.720 new ideas and new theories. But St. John said, 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.839 I do not want to say anything new on my own. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:58.540 And he uses a beautiful analogy. He says, I want 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:03.759 to be like a honeybee, going from flower to flower, 00:05:03.980 --> 00:05:09.339 gathering the pure nectar of the theology of 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:13.560 the fathers who have preceded me. Always liked 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:19.540 the way he expressed himself there. St. John, 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:27.259 he's a very powerful preacher, and he very eloquently 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:31.579 expressed in one of his homilies on the Dormition. 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:38.519 And notice how the expressions in these two homilies 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.399 that I will share with you, how similar that 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:46.180 is to the liturgical texts that we have, the 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:50.920 Troparion, because this was a very fertile period 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:54.000 in the life of the church when these liturgical 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.720 texts were being composed, primarily in the 7th 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.620 and 8th century, and St. John of Damascus was 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:05.259 one of the composers of these liturgical texts. 00:06:05.930 --> 00:06:10.730 But St. John has this to say. It was necessary 00:06:10.730 --> 00:06:18.449 that she who had preserved her virginity inviolate 00:06:18.449 --> 00:06:23.910 in childbirth should also have her body kept 00:06:23.910 --> 00:06:30.670 free from all corruption after death. Same thing 00:06:30.670 --> 00:06:35.980 is said in the Trilparian. In giving birth, you 00:06:35.980 --> 00:06:39.480 preserved your virginity. In falling asleep, 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:45.500 you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. He 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:49.240 goes on to say that it is necessary that she 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:53.860 who had carried the Creator as a child on her 00:06:53.860 --> 00:06:58.459 breast should dwell in the tabernacles of God. 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:04.540 Once again paraphrased by the Troparian, For 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:08.740 being the mother of life, you were translated 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:14.399 to life by the one who dwelt in your virginal 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:19.800 womb. The next, the other homily is by St. Germanus, 00:07:19.939 --> 00:07:24.560 who was a patriarch of Constantinople in the 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.480 mid -8th century. He died about the year 750. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:34.500 And St. Germanus is noted for his... scriptural 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:39.000 homilies, and also a very fascinating document. 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:44.519 He has a commentary on the divine liturgy. This 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:48.560 book is really interesting for us to read. If 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.699 you haven't read it, there's a copy, English 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:54.620 translation available from St. Vladimir's, St. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:58.079 Vladimir Press, his commentary on the divine 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:02.620 liturgy. And what is so reassuring, in a way, 00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:07.439 is that the commentary that he makes on the divine 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.920 liturgy and the actions and the words of the 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:15.240 liturgy show that the liturgy we serve today 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:21.199 is virtually the exact same thing as he was talking 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:26.959 about 1300 years ago. And it's worth... seeing 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.540 how he explains these different actions and gestures, 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:34.919 the symbolism, et cetera, of the divine liturgy. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:41.740 But more to the point, what he said about today's 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:47.580 feast day, the Feast of Mary's Dormition. He 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:53.340 said, your virginal body is entirely holy, entirely 00:08:53.340 --> 00:09:00.919 chaste. entirely the house of God, because, parenthetically, 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:07.139 Jesus was in her womb. For this reason, yet her 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:13.840 body is henceforth a stranger to decay, a body 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:19.039 changed to a preeminent life of incorruptibility, 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:25.200 a body inviolate and sharing. in the perfection 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:29.559 of life. So this is what we celebrate today. 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:35.559 The translation of Mary from this world to the 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:42.720 next. And as the icons and the shroud illustrate 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.639 there, Jesus is in the background and he receives 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:50.139 the soul of the Virgin Mary as a little doll 00:09:50.139 --> 00:09:55.600 -like creature. So he receives her into his heavenly 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:59.860 kingdom. For us, the importance of this feast 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:06.919 is not only did Jesus give us the path to eternal 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:12.379 life and to resurrection from the dead, but also 00:10:12.379 --> 00:10:19.919 as another sign for us. He, ahead of time, took 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:23.899 the body of the Virgin Mary into the kingdom 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:28.080 of heaven. So for Mary, the bodily resurrection 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.720 was taking place earlier than what our bodily 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:37.879 resurrection will take place. And as the liturgical 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:42.120 texts say so fittingly, and the Father's homilies 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:47.019 say appropriately, this is the most fitting thing 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:51.039 that could happen. The body of the mother of 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:57.000 the Savior who held in her womb the Son of God 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:02.120 should not see corruption and decay in the tomb. 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:06.720 She was translated to life by the one who dwelt 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:13.779 in her virginal womb. This feast shows us what 00:11:13.779 --> 00:11:18.629 we await when Jesus once again comes in glory 00:11:18.629 --> 00:11:24.090 this time, raises all the dead, and brings his 00:11:24.090 --> 00:11:28.090 servants with him into the kingdom of heaven, 00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:32.169 where we will be with him and with the Virgin 00:11:32.169 --> 00:11:36.049 Mary, with all the angels and saints, in the 00:11:36.049 --> 00:11:40.970 presence of Almighty God forever and ever. Amen.