The summer is racing by. How can it be August already? Well, the days may be getting shorter, but there’s no shortage of light and life on the church front!
August 1 marks the beginning of the Dormition Fast, which runs until the Great Feast of the Dormition (or Falling Asleep) of the Mother of God on August 15. This fast is kept very strictly – second only to the fasts of Great Lent and Holy Week. But it is not a dark fast, or a dark period in the life of the Church. It is anything but! This is shown most magnificently in one of the hymns sung at Great Vespers for the feast – a hymn which stands out in that each line is chanted in a different tone:
We don’t fast out of sadness or mourning – but out of reverence and great wonder, recognizing that “we cannot gaze upon her, nor is it possible to render honor worthy of her, for her excellence surpasses all understanding.”
In addition to the Fast and Feast of the Dormition, August is marked by the Great Feast of the Transfiguration on August 6, which is precisely 40 days before – and thus connected to – the Great Feast of the Elevation of the Cross on September 14. We commemorate the Beheading of St. John the Baptist on August 29, a strict fast day on whatever day of the week it falls. And August 31 marks the last day of the church year, which begins anew on September 1. But that is a story for next month!
August 1 marks the beginning of the Dormition Fast, which runs until the Great Feast of the Dormition (or Falling Asleep) of the Mother of God on August 15. This fast is kept very strictly – second only to the fasts of Great Lent and Holy Week. But it is not a dark fast, or a dark period in the life of the Church. It is anything but! This is shown most magnificently in one of the hymns sung at Great Vespers for the feast – a hymn which stands out in that each line is chanted in a different tone:
By the divine command, the God-bearing Apostles were caught up by clouds from every place. When they came to your all-pure body, the source of Life, they kissed it most reverently. The highest Powers of heaven were also present with their Master, and seized with awe, they escorted the inviolate body, the body that had received God in the flesh. In a manner beyond this world, they went before it and invisibly cried out to the ranks above them: “Behold, the Queen of all and Child of God has come! Lift up your gates, and in a manner beyond this world receive the Mother of the ever-lasting Light, for through her was accomplished the salvation of all the mortal race! We cannot gaze upon her, nor is it possible to render honor worthy of her, for her excellence surpasses all understanding.” Therefore, immaculate Theotokos, who live forever with your Son, the life-bearing King, pray ceaselessly to Him to preserve the new people of God, and to save them from every hostile assault, for we have acquired your intercession, and to the ages, in manifest splendor, we call you blessed.”
In addition to the Fast and Feast of the Dormition, August is marked by the Great Feast of the Transfiguration on August 6, which is precisely 40 days before – and thus connected to – the Great Feast of the Elevation of the Cross on September 14. We commemorate the Beheading of St. John the Baptist on August 29, a strict fast day on whatever day of the week it falls. And August 31 marks the last day of the church year, which begins anew on September 1. But that is a story for next month!
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