by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
In Orthodox practice, the Dormition Fast is the two week-long fast beginning on August 1 which concludes with the Feast of the Dormition (lit., falling-asleep) of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God Mary on August 15. The Dormition Fast is the fourth and final fasting season of the Church year (together with Advent/Nativity Fast [Nov. 15-Dec. 24]; Great Lent [40 days before Holy Week]; and the Apostles Fast [eighth day after Pentecost to June 29]); the Church new year begins on September 1.
Saint Leo the Great, bishop and pope of Rome (440-461), explains the significance of the four fasting seasons of the Church year, “that the law of abstinence may be kept before us at all times. Accordingly we keep the spring fast in Lent, the summer fast at Pentecost, the autumn fast in the seventh month (i.e., September), and the winter fast in this which is the tenth month (i.e., December), knowing that there is nothing unconnected with the divine commands, and that all the elements serve the Word of God to our instruction, so that from the very hinges on which the world turns, as if by four gospels we learn unceasingly what to preach and what to do” (Sermon 19.2 [On the Fast of the Tenth Month]).
Eventually by the ninth century across the Orthodox Church, the “fast of the seventh month” mentioned by St. Leo became standard practice in the prior month of August due to the influence of the Church in Constantinople and territories in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Fast commenced with the Procession of the Cross (August 1) and concluded with the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15), coinciding with “the climax of the most difficult period for diseases and illness in the entire year” (Note 458, pg. 588; Saint Gregory Palamas The Homilies, ed. and trans. by Christopher Veniamin). Not only was the Cross carried in procession throughout the city, but water was blessed (known as the Lesser Sanctification of Water) and sprinkled on the people, in addition to the spiritual disciplines of the Fast, as true remedies not only of physical ailments, but especially for the malady of sin.
St. Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessalonica (1347-1359), proclaims: “Our God-bearing Fathers knew this was a bad time for health, so to relieve us of sickness they commanded us to bless this water to be sprinkled, so that all who approach with faith and are hallowed by it may stay aloof from the infirmities that attack us as a result of sin. At the same time the Fathers teach us that anyone who falls ill should not resort to spells and sorcerers, but to God, to the intercession of His saints, and to the petitions, entreaties, and prayers on our behalf of those who have consecrated and dedicated their whole life to Him…But you must co-operate with the prayers made on your behalf by changing your way of life, making confession, giving alms, and other works or repentance” (Homily 31.16, 17 “Delivered at the Litany on the First of August”).
“According to an old custom, flowers and medicinal herbs are blessed after the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Dormition. This custom most probably originated from the traditional belief that after Mary’s glorious translocation into heaven, her holy tomb was filled with a “heavenly fragrance” and flowers” (cf. St. Germanos, I Hom. on Dorm.). The herbs, used by people as natural medicine, are blessed in commemoration of the numerous healings and extraordinary graces bestowed on the pilgrims at Mary’s tomb (cf. St. John of Damascus, Hom. on Dorm. 1, 13). The blessing of the herbs on the Feast of Dormition may have been introduced as a replacement of the procession of the Holy Cross during this time to banish summer diseases.” (“History of the Feast of the Dormition,” by John Sanidopoulos; August 15, 2017)
Other than the Dormition Fast being an annual Church-wide exercise of necessary Christian moderation and self-control, and a seasonal treatment of repentance and prayer for the disease of sin, this Fast has a third layer of meaning. Being preparatory for the Feast of the Dormition, the Fast imitates the life of the Virgin Mary who anticipated her own bodily death and resurrection in devotion to her Son and God, Jesus Christ.
St. Gregory Palamas extols: “Even after He who took flesh from her ascended into heaven, it was as though she was striving to emulate the great works past understanding and speech which He had wrought in her, through patient endurance in all kinds of asceticism, through prayers and exertions for the whole world, and counsels and exhortations for those going to the ends of the earth to preach. She was the sole support and consolation of all who saw or heard her, assisting by various means in the proclamation of the gospel. Thus she showed that her whole life, her behavior, her mind and her words, were utterly devoted to godly striving” (Homily 37.5 “On the Dormition of the Mother of God”).
Our keeping of the Fast emulates the life of the Virgin Mary who is the supreme example of what it means to be a Christian. Our hope of salvation was realized in her who truly fell asleep in bodily death (see 1 Thes. 4:14), and yet was bodily translated into the heavens, “to live with [Christ] forever in the heavenly tabernacles. From there you care for your inheritance, and by your unsleeping intercessions you reconcile us to your Son” (ibid., Homily 37.12). Thus we control our intake of food and drink, we pray, we contemplate our life in Christ instead of sensual entertainments, we extend ourselves in mercy to our neighbor, and we gather in God’s house in praise and thanks to Him for participation in His eternal kingdom.
Accordingly the Dormition Fast includes the Feast of our Lord’s Transfiguration (August 6), the revelation of the uncreated glory of the Resurrection prior to our Lord’s crucifixion and death for the salvation of the world. The Virgin Mother of God was the first to witness the empty tomb of Christ (see Matt. 28:1), and so our practice of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, like hers, is done in the certainty of faith in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. His life is ours, so we live in hope of a better life just as the Virgin Theotokos did, just as the Lord revealed to His disciples on the mountain as He bid them to follow Him to the Cross and carry their own in this life (see Luke 9:21-36).
Everything in the Church has been so arranged to bring us into communion with the incorruptible life of God in Jesus Christ, if we take advantage of these things. The Dormition Fast is upon us for just such a purpose.
