What is the August 15 Orthodox Holiday?
The Dormition of the Theotokos — the 'summer Pascha' of the Orthodox year.
The Orthodox holiday on August 15 is the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the falling-asleep of the Virgin Mary. It is one of the Twelve Great Feasts and, in Greek practice, the most widely kept summer feast of all — so much so that it is often called the summer Pascha.
The two dates
- August 15 — New Calendar Churches: Greek, Antiochian, Romanian, Bulgarian, OCA and most parishes in North America.
- August 28 (civil) — Old Calendar Churches: Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Jerusalem and the monasteries of Mount Athos, keeping August 15 Julian.
What the feast commemorates
Orthodox tradition holds that the Apostles were gathered miraculously to Jerusalem for the Virgin's repose, that Christ received her soul, and that when the tomb was opened on the third day for the late-arriving Thomas it was found empty — she had been taken up bodily. Orthodoxy speaks of a dormition, a falling asleep, rather than the Latin dogma of the Assumption, and does not define the manner of it dogmatically.
The Dormition Fast
August 1–14 is a strict two-week fast, second only to Great Lent in severity: no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil except on the appointed days. Fish is permitted on August 6, the Transfiguration. The fast is broken on the feast itself.
Services and customs
- The Paraklesis (Supplicatory Canon) to the Theotokos is chanted every evening of the fast.
- The Lamentations at the Tomb of the Theotokos, sung in many parishes on the eve — an echo of Holy Saturday.
- The Epitaphios of the Theotokos, an embroidered icon carried in procession.
- The blessing of flowers and herbs in Slavic practice.
- Panigyria — patronal festivals — in Greek villages and in Greek parishes across Canada.
Frequently asked
- Is August 15 a fasting day?
- No. The Dormition Fast ends on August 14. The feast itself is fast-free, unless it falls on a Wednesday or Friday, when fish, wine and oil are allowed.
- Is the Dormition the same as the Catholic Assumption?
- They fall on the same day and commemorate the same event, but Orthodoxy emphasises that she truly died before being taken up, and has never defined it as dogma.
- Why do some parishes keep it on August 28?
- Because they follow the Julian calendar, which is thirteen days behind the civil calendar; their August 15 is the civil August 28.