The Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
Mother of God, more honourable than the cherubim
- Feast day
- August 15 (Dormition)
- Lived
- 1st century
- Patronage
- The whole Church; every need brought before her Son
The Theotokos — the God-bearer — holds a place in Orthodox worship no other saint approaches. Every service invokes her, and the liturgical year is framed by her feasts.
Life
Born to Saints Joachim and Anna in their old age, Mary was presented in the Temple as a child and betrothed to the elderly Joseph as her guardian. At the Annunciation she consented freely to bear the Son of God: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord.'
She stood at the Cross, was entrusted to the Apostle John, was present in the upper room at Pentecost, and fell asleep in Jerusalem surrounded by the apostles. The Church teaches that she was taken up bodily to her Son — the Dormition, kept on August 15 after a two-week fast.
The Marian feasts
Her Nativity on September 8 opens the fixed liturgical year and her Dormition on August 15 closes it. Between them stand the Entrance into the Temple (November 21), the Annunciation (March 25), the Protection (October 1), and the Conception by Saint Anna (December 9).
- September 8 — Nativity of the Theotokos
- November 21 — Entrance into the Temple
- December 9 — Conception by Saint Anna
- March 25 — The Annunciation
- August 15 — The Dormition
- October 1 — The Protection (Pokrov)
Why 'Theotokos'
The Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431 confirmed the title Theotokos against Nestorius, who preferred 'Christotokos'. The point is Christological: the one born of her is a single divine Person, and to deny her the title is to divide Christ.
When The Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is commemorated
The feast falls on August 15 (Dormition) on the Revised Julian (New) calendar used by most Greek, Antiochian and Romanian parishes. Parishes that keep the Julian (Old) calendar — much of the Russian, Serbian and Georgian Churches, and Mount Athos — celebrate it on the civil date August 28, thirteen days later. You can switch between both reckonings anywhere on this site.
See the full liturgical day for August 15, 2027
That page gives the fasting rule in force, the Epistle and Gospel appointed for the day, and every other saint commemorated alongside The Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. To keep the feast, look for a parish in the USA, Canada or Australia directory, and read the Akathist hymns appointed for private prayer.