The final feast of the Church Year according to Eastern tradition is the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is based on the extra-Biblical but traditional story of the death of the Virgin Mary, for which the Apostles miraculously gathered at her bedside. The Apostles buried her, but three days later the body could not be found. Iconography shows how Christ came to take his mother’s soul to Heaven.
The life of the Theotokos began and ended like that of any other human being. Respect for Mary is a central Christian tenet, and this feast, too, is part of the common heritage of Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition it is preceded by the second-strictest fast of the year, lasting two weeks.
On August 15, Catholic Christians celebrate The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, one of the 24 major liturgical feasts of the Catholic Church Year.
