“In thy birth-giving, O Theotokos, thou didst keep and preserve virginity; and in thy falling-asleep thou hast not forsaken the world; for thou wast translated into life, being the Mother of Life. Wherefore, by thine intercessions, deliver our souls from death” (Hymn of the Dormition)
Dear witnesses to Christ resurrection,
Happy Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos.
We just celebrated the translation from this life to the heavenly life of our Mother the Theotokos. What does “falling asleep” means? St. John of Kronshtat wrote: “We say that our dead have “fallen asleep” or “passed away.” What does this mean? This means that for the true Christian there is no death. Death was conquered by Christ on the cross. But there is a translation, i.e, a rearrangement of his condition, i.e. his soul is in another place, in another age, in another world beyond the grave, eternal, without end, that is what is meant by “falling asleep”. It is as if it were a temporary dream after which, by the voice of the Lord and the fearful yet wonderful trumpet of the Archangel, all the dead shall live and come forth each to his place: either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:29). This is what the Christian means by translation. We should be ready for this translation, for the day of the general resurrection and judgment, for this indescribable world event, recorded in the Holy Scriptures.” We should never says: heaven gained an angel. Our loved ones when they die, they don’t become angels.
Wednesday August 19th we will have Bible Study at 7:30 PM. Here is the zoom meeting ID 9567220617, passcode 123.
How does the Christian respond to someone who treats him/her bad? St. Paul writes: “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse (trash) of the world, the off scouring of all things.”
St. Paul says “We are fools for Christ’s sake”, when we live our Orthodox Christian Faith and show we are committed to Christ, the world will consider us fools.
The fool for Christ,
Rev. Fr. Dr. George Dahdouh, Priest
~Pastor’s Message of August 14, 2020~