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Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos speaks to us
Saint John Damascene blesses the wondrous departure that grants return to the Lord:
“Oh, most wondrous departure that grants return to the Lord!”
In Greek, the words “departure” (ἐκδημία) and “return” (ἐνδημία) derive from the word δῆμος, which denotes the place where one lives. The first signifies leaving that place, separating from it, and the second, moving back or returning to it.
From this perspective, the Dormition of the Theotokos is depicted as a “most wondrous departure” from earth, which is a foreign land, a place of wandering, and a “return to God,” a return to Paradise, considered to be a gift of grace. There are no more beautiful words to express the “glorious Dormition” of the Theotokos and to show the joy of the deified, their longing to return to their heavenly homeland.
The Apostle Peter exhorts Christians: “If you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your temporary stay” (1 Peter 1:17). And the Apostle Paul testifies: “I desire to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). There are many apostolic passages written in this spirit.
When Saint Ignatius the God-bearer was heading to Rome to be judged and martyred, he heard that some Christians were trying to obtain his release at the Court. He then wrote them an epistle in which he told them:
“It is better for me to die in Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. I seek Him who died for us; I desire Him who rose for us.”
He desired to meet the crucified and risen Christ, rather than to reign over the whole earth! Moreover, he considered the soul's departure from the body as a birth, which is why he wrote: “My birth is near.” At the same time, he begged Christians to rather persuade the beasts to tear him apart until nothing remained of him, showing that it was better for him to set in this world, so that he might rise with God.
All the saints had such a desire, because all their striving was directed towards overcoming death, confronting the fear of death, and meeting God. Their entire earthly life they considered like a carrying in the womb – a preparation for the moment when they would be born according to God into another world and meet Christ. In the funeral service, there is a significant troparion that expresses the Christian ethos: “the inheritance (Gk. “homeland, birthplace”) I long for, grant me, making me again a citizen of Paradise.”
“The longing for imperishable life”
In this regard, we also have a contemporary example of a God-seeing hieromonk, Saint Sophrony the Athonite. In the letters sent to his relatives, he mentions the hour of death:
“I hope that you strongly preserve the inspiration and light of the hope of passing from death into the unchangeable and light-bearing Being, by the power of Christ, this truly perfect Man. Therefore, may the joy of our future victory, truthfully promised by God, increase in you as, with the passing of years, our body withers. Christ revealed to us a science, the most necessary of all: how to overcome death, this true enemy of all humanity.”
In another epistle, he writes:
“Naturally, since you are all growing old and afflicted by illnesses, you must prepare for what is unavoidable. However, prepare festively, as for the most significant moment of our earthly existence, and not with a feeling of despair or dissatisfaction.”
Elsewhere he writes:
“For me, the greatest events were not some historical occurrences, but only man's exit from the bounds of death, the soaring into immortality.”
In another letter he says:
“In anticipation of this awe-inspiring yet magnificent moment, the soul feels more deeply the world beyond and the love of the Father, and plunges into the unsetting Light. Pray that I do not lose my strength until the end, just as I too ask God to increasingly inspire in you the desire for imperishable life in the light of divine Love.”
The Dormition of the Mother of God is a “most wondrous departure” because it bestows the return to God. May it serve as an example for us, so that we may face with faith, courage, and love our departure from this life and our return to our true homeland.
From “The Feasts of the Mother of God: a historical and theological perspective”,
Bonifaciu Publishing House 2019
Translation by Diaconești Monastery