The Mother of God's Prayer Before Her Dormition

A blessed feast of the Dormition to all of you! In the Orthodox Church we know through Holy Tradition that when the time came for the Theotokos' (Virgin Mary) life on earth to come to an end, Christ Himself came and received both her soul and her body and escorted them to Paradise with Him, where she sits at His right hand.  (We see in the icon above, Christ holding the pure soul of His Mother.)There are so many miracles and stories of what took place during that time, but I just wanted to share a short excerpt with you today on the feast of the Dormition.  It is taken from the book, The Life of the Virgin Mary, The Theotokos by Holy Apostles Convent, that I find particularly beautiful.On the Dormition of the Theotokos, when Christ came to take the soul of His All-Holy Mother:The Apostles went up to the feet of the Theotokos and venerated her saying, "O Mother of the Lord, leave a blessing to the world, since thou art going away from it. For thou hast blessed it, and raised it up when it was ruined, by bringing forth the Light of the world."The Theotokos then spoke thus, "O God, Who through Thy great goodness hast sent from the heavens Thine only-begotten Son to dwell in my humble body, Who hast deigned to be born of me, humble as I am, have mercy upon the world, and every soul that calls upon Thy name." And again she prayed and said, "O Lord, King of the heavens, Son of the living God, accept every man who calls upon Thy name that Thy birth may be glorified." Then she continued shortly after, saying, "O Lord Jesus Christ, Who are all-powerful in heaven and on earth, in this appeal I implore Thy holy name: in every time and place where there is made mention of my name, make that place holy, and glorify them that glorify Thee through my name, accepting from such persons all their offerings, all their supplications, and all their prayers."

Having thus prayed, the Lord said to His Mother, "Let thy heart rejoice and be glad; for every grace and every gift has been given to thee from My Father in heaven, and from Me, and from the Holy Spirit. Every soul that calls upon thy name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy, and comfort, and support, and confidence, both in the world that now is, and in that which is to come, in the presence of My Father in the heavens."She then rose up and blessed each of the Apostles with her own hand, and all gave glory to God. Then addressing her Son and His disciples, she uttered, "O ye Apostles from afar being gathered together in the village of Gethsemane lay my body in burial. And you my Son and my God receive now my spirit from me." (that is the first line of the last hymn of the Paraklesis service) Then she said, "Ready is my heart, O God, ready is my heart." (Psalm 107:2) Then she repeated words spoken by her once before at the Annunciation, "Be it unto me according to Thy word", and then she lay down on the bed.Feeling unspeakable joy at the sight of the radiant face of her Son and Lord, the Theotokos, filled with spiritual rapture of love for Him, surrendered her pure soul into the hands of the Lord. And the Lord stretched forth His undefiled hands and received her holy and blameless soul. She felt no pain whatsoever, but it was as if she had fallen into a sweet sleep. He whom she conceived without destroying her virginity and bore without pain, now received her soul from her pure body.

May the Theotokos pray for us ceaselessly to Her Son and our Lord!