The Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar on August 28 observe the Dormition of the Mother of God that the people also call the Feast of Saint Mary the Great. It closes the church year and ends the Dormition Fast that lasted for two weeks, bishop of the Chisinau church “Saint Hierarch Nicolas” Petru Storoja has told IPN.

The bishop said that the feast commemorates the “falling asleep” or death of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. The Orthodox Church commemorates Mary as the Mother of Saint Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

According to Orthodox Church beliefs, Mary died a natural death, like any human being and her soul was received by Christ upon death. Her body was resurrected on the third day after her repose, at which time she was taken up, bodily only, into heaven when the apostles, miraculous transported from the ends of the earth, found her tomb was found empty.

There are four Marian feast days in the liturgical year celebrating the events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Nativity of the Theotokos observed on September 21; the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple on December 4; Annunciation of the Theotokos on April 7, and Dormition of the Mother of God on August 28.