Dormition of the Theotokos 2018

© Lyuba Yatskiv, http://iconart.com.ua/en/artists/artist-4/lyuba-yatskiv

The Dormition of the Theotokos is rolling around again. It is the feast that reminds us that Mary eventually died. The Scriptures do not tell us of that death, at least not the canonical Scriptures. One Early Church Father states that she died around 41AD, which would make her about 50-55 years old. This would be a short lifetime nowadays, but not such a short one back then. We know that the Roman Empire legally allowed a woman to be betrothed at 12 years of age. Some Early Church Fathers say that she was betrothed at 12, but most say that she was 14 at the time of her betrothal. Betrothal at 14 years of age would definitely not have been unusual back then and is still not unusual in various countries around the world. While this is strange to our modern sensibilities, we need to remember that the Jewish Bar Mitzvah, the coming of age ceremony, happens around age 13, a remembrance of when adulthood came sooner than we allow for today.

There is little doubt that Mary led an extremely hard life. Not only the description of what she went through but also some of the parables of Jesus point to her life of poverty after the death of Joseph. More than one scholar has pointed out that there are various parables of Jesus that show how acquainted he is with the behavior of poor people. The looking for the one sheep, the looking for the lost coin, the miracle of the fish bearing a coin in its mouth so that the tax might be paid, etc., point to a knowledge of what even a minor loss can mean to someone who lives in poverty. Most of those who had grown up in the hill country of Galilee, such as Mary and Elizabeth, would not have had many spendable funds.

She sees her son die a torturous death, and goes to live with the Apostle John in Ephesus. That is the most common received story. Almost all the Apostles would have been young enough to be her sons. It is not surprising that she is quickly regarded as a mother-figure, given that she was probably regarded as that by several of the Apostles. If the Apostle John was young, which is probably given that he died at the turn of the first century, he would have definitely treated her with the deference and respect that is given to a mother, particularly since Jesus had given Mary to John so that he might care for her.

I am one of those who believe that Mary was assumed. The indirect evidence is that there are no relics of her body floating around. There are relics of various body parts for everyone else except Jesus and Mary. The silence of the relics points us to the probability that the early reports of her assumption are correct.

And, so, we remember a great woman, a great saint, a person who followed God and persevered through many tribulations. We could do worse than be like her, and I doubt I could do better than she were I to be faced with some of what she was faced.