Icon of Dormition of very holy virgin mary

Description Icon of Dormition of very holy virgin mary

The icon of the Dormition has its origin in side scenes from the story of Mary.
The Dormition is the most important Marian feast in the Christian East and corresponds in the West to the equally popular feast of the Assumption.

It is oriented around the mortal character of the mother of Jesus, her full humanity. The presence of Christ at her bedside shows that she too needed redemption.
The icon of the Dormition presents a teaching transmitted by the Tradition of the Church: the death, the funeral, the resurrection and the Assumption of the Holy Virgin.
The Dormition is equivalent to sleep, to the non-violent death, mainly of Saints or pious people. But for Catholics, the Dormition is only about the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The symmetry of the icon is given by the triangle: the dead mother and her son who watches over her.

The vertical position of Jesus shows the superiority of immortal life over the finitude of human flesh.

According to the apocryphal gospel of Saint John and the orthodox and apostolic cults, the Virgin Mary left her earthly life eleven years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus then decided to have his Mother by his side forever and sent the Archangel Gabriel to express this desire and to reveal to her the day of his death.

The angel Gabriel, messenger of joy and love, went to the Virgin Mary and said: "Your son says that the time has come for my mother to be with me always. Do not be upset about this, because you will pass to eternal life". Mary rejoiced and asked to see the Apostles again. The messenger of God answered her: "They will come to you, they will sing hymns in your presence and they will make your funeral".

She prays on the Mount of Olives (where her house is) and prepares her deathbed.
The Holy Spirit then gathered the Apostles around Mary. They gathered in Jerusalem for the lamentation.

At the hour of her death, the August Virgin Mary lies on her bed. Jesus assists her, surrounded by a procession of angels. At the request of Jesus Christ, the Soul of Mary leaves her body.
"The Lord Jesus appeared, says Saint Gregory of Tours, and took in the soul of his mother, which he entrusted to the Archangel Michael. Saint Michael received her and took her to heaven.

The body of the Virgin, remaining pure after childbirth, did not know the corruption of the tomb and went directly to heaven. The first Christian community already firmly believed this. This belief is based on tradition; the Gospels do not mention it. It is a dogma shared by Catholics and Orthodox.

The absence of Thomas: according to tradition, he doubts the dormition of the Virgin, which causes the reopening of the tomb. The apostles will find that Mary's body has been transferred to heaven.

The difference between the East and the West is that for the former, Mary had to pass, in Christ, through a real death and resurrection, while for the latter, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception does not speak of this death. The passive term Assumption expresses the idea that the Virgin Mary did not ascend to heaven by herself but was raised there. Eastern tradition, on the other hand, insists on the sweetness of Mary's death, like a sleep.

Like the feast of the Assumption in the Catholic calendar, whose custom of processions was established by King Louis XIII, the celebration of the Dormition takes place on August 15 in the Orthodox calendar and closes the liturgical year of the latter. The feast of the Dormition is recognized by the Eastern Church in the sixth century.
In the West the Catholics speak of Assumption, while for the Orthodox, the Holy Virgin Mary fell asleep.
An architectural background illustrates the buildings of the city of Jerusalem.

The real plan of the icon: the bed, the dead body, the apostles.
The mystical plan: Jesus and the angels.
In the upper part, we see the first bishops of the primitive Church with the open Evangeliaries (liturgical book of Christianity that contains all or part of the Gospels read during liturgical celebrations).

We can see the emotion of the whole creation in front of the death of the One who brought to the world the One who is the Life.
On this icon, we can distinguish two planes that touch each other: a horizontal plane with the bed where the body of the Virgin Mary rests, and a vertical plane with a mandorla where the Redeemer holds close to his heart the immaculate soul of his mother, here represented in the form of a swaddled infant.

The apostle Peter, coryphaeus of the apostles, laments, leaning over the bed where Mary lies, his hands crossed, and his nimbed head resting on a cushion. Peter presides over the death ceremony, waving the censer. At Mary's feet, the apostle Paul seems to be weeping as well.

The meeting between the two planes forms the sign of the cross. Salvation occurs when the human allows himself to be touched by the divine. They demonstrate the fulfillment of the divine promise. However, the mystical plane remains invisible to those who, at the bottom of the icon, surround the body of Mary, that is why they are in pain. They do not understand: "Do not weep".

--------------------

The icon is provided with a hole on the back, so they are easily fixable to a wall. This hole is notched to facilitate its centering. The icons may also be displayed on an easel.

For the format G423 see the easel IKNG27

You will find the easels in the tab or in the category "Accessories"