In a pastoral message for the Dormition Fast, Archbishop Atanasie of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reflected on the “mystical reversal” depicted in the icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which, he noted, does not portray her burial, but rather a mystical resurrection.
A Season of Inner Sweetness
The Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of the United Kingdom described the Dormition Fast as a “ladder to heaven,” placed mystically at the end of summer to lift our hearts from earthly concerns toward an encounter with the Mother of Life.
This period, he said, is not one of sorrow, but rather “a time of secret sweetness for the soul,” brought about by closeness to the Mother of God, whom the Church calls “unceasing intercessor” and “comforter of the afflicted.”
“The Fast of the Mother of God becomes a school of silence and spiritual deepening,” Archbishop Atanasie said. “It is a time when words become prayer, and prayer becomes light.”
The Theological Message of the Dormition Icon
A central image for understanding this period, the archbishop noted, is the icon of the Dormition, which offers a powerful theological message. Unlike most depictions where the Virgin holds the Christ Child, here Christ holds the soul of His Mother, wrapped in swaddling clothes like a radiant child.
This “holy reversal”, he explained, visually expresses the belief that the Mother of God was received bodily into heavenly glory, and that her death was, in fact, a passage to life. “This is not a burial, but a mystical resurrection,” the archbishop emphasised. It is an icon of personal resurrection, of redeemed motherhood, and of human nature fulfilled in communion with God.
In Orthodox tradition, the Mother of God is not seen as someone above Christ, but as a spiritual mother and intercessor for humanity – a quiet yet powerful presence, who stood by her Son at His birth, at the Cross, and at the Resurrection, and who continues to be present in all our sufferings and needs.
The Perfect Image of Deified Womanhood
Archbishop Atanasie further highlighted that the Mother of God is the perfect image of deified womanhood, a living icon of the Church, the pure expression of obedience and humility that gives birth to eternal life.
“In her, woman reaches the fullness of her being,” he said, “because she becomes the dwelling place of the Word, the earth that receives and gives body to God, and the hidden heart of the Church, which brings light, comfort, and intercession to the entire world.”
The archbishop concluded with a pastoral hope: that this fasting season may be for all “a foretaste of the Kingdom, a strengthening in patience, and a light for life’s journey, with the Mother of God as protector, support, and intercessor before Christ, her Son and our Saviour.”
Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
