Patriarch Shio III: Dormition of the Virgin Mary reminds us of our own death and transition to eternal life

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Shio III said the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary should remind people of their own mortality, describing death as a transition to a better world and eternal life.

“What does the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary make us think about? Our own death, which awaits each of us. This is a transition to a better world, to eternity. As the Holy Fathers say, this is the third birth of a person into eternal life,” Patriarch Shio III said.

He noted that people often fail to understand death in this way and therefore respond to a dying person with anxiety, fear and commotion rather than reverence and prayer.

The Patriarch also said that, through Jesus Christ, death has ceased to be understood as an absolute end, referring to it instead as “departure,” “falling asleep” or “rest.”

Shio III also commemorated former Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, saying this was the first Mariamoba celebrated without him.

“Today we remember Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, without whom this is the first Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. We gather and pray, and we miss his prayer, his service, his words and being with him,” he said.

The Patriarch called on the faithful to pray to the Virgin Mary to intercede for Ilia II and save his soul.

The Orthodox world is celebrating the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, known in Georgia as Mariamoba, today.