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Exposition devoted to koimesis of the Blessed Virgin Mary

28 серпня  2014 року в Кіровоградському обласному художньому музеї в залі сакрального мистецтва розгорнуто експозицію приурочену Успінню Пресвятої Богородиці.

Orthodox and Greek Catholics celebrate the koimesis of the Blessed Virgin Mary in August 28. According to the tradition of the Eastern Church, the feast of the koimesis of Blessed Virgin Mary belongs to the twelve great feasts of the Church year during which people recall the burial, the resurrection and glorification of the Mother of God. According to legend, the Mother of God often prayed on the Mount of Olives, the site of the ascension of Jesus Christ. Once she saw the Archangel Gavril, who told her that in three days her earthly life would end. Christ was waiting in his Kingdom of heaven, where she would be with him for all her life. In confirmation of his words, he handed our lady of the Paradise branch from a Fig tree which is a symbol of incorruptibility and grace. On the day of her death, the apostles left the place of preaching and miraculously gathered in Jerusalem to see the Holy virgin and to bury her body. Only Apostle Foma was absent. Being around her bed, they were blinded by a bright light, which was Christ himself surrounded by angels and archangels. At this point the pure soul of the virgin without suffering, as if in a dream, went to God. In the hall of sacred art in the permanent exhibition there is the icon of the “Dormition of the Theotokos” (late XIX – early XX century). Iconographic tradition of the holiday explains that the virgin gave her pure soul into the hands of the Son Jesus Christ: "the Souls of the righteous are in the hand of God". Christ holds in his hands the soul of his Mother with the same tenderness with which she held the incarnate God in the guise of a child. The face of the virgin at the moment of death expresses calmness, her eyes closed, hands folded on her chest. According to the Byzantine tradition, the soul of the virgin is depicted as a baby, wrapped in a white cloth. Angels and Seraphim follow Christ and the apostles, church fathers and saints follow to the blessed virgin with sadness. The word " koimesis " suggests that the death of the blessed virgin Mary was a quiet transition from earth to heaven, where she wanted to move away to be with her son and God. People call this holiday "The first pure". During the autumn period, there are three "Pure”. On the day of “The first pure” farmers brought to the Church different potion in order to sanctify it including wheat, flax and hemp. Potion was being kept during the year, it was placed in coffins or fumigated the house during a thunderstorm. Wreaths were taken to the field when people were going to sow the field for the first time. Grain was cleared in the field by hand and mixed with sowing seeds and straw were placed in the shape of a cross on the squad, put in the middle of the earth, to bless their work and preserve the harvest from fire and rain. In Ukraine this is time of the harvest in the gardens. The trees remain only "winter" varieties of apples and pears. People also gather viburnum. As we know, viburnum symbolizes Ukraine as the national emblem. Also this day the fasting ends and the season of weddings begins.

 

Olena Stepanok - head of the Department of scientific and educational work of Kirovograd Regional Art Museum