Sunday, August 15, 2010

Do souls grow bigger in heaven?

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Behold Mary, fallen asleep, in the crypt of the Dormition Abbey.
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Today, at the Dormition and at many other churches in Jerusalem and around the world, Christians celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
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You are welcome to see the ceremony in progress as I photographed it in 2007.
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In another earlier post, I was amazed by a strange old icon of Jesus holding a tiny little Mary. You might enjoy the unraveling of the mystery.
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UPDATE: Blogger Malyss just taught me how they celebrate the day in Nice, with boats full of flowers carrying the statue of Mary!
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17 comments:

  1. Enjoyed following the links; especially little Mary. Presbyterians aren't big on symbolism so this sort of thing always intrigues me

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  2. I love the icon of the small Mary. The illumination of the church, the organ playing. Magical!

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  3. What a beautiful post! And how could I have missed the two posts you refer to about the Assumption of Mary! I didn't know about this festivity before, so now I learnt something new. You know a lot about religions in general.Thanks for your comment.
    "De geest overwint"= "The Spirit wins".In German "Der Geist überwindet"

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  4. I always thought that a 'dormition' church was a bit strange. Thanks for the links.

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  5. That was interesting about growing souls. I didn't think our souls had physical sizes. I guess it's supposed to be symbolic, perhaps?

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  6. PA, yeah, I know. Same with me.
    I think the Christian Orthodox are really on to something with their icons.

    Greensboro Jan, let's face it, Church is high drama.

    Wil, thank you. I know, the Assumption was new to me too just a few years ago. There is a saying, "Let Jerusalem teach you." I do.

    VP, true. Don't fall asleep during the sermon. ;)
    Actually I think the Benedictines now officially call their place Hagia Maria Sion Abbey. But we the people still know it as the Dormition.
    Once I saw a free tourist brochure about the place. It said Mary had gone into a COMA there!
    No doubt it was translated from the Hebrew "tardema" by a Jew not familiar with the Christian way of saying "falling asleep in the Lord" (i.e. to die). Oi

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  7. Kay, yeah, sure, symbolic. But even as symbolic, my reaction to the idea was "Oh wow!" I read it somewhere on the Web. I think it is not like official Orthodox church dogma, just a private person's way of explaining why Jesus is pictured holding what looks like a baby.

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  8. Hi Dina! With joy I keep on thinking that deep down you do love Jesus and in your way you believe in Him.
    Happy new week

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  9. Pietro, give me a break! I hate to disappoint you, but you are totally wrong about this. Give up.

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  10. What a stunning photo.

    Does the Soul Survive, by Jewish author, Elie Kaplan Spitz is an excellent read on this subject.

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  11. This is the first time I've seen a statue of Mary in repose. Very interesting.

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  12. Ok Dina, let's change the subject!
    Have a nice Monday!

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  13. I had forgotten about this particular day...enjoyed the links as well.

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  14. Jew Wishes, thanks for the recommendation. I probably should read more Jewish books about such things.

    Hilda, it is the only Mary in repose that I know, too. It would be interesting to research whether other churches named Dormition around the world have such a Mary.

    Pietro, good idea! :)

    Kate, yes, Assumption is not on many calendars.

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  15. Interesting post with comments, Dina... this one and the previous ones you linked I visited. And a beautiful photograph. I kind of hope our souls do get bigger in the here-after, as at times I feel we are all pretty small on this earth.

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  16. Dormition Abbey, next best thing to heaven.

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  17. To say the true, it's not in FRance, but only in NICe! :)
    thank you for linking, Dina, I saw your nice comment only today!

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