Friday, August 15, 2025

It is the 15th of August 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A happy “other” Mother’s Day to some, a Merry Mary’s Day to others, all the while the modern Protestant might be asking, “what? It’s August 15th? What’s the big deal?” 

The Roman Catholic Church ranks its liturgical days, reserving the “solemnities” for the highest-ranking feast days. Today is one of those.

The Eastern Orthodox Church has 12 “Great Feasts” preceded by fasting. Today is one of those days.

It is the feast of the Assumption… or the Dormition (I will explain) of the Virgin Mary.

To some of my fellow Protestants, I know we can get a little jittery around the Blessed Mother- the Anglicans and Lutherans alike have designated today as a remembrance of Mary, not for anything extra-biblical but for her faithfulness as the willing handmaiden of the Lord.

This feast, celebrated amongst Catholics and Orthodox, is one of the oldest feasts with a tradition of her translation to glory being celebrated on the 15th of August.

Let’s address what’s being remembered in the East and West. They are both celebrating Mary’s translation from this life to the next. From the earliest texts, it is referred to as the “Dormitio Beatae Virginis”- Dormitio/Dormition means “sleep” and is synonymous with a peaceful death. By the 9th century, we see liturgies referring to this date as the “Assumptio Beatae Virginis,” thus emphasizing her assumption into heaven instead of what immediately precedes that. As to the question of whether Mary died a natural death or was assumed without seeing a natural death (like Enoch and Elijah), the East affirms her natural and peaceful death, and the Roman Catholic Church leaves the mode of her passing open, only stating that “having completed the course of her earthly life…”.

Being that it is an ancient and widespread Christian holiday, you can bet there is an annual article,  “Actually, your Christian holiday is based on a pagan celebration.”?

It is argued that today, the 15th of August has long been the center of the ‘Feriae Augusti’- the ‘Augustan Holiday’ which was held in honor of Augustus in the very month named after him and set aside for rest after the harvest. Even today, the ‘Feriae Augusti’ lives on as “Ferragosto” in Italy, where it marks the beginning of the holiday season.

The tradition of August 15th as a day set aside for remembering Mary is very ancient, and by around 600 it was made official by the Byzantine emperor Maurice- there has been consensus on the date, if not the name, across the East and the West.

Is it the conspiracy some claim for this and other holidays? For one, I think that with this argument simply being in the same month is hardly an airtight argument. And even still, you would expect an empire that baptized itself as a Christian Empire might swap out some parties for their own hall of fame?

Mary is the patron saint of Costa Rica, and so they celebrate her and all mothers, celebrating both the Assumption (it’s a primarily Catholic country) and Mother's Day on this day.

The same goes for Antwerp in Belgium. All of Belgium used to celebrate the Assumption and Mother’s Day together. Today it is only Antwerp where Mary is the patron saint. Belgium does have today as a national holiday, however, in honor of Mary, as does her neighboring France.

In France, today is one of the 11 national holidays. It was King Louis XIII of France who dedicated his Kingdom to the Virgin Mary in 1638 on the occasion of the birth of his son and heir, Louis XIV (the future Sun King- Versailles and all that).

Being that this is such a holiday in France, and being a day in honor of Mother Mary, there are pilgrimages to, and big events held at, the Cathedral of Our Mother, aka Notre Dame.  

To my fellow Protestants, there are practices and beliefs about Mary that we politely decline today, we might remember the humble handmaiden and witness to her son on the day of her… well, having completed the course of her earthly life… Today is the Feast of the Assumption or Dormition of Mary into her eternal reward.

 

 

The Last word for today comes from… not the daily lectionary, which chooses not to recognize today- let’s hear Mary’s magnum Opus by way of the Holy Spirit in Luke 1:

And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸ for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 15th of August 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who knows that in Indiana, you pronounce that place like it rhymes with “Motor Game.” He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose ecumenical reach ends with Notre Dame, at least with their dumb football team. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.