Feast of the Dormition

The Feast of the Dormition has long been my annual favorite, even when I was an Anglican. Other than Pascha, its is generally when I am the busiest with devotions, and I would never miss Mass for any reason (not that anyone should.) I prayed the Litany to our Lady, the akathist to her Dormition, and also her Little Office. This feast was what really originally got me fired up about the catholic way of thinking, so praying all these devotions plays a part in my still ongoing efforts to purge the protestant theology that still lingers in the back of my mind. Proper devotion to the Blessed Virgin insures that our belief in the incarnation is doctrinal. She is the "frontier" between man and God. She was chosen before time to be the "Morning Star," the gateway and tabernacle of Christ. Improper devotion to Mary often leads to excess bordering on idolatry. Many of my Roman Catholic friends pay more attention to Mary than to Christ, even going so far as to say that they love Communion because in some way Mary is present. In any case, we can all be happy that we have a mother in heaven, now and forever. Her Holy Death and Assumption is a foretaste of our destiny. Here is a video of the "O Virgin Pure" which is by far my favorite chant either East or West. We sang it during Communion at Holy Mass yesterday.