What is the difference between the Assumption and the Dormition of Mary?

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The Assyrian Church of the East also celebrates Shunaayaa of Mary, August 15. Shunaayaa means departure, change, taking away, migration.
 
The only distinction between East and West on this is that in the West belief is a requirement to be in good standing with the Church. In the East it is taught and believed by the vast majority (I’ve only ever met one person who didn’t accept it) but one can be in good standing even if one doesn’t believe it.
 
Nine_Two said:
The only distinction between East and West on this is that in the West belief is a requirement to be in good standing with the Church. In the East it is taught and believed by the vast majority (I’ve only ever met one person who didn’t accept it) but one can be in good standing even if one doesn’t believe it.
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Really? It is a Great Feast, how can it be optional?
 
Hesychios said:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...0px-Baroque_Rubens_Assumption-of-Virgin-3.jpg

There are some people (mostly among the Latin Catholics) who believe she did not die before her assumption.

I am not sure why Pope Pius XII chose to declare a dogma on the assumption, but it appears there must have been some modern Roman Catholics who were doubting it. This was just after the Second World War, when V2 rockets had penetrated the skies, weather balloons soared to great heights and powerful telescopes were already in use. Space exploration was already being suggested and discussed seriously.

The Biblical firmament of heaven was clearly not quite so firm, the source of rain was determined to be condensed vapor (not a firm barrier), the vacuum of space would very likely explode any human body passing into it and so the ancient conception of what really had happened after the Dormition was likely being questioned and challenged by modern educated people.

It would not be surprising then, that a Pope of 1950 might speak on the subject.

In his bull, Pope Pius XII clearly nods to the early tradition of Saint Mary of Nazareth having died. By this time however, many Latin Catholics had developed some ideas of their own. Since Latin Catholics had come to see that corporal death was a consequence of Original Sin, and an earlier Pope had (nearly 100 years before) declared that Saint Mary was born free of this sin, many people probably assumed (advancing logic) that this would mean she did not actually taste physical death.

This idea that the Holy Theotokos did not decease was never actually declared a formal teaching by a sitting Pope, but it was a widespread belief that many priests and probably many bishops personally held. Some believe it to this day.

The idea that the BVM did not die before her assumption is a folk belief, based more on logic than revelation.
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The problem really is in the line that declared the dogma, the terminology used is quite crafty to allow for the possibility that Mary did indeed not die. Maybe they are reserving it for a future dogmatic proclamation. But a read through the entire Apostolic Constitution that declared the dogma clearly shows that all the evidence taken from tradition and teachings of Church Fathers, theologians and saints that the Theotokos did indeed die but did not suffer corruption. And by Jewish belief, corruption only starts after the third day, that is why Jesus and Mary resurrected on the third day, prior to corruption. Some modern interpretation looked at corruption as death itself, on the first day of death, that is why some falsely believe the dogma teaches that Mary did not die. The dogma makes no such claim.
 
Question: Is Dormition pronounced “Door-mission” or “Door-mitt-ee-on”?

Just wondering 😃
 
ConstantineTG said:
But isn’t the Assumption part of the entire tradition of the Dormition?
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It is part of the tradition, but it isn’t the same thing. The focus is on the falling asleep.

I would agree, and it certainly is the belief that one should accept the teaching of the assumption, and to teach counter is certainly contrary to the church, but it isn’t seen as big enough to put one out of good standing with the Church - or at least that is what I have been taught.
 
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