Interview with the Abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan of Vyshhorod and Chernobyl, Pavel, on the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

— Your Eminence! Our pious people have called the Dormition of the Mother of God the “Pascha of the Theotokos,” the patronal feast of Ukraine. It is in honour of this feast that all our Lavras are named. Why is this particular feast so especially venerated among us?

— I congratulate all of you, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, on the great feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God! First of all, we must note the connection of this event with the Pascha of the Lord. If the Mother of God had not served the Nativity of Christ, becoming the chosen vessel of the Lord, there would be no Pascha of Christ. But since there is the Pascha of Christ, the Lord grants His Mother grace and power, so that Her most pure body was taken up by God into Heaven after Her Dormition.

Already in the times of Kyivan Rus’, this feast was held in special reverence. One may recall the story of how the Most Holy Mother of God appeared in Blachernae to the Greek builders and declared that She wished to dwell in the city of Kyiv. Thus, on our land, a temple was built in honour of Her Dormition. In this way, all Kyivan Rus’, along with Mount Athos and the land of Iveria, became the inheritance of the Mother of God.

Thus, all Ukraine is the home of the Mother of God, and She is the Protectress of our country.