August: The Month of the Theotokos

I'm going to be writing about Mary or the Theotokos this month so more will be coming.

This is from a great book titled- Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home by Anthony M. Coniaris

To the Orthodox Christian August is a sacred month- a month that brings with it a feeling of intensified reverence. It is the month of the Blessed Theotokos. For on the fifteenth of August the Orthodox Church celebrates the most solemn of feasts related to the Mother of God, namely, her repose or falling asleep.

Special prayer services are held regularly during the first fifteen days of the month. It is a period of special fasting similar to Lent. Orthodox families are invited to attend these services and to participate in the fast.

In order to help parents explain the meaning of this sacred period to their children, we propose to deal with the following two question:

1. What we mean by the falling asleep of the Theotokos (Mary);

2. Why, as Orthodox Christians, do we regard her above all the saints of God as "more honorable than the Seraphim and more glorious then the Cheruim."