Assumption Day is held every 15th of August in
Lithuania. The period of summer meeting autumn has been important in
our culture since ancient times. It is the day we say goodbye to plants
and flowers. Crops have been taken, fruit and berries picked, jams made,
- all major harvesting works are completed. During this day, women
would pick the most beautiful field flowers and herbs and then Mother Earth
for harvest and beauty. Farmers would bake bread from fresh grains and
make beer or kvass. During this day the entire family gathered and the
dead were remembered. It has also been a worldwide pagan festival,
because on this day the Romans would worship Diana, the Greeks would
worship Artemis- flora and fauna goddesses. With the introduction of
Roman Christian faith in Lithuania, this day became associated with
Assumption Day- Virgin Mary’s Being Taken to Heaven Day. It is said that
when she died, Apostles held wake by her grave and Peter saw her rising
from the dead and being taken to Heaven by God. When they opened her
sarcophagus, the body was not there-instead, they found many beautiful
flowers. And there appeared a sign in the sky- a woman clothed in the
Sun, Moon under her feet, and 12 stars on her head, as described by John
the Evangelist. The dogma about Assumption was passed only in 1950 but
the liturgical celebration of it has been known since the 5th century.
Every year there are celebrations in Lithuanian churches for this day.
Herbs, flowers, crops, vegetables, etc. are blessed in churches. Dried
flowers were kept with icons to protect from thunder or illness.
The topic has inspired many great artists and has been, in my opinion, the second most popular topic for painters after Annunciation.
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| Assumption by Guido Reni. Source: http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_237615/Guido-Reni/Assumption-of-the-Virgin |
So, what EXACTLY is going on at Assumption in Lithuania?
