Dormition of the Theotokos, 15 August
Known in the East also as the feast of the falling asleep of Mary and in the West as the assumption, the holy day was observed in Syria-Palestine from at least the fourth to the fifth century. Belief in the bodily assumption of Mary was the topic of the six century among Gregory of Tours, Dionysius (Ps.) the Areopagite, (q.v.) and later Germanus of Constantinople. The celebration not only draws attention to the sanctity and faithfulness of Mary's life but to their recapitulation of the experience of the whole church and the life of a believer in her: "the source of life is laid in the grave and her tomb becomes a ladder to heaven". This feast is an apt conclusion to the cycle of the liturgical year which began with Mary's birth.
[Sysop Note: The belief in the bodily assumption of Mary following her repose in our Lord is not a dogma accepted by the Seven Ecumenical Councils. Moreover, Holy Scripture makes no mention of any hint of this dogma's validity. We are taught through the Nicene Creed that we ought to believe in the resurrection of the dead at the time of our Lord's return. Therefore, since the dogma of the assumption is not scripturally sound, nor accepted by the Ecumenical Councils, we must shun this innovation sparked by Western scholastic foolishness. However, belief in, or disbelief in the alleged dogma of the assumption makes no difference as to the question of our personal salvation. On the other side of the coin, Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
(I Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 6)]