The two-week fast anticipating the Dormition of the Theotokos begins August 1 (August 14 on the civil calendar.) The Feast is on August 15/28.

Much has been written about the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Yet very little has been written about the fast that precedes it.

Every Orthodox Christian is aware and generally knows the reason behind the fasts for Pascha and Christmas. But while they know of the Dormition Fast, some wonder why it is there.

Given some common misunderstandings of the purpose of fasting itself, a refresher on its purpose is always a good idea. There is a perception that we should fast when we want something, as though the act of fasting somehow appeases God, and seeing us “suffer” gets Him to grant our request. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Fasting Pleases God?

It is not our fasting that pleases God, it is the fruits of our fast that please Him — provided we fast in the proper spirit, with alms and prayer, and do not merely diet.

1. We fast not to get what we want, but to prepare ourselves to receive what God wants to give us.
2. The purpose of fasting is to bring us in line with another Mary, the sister of Lazarus; and away from their sister Martha, who in the famous passage was “anxious and troubled about many things.”
3. Fasting is intended to bring us to the realization of “the one thing needful.” It is to help us put God first and our own desires second, if not last. As such it serves to prepare us to be instruments of God’s will, as with Moses in his flight from Egypt and on Mt. Sinai, as well as our Lord’s fast in the wilderness.
4. Fasting turns us away from ourselves and toward God.
5. Fasting during the Dormition Fast helps us become like the Theotokos, an obedient servant of God, who heard His word and kept it better than anyone else.

So why do we fast before Dormition?

In a close-knit family, word that its matriarch is on her deathbed brings normal life to a halt. Otherwise important things (parties, TV, luxuries, personal desires) become unimportant; for a time, life revolves around the dying mother. It is the same with the Orthodox family.

The Church, through the services of the Dormition, gives us the opportunity to come meditate on the mystery of God’s becoming flesh in Mary, and to earnestly seek the prayers of the Virgin who gave birth to God.

Observing the Dormition Fast

Fasting, in its full sense (abstaining from food, evil thoughts, actions and desires) accomplishes this. Less time in leisure or other pursuits leaves more time for prayer and reflection on she who gave us Christ, and became the first and greatest Christian. In reflecting on her and her incomparable life, we see a model Christian life, embodying Christ’s response to the woman who stated that Mary was blessed because she bore Him: Not only so, but blessed are those who hear His word and keep it. Mary is our example in this.

Fr. Thomas Hopko has noted, she heard the word of God and kept it so well, that she of all women in history was chosen not only to hear His Word but give birth to Him. So while we fast in contemplation of her life, we are simultaneously preparing ourselves to live a life in imitation of her. That is the purpose of the Dormition Fast.

When the assumption of thine incorrupt body was being prepared, the Apostles gazed on thy bed, viewing thee with trembling. Some contemplated thy body and were dazzled, but Peter cried out to thee in tears, saying, I see thee clearly, O Virgin, stretched out, O life of all, and I am astonished. O thou undefiled one, in whom the bliss of future life dwelt, beseech thy Son and God to preserve thy people unimpaired.