Dormition Fast and Homeschool Prep

The Dormition fast began yesterday.  As a daughter, I find this fast to be a somewhat emotional one.  The loss of one's mother seems an overwhelming transition.  I cannot imagine the depth of the grief of the Apostles and followers of Christ.  I find myself overwhelmed by the tenderness of our Lord is His treatment of his beloved mother.  There is something deeply extraordinary about the dual expression of Our Lord's divinity and His humanity in the icon of this feast.  How awesome is our Lord and God.

We are still schooling since big sister had a break when her baby sister came home.  At the same time, grandma is busy getting ready for next school year.  In the midst of this, the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God is on the horizon.  It seems timely to gather a few educational resources for this special day which falls on August 15.   All links open in a spearate window.

Resources for the Dormition:
*During the fast, the children can color one flower per day as a countdown to the dormition using the lovely image at Many Mercies.

* A podcast from Fr. Thomas Hopko on the theology of the feast is available at Ancient Faith.

* A discussion of the Dormition icon by Patristix is here.

*There is content related to the Dormition beginning on page 16 of this Christian Education Focus Unit from the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).

*If you are blessed to own a copy, you will find that the book Heaven Meets Earth by John Kosmas Skinas provides a visual feast of information on the Dormition beginning on p. 58.  Additional books are listed at the St. Kosmas link in the next entry.

*OCN offers a printable booklet for children with a beautiful icon of the Theotokos for coloring contains a discussion of the concept of intercession.

*An absolute plethera of information and resources including book suggestions, coloring pages, hymnography, audio, and videos is available online from St. Kosmas Christian Education Association.

* A video from Patristic Nectar Kids covers the Dormition:

I pray that this list of resources saves some young parents some keyboard search time and leaves more time for cuddles and catechesis. 

God bless your families and your little ones,
Pax Christi,

~Michelle