On the Dormition of Mary: Early Patristic Homilies

Popular Patristics Series #18

by Brian E. Daley (Introduction)

Since the time of the early Church, Orthodox Christians have honored Mary, the Mother of God, with special solemnity on August 15. From the sixth century on, that celebration has been explicitly associated with her death, as the culmination of a human life uniquely "full of grace," uniquely involved in the Mystery of our salvation and transformation in Christ. This volume brings together the earliest attempts by Greek theologians and preachers to interpret Mary's Dormition, or 'falling asleep' in the Lord, in the light of the whole Paschal Mystery. The collection includes the sermon of Bishop John of Thessalonica, the earliest "official" retelling by an Orthodox bishop of the traditional narrative of Mary's entry into heavenly glory, and eleven other homilies from the seventh and eighth centuries, as well as a metrical translations of St John of Damascus' canon for the feast. All of the works gathered here represent profound and original efforts to integrate the celebration of Mary's death into the wider context of the Christian theology of redemption. Most of these works have never been translated into English before, and some are not available in any modern language. They offer Christian readers of all Churches an unparalleled new glimpse of Mary's central importance in Christian faith and as the one in whom God's Word has become human, and in whom the community of Jesus' disciples sees the first full realization of its own share in the risen life of Christ. In the event and the liturgical celebration of her Dormition, these ancient preachers offer to us a kind of icon of Christian hope for the transfiguration of our common humanity, both at the time of our own "falling asleep" and at the end of history. On the Dormition of Mary is part of the POPULAR PATRISTIC SERIES.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Christian

269 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

Brian Edward Daley, S.J. (born in 1940) is an American Catholic priest and theologian. He is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and was the recipient of a Ratzinger Prize for Theology in 2012.
Daley's primary academic field is Patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. The Patristic topics on which he has published include Christology, eschatology, Mariology, philanthropy, and scriptural exegesis.

In addition to his academic commitments, Daley is active in ecumenical dialogue and serves as the executive secretary of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation.

Background and education

Daley was born in 1940 in Orange, New Jersey, USA.[citation needed] He attended the Jesuit-run St. Peter's Preparatory School and did his first undergraduate degree at Fordham University, where he received a B.A. in Classics in 1961. Daley was the first Fordham alumnus to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, which he used to read Literae Humaniores (also known as "Greats") at Merton College, Oxford. While there, he was tutored by the philosopher J. R. Lucas. He obtained a B.A. in 1964 and entered the Society of Jesus the same year.

After receiving a Ph.L. at Loyola Seminary (Shrub Oak, New York) in 1966, Daley returned to Oxford and obtained an M.A. in 1967.[6] He was ordained a priest in 1970 and then traveled to Frankfurt, where he studied at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology and worked as the research assistant of Aloys Grillmeier, S.J. In 1972, he earned a Lic.theol. from Sankt Georgen, after which he returned to Oxford again to pursue a D.Phil. at Campion Hall under the supervision of Henry Chadwick.[8] He defended his thesis, entitled "Leontius of Byzantium: A Critical Edition of his Works, with Prolegomena," in 1978. His examiners were Kallistos Ware and Lionel Wickham.

Professional and ecumenical work

From 1978 to 1996, Daley taught at the Weston School of Theology. In 1996, took a position at the University of Notre Dame, where he is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology. He was president of the North American Patristics Society from 1997 to 1998.

Daley has long been committed to ecumenical dialogue and was one of the signatories of the 2003 "Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity," which was sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology. He is also the current executive secretary for the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, which is co-sponsored by SCOBA, the USCCB, and the CCCB.

Honors and awards
A Festschrift was published in Daley's honor in 2008.Notable contributors include Lewis Ayres, John Anthony McGuckin, and Rowan Williams.
Daley received the Ratzinger Prize for Theology on October 20, 2012.

At the conferral ceremony, Pope Benedict XVI praised Daley for his ecumenical work with the following words: "Father Daley, through his in-depth study of the Fathers of the Church, has placed himself in the best school for knowing and loving the one and undivided Church, though in the richness of her diverse traditions; for this reason, he also performs a responsible service in relations with the Orthodox Churches." The other recipient of the Ratzinger Prize in 2012 was the French philosopher Rémi Brague.

In 2013, Daley was awarded the Johannes Quasten Medal by the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

The historical notes in the book help one understand how the Feast grew in popularity. The homilies are very Byzantine - rhetorical and full of Byzantine exaggeration: Each of the Fathers quoted says no one can praise the Theotokos enough, but they all try to outdo each other in coming up with higher levels of praise. Several of the Patristic authors are well aware that the Dormition of the Theotokos was not known in antiquity and that even in their own cities no one in the past kept the Feast. They offer many explanations as to why this is true while simultaneously trying to defend that the Feast is ancient. They rely on the witness of Pseudo-Dionysius whom they accept as a first century virtually eye witness of the events. But even some modern Orthodox bishops and scholars admit Dionysius is 5th-6th Century, which is the real reason why the Feast wasn't known in antiquity.

[Peter Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An assortment of approximately fifth- to eighth-century homilies on the Dormition of Mary. Some of these homilies seem a bit exaggerated, such as that of John of Thessalonica, while others sound more like the contemporary expression of Mary's Dormition/Ascension, like that of Theoteknos of Livias.

In this collection, one also finds attestation to Mary's Immaculate Conception deriving from her being singularly favored as the Mother of God. This is tied in with Biblical typology and some titles of Mary that we see in the Litany of Loretto, the former of which includes the assertion that Mary is the New Covenant Tabernacle of the Lord.

I find it interesting that most of these homilies revolve around the liturgical nature of the feast and are given in the form of a funeral oration for the last days of the Blessed Virgin Mary on earth, which I find compelling.

I started reading this work to find earlier accounts of the historicity of the Dormition/Assumption, however (which I believe as a loyal son of the Church). For that, I'll have to continue my reading with Munificentissimus Deus, the Protoevangelium of James, and the scholarship of Steven J. Shoemaker. At the very least, I found the acceptance of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption in the East in this collection, which refutes some modern Orthodox arguments.

Some notable excerpts:

"Let no one here ridicule how [Mary's] tomb could have been empty. For I will ask you in return: how has her body disappeared? Why was there no shroud in her sarcophagus, if what was laid in the tomb did not escape corruption—if the treasure was not carried away?... For her sepulcher remains empty until today, as a contributing witness to her passing."

"Mary's death was, we might say, a parallel to that first sleep, which fell upon the first human being when his rib was removed to complete the creation of our race, and he received flesh to take the place of what had been taken away. In the same way, I think, he fell into a natural sleep and tasted death, but did not remain held by it; she simply followed the laws of nature and fulfilled God's plan, which the Providence that guides all things laid down for us from the beginning. Her role, surely, was to show us clearly the way she has moved through transformation from a corruptible state to an incorruptible one—something that is only thinkable if a natural dissolution of these elements of our body should take place first, and if then the life that has melted away should be forged anew."

"If... we bravely avoid the evils of our old way of life, and earnestly love the virtues and make friends with them, she will often come to visit her own servants, leading along with her the whole assembly of the just. And she will also bring with her Christ the Son, the King and Lord of all things, to dwell in our hearts."

"Apostles, evangelists were gathered
Along with the angels from on high
To Sion's mount, your dwelling-place:
Brought at the nod of Providence—
Rightly, my Queen, and fittingly,
To join the rites of your funeral."

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Growing up Catholic, I always kind of assumed that Mary didn’t die before the Assumption, she just went up to heaven physically when it was time. Because in the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, the fourth Mystery is the Assumption, and to my recollection it said nothing about Mary dying before she went to heaven, so how could she be buried and then went. But it’s interesting to hear it from the Orthodox and to get deeper into Orthodox lore.