On the Dormition holiday, a religious procession took place through the center of Vitebsk

On August 28, a city procession took place in Vitebsk in honor of the great Orthodox holiday – the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.

This Vitebsk tradition is about 20 years old. So far, it is the only large-scale Orthodox procession in the regional center. Its participants always carry the same shrine ahead – a large icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. As a rule, it is carried by servicemen, but this time the icon was carried by clergy.

According to tradition, believers walked through the city center – from the Holy George Church to the Holy Assumption Cathedral. As usual, along the route of the procession, on Chernyshevsky Avenue, Lenin Street and Suvorov Street, parishioners of other Vitebsk churches – Holy Protection, Holy Annunciation and Holy Resurrection – joined them.

Then, near the walls of the main temple of the Dvina region, a prayer service was held, led by Archbishop Dmitry of Vitebsk and Orsha.

This year, about 1.5-2 thousand believers took part in the procession. "How beautiful! And so many people are walking!" – one of the participants of the spiritual event enthusiastically shared with someone on the phone.

But the author of these lines will allow himself to disagree with the last words. For a city of almost 370,000 people, in the center of which Orthodox churches are located almost at every step (and where the construction of another large cathedral – St. Sophia – is planned), this is very few. For comparison: in Polotsk, which has a population of about 83,000 people, about 2,000 people, if not more, participate annually in processions on June 5, the day of remembrance of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk. And, unlike Vitebsk, secular authorities, in particular, the mayors of Polotsk and neighboring Novopolotsk, walk with the people in them.

The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is the last of the twelve Great Feasts that do not change date in the church year (the liturgical church year begins on September 1). According to tradition, the Mother of God lived on earth for several more years after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Many miracles occurred at the burial of the Mother of God: the blind regained their sight, the sick were healed by touching her bier. The feast is called the Dormition because the Most Holy Mary died peacefully, as if falling asleep, and also because of the short time her body remained in the tomb – after three days, the Theotokos was resurrected by the Lord and ascended into heaven. In folk tradition, the Dormition is also a celebration of the end of the harvest.