Pochaiv and Sviatohirsk Lavras celebrate Dormition of Most Holy Theotokos

The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos at the Sviatohirsk Lavra. August 28, 2025 Photo: svlavra.church.ua

On August 27-28, 2025, at the Holy Dormition Pochaiv and Sviatohirsk Lavras, festive services were held on the occasion of the patronal feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. This was reported by the press services of the monasteries.

Thousands of pilgrims from different eparchies of Ukraine arrived for the service in Pochaiv. Many of them came the day before in processions. The faithful covered hundreds of kilometers with prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos.

The celebrations for the patronal feast began in the first half of the day on August 27. After the late Liturgy, a procession with the shroud of the Mother of God took place from the Dormition Cathedral to the Transfiguration Cathedral.

In the evening, an all-night vigil with the Akathist of the Dormition of the Mother of God was held at the Transfiguration Cathedral.

During the Matins, the faithful who arrived for the celebrations in the Lavra could venerate the shroud of the Mother of God. The priests anointed them with holy oil.

The Divine Liturgy on the day of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, August 28, was led by Metropolitan Serhiy of Ternopil and Kremenets.

He was concelebrated by UOC hierarchs, the abbot of Pochaiv Lavra Metropolitan Volodymyr, the brethren, and the Lavra's guests in holy orders.

After the late Liturgy, the shroud of the Mother of God was carried in a procession from the Transfiguration Cathedral to the Dormition Cathedral.

Special celebrations of the patronal feast also took place at the Sviatohirsk Lavra on August 27 and 28.

The series of festive services began with a small vespers with the Akathist of the Dormition of the Mother of God, starting at noon on August 27. The Akathist was performed antiphonally by two choirs of the Lavra.

Then the brethren of the monastery jointly served an all-night Vigil. 

After the Gospel reading, the brethren and pilgrims venerated the shroud of the Mother of God, after which each person was anointed with holy oil and received consecrated liturgical bread.

"The flowers for decorating the shroud were purchased thanks to the donations of believers who love the Queen of Heaven and the Sviatohirsk Lavra, who responded to the announcement posted on the Lavra's social media pages and messenger accounts," the monastery reported.

On the actual feast day, the monastery brethren in holy orders celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral.

After the Liturgy, a procession took place around the main church of the Lavra. Returning to the cathedral, the brethren and pilgrims sang the prayer "My Most Gracious Queen". The festive day concluded with the rite of the Panagia and a communal meal.

As the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy, often noted in his sermons, this feast does not bring sadness but joy: "Today is not the death of the Theotokos, but Her passing from death to life. The Mother of God has risen in the repose. And this makes us feel joy and consolation: for now She rests in peace and, dwelling in this tranquility, extends the shelter of Her maternal love over each of us."

"For the Lavra, this feast has been and remains the patronal feast for centuries, as the main church of the Sviatohirsk Monastery has traditionally been the Dormition Cathedral. The first of the Sviatohirsk churches recorded in history was the Dormition Cave Church, carved by monks into the chalk rock, which has not survived. Later, in the 18th century, the first stone above-ground church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God was consecrated. In the 19th century, it was replaced by the current Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Lavra," the message says.

As reported by the UOJ, on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry led the Liturgy at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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