August 15th is the day in which the Roman Catholic Church has the solemnity of the Assumption and the Orthodox Church marks the Dormition. In the Anglican faith the Assumption is sometimes celebrated, or more simply it is a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This celebration is often delayed until September, mainly for practical reasons since congregations and choirs are often absent on holiday in August, and is then merged with the 8th September when the church traditionally marks the birth of Mary.
Church of England churches that celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 August are simply following the Common Worship calendar, where 8 September is the traditional anniversary of her birth, and 15 August of her death. The date of 8 September therefore becomes an alternative rather than the primary date for Mary's principal festival, as noted in the Calendar. "The Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated on 8 September instead of 15 August"; and the Calendar Rules in Common Worship adds that this proviso is "for pastoral reasons", such as the local inconvenience of the August date, or a reluctance to accept it because of its doctrinal associations.
Theological disagreements around aspects of Marian piety led to changes in Anglican liturgy where in 1549 and 1552 the Calendar initially removed all Marian feasts except the Annunciation and Purification (both events are mentioned in the gospels and remained in the church calendar). From 1561 onwards however the Church of England again marked Our Lady’s Conception on 8 December, her Nativity on 8 September, and the Visitation on 2 July. Only the Assumption remained excluded, only to be included partially in the twentieth century. (If you are interested in reading further on this, there is an excellent article here and an insightful academic lecture on the subject here)
Christians therefore unite on the Sunday closest to 8th September in the Marian festival that was popularly known in medieval England as that of "Our Lady in Harvest". Since September 8 marks the end of summer and beginning of autumn, this day has many thanksgiving celebrations and customs attached to it. In the older form of the Roman Ritual there is a blessing of the summer harvest and fall planting seeds for this day.
The winegrowers in France called this feast "Our Lady of the Grape Harvest", the best grapes are brought to the local church to be blessed and then some bunches are attached to hands of the statue of Mary. In the Alps section of Austria this day is "Drive-Down Day" during which the cattle and sheep are led from their summer pastures in the slopes and brought to their winter quarters in the valleys. In some parts of Austria, milk from this day and all the leftover food are given to the poor in honour of Our Lady’s Nativity.
 |
| Photo by Mert Guller on Unsplash |
In the case of saints, the Church usually commemorates their date of death, however both Saint John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary instead have their birth dates are commemorated. The reason for this is found in the singular mission each had in salvation history, but traditionally also because these alone were holy in their very birth (Mary's Immaculate Conception and John's sanctification in Saint Elizabeth's womb according to the traditional interpretation of Luke 1:15).
| Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash |
 |
| St Mary le Tower, Ipswich |
No comments:
Post a Comment