Dormition (Assumption) on 28 August — a folk ‘remedy’ for women and the safety warning

Orthodox Christians observe the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos tomorrow, 28 August, a principal Marian feast that also marks the end of the two-week Dormition fast.

The feast commemorates the death and heavenly assumption of the Virgin Mary. Church tradition holds that in her final years she lived in Jerusalem and often visited sites tied to Jesus’ life, including Golgotha, Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives.

According to the tradition, the archangel Gabriel informed her that her earthly life was drawing to a close, and she asked to see the apostles once more; they gathered around her before her death. After she passed away, the apostles placed her body in a tomb in Gethsemane. When the apostle Thomas arrived three days later and the tomb was opened, only her burial shroud was found.

Customs linked to women and mothers

In popular practice the feast is particularly associated with women, mothers and children. Across regions a range of beliefs and customs survive: heavy domestic chores were traditionally avoided that day, especially sewing or other tasks using a needle, and the interval between the Great and the Little Assumption was considered a suitable time to gather medicinal herbs.

One older folk custom recorded in connection with the feast involves a peculiar “drink”: a small quantity of paint scraped from an icon or a fresco of the Virgin was mixed into water and consumed on the day with the belief that it could help with women’s ailments. This is described as a folk belief rather than a medically proven remedy.

Health authorities and experts caution against scraping or ingesting paint from icons or frescoes: pigments and other materials used in such artworks can contain substances that are not safe for internal consumption and the practice should not be followed.

Photo: press material from the event