There is a number of heroes in the history of religion, who are famous for their deeds and through the whole life had a lot of things to go through. Such people became a saint and were left in the history for ages. Nowadays people know about those people, know about their lives and pray for them, asking for help and advice. Every of this heroes has his or her own history, and it is always interesting to know about it. This particular article will be dedicated to Mary – mother of Jesus Christ. We will speak about her life and deeds and will know about a holiday, dedicated to her. Also, we will know, when is Assumption of Mary in 2017.
Religious background of the holiday
So, as we all know, mother of Jesus Christ was Mary. This belief is made on the story, that Christ was born of the Saint Spirit, which means that his mother was a virgin after becoming pregnant. That is why after her death she was assumed to heaven where her body and soul reunited. Mary became a symbol of purity and virginity, a clear soul. The world has never seen such a pure being and it is still not born again. A holiday was made in her honor and was called Assumption Day. The day, she assumed was chosen as the date of celebration and now people know, what day Assumption of Mary in 2017 is.
But for this beautiful story, there are historians, who say that long time ago before the Assumption of Mary has been celebrated, there was another pagan holiday. There existed a tradition in early ages to celebrate the day, when the goddess of the Sea was born – Isis. It is a story from mythology and it tells us that the day she was born, has become a holiday. But as the time passed, religion and its beliefs started to appear, these traditions started to change. People denied pagan beliefs and tried to change them into Christianity. The same situation was with the celebration of Isis birthday. Christians changed this story and made this day a holiday of Mary’s Assumption.
But it all was made not from the very beginning and firstly the holiday was not official and even had not got an official name. But later the church made some efforts to combine the story with the holiday to make things right. All pagan traditions were treated like a sin and people were even afraid of them, that is why any tradition or holiday had to have Christian roots – pure and based on a faith.
Traditions, connected with the holiday, and celebrations
Mary always represents purity, prosperity, and faith. Many people pray for her and ask for help and protection. She became a symbol of virginity and everything good that is why people believe in her and her force. Mothers often address to her icon and pray for their present or future children, mothers and wives pray for their families and wellbeing. Many countries and nations have their own different traditions, which concerns celebrations in her honor. For example, some people believe that blue color represents her force, others have a tradition to throw coins from their windows at the day of her assumption. Italians, for example, make fires and illuminations because they associate Mary with the Sun and light. That is why all of them know beforehand, when is Assumption of Mary 2017.
All in all, there are too many traditions in different countries connected with this holiday and it is really interesting to follow them all or at least collect them and find understanding of its peculiarities.
The assumption of Mary is treated like an official holiday in many countries of Europe, for example, Austria, Germany, Poland and a number of other countries. But there is a number of countries also, where this holiday is celebrated, but it is not a state holiday. It concerns, for example, Canada and Australia, so as the USA. In some countries, people do not have such a holiday at all.
The celebrations of the holiday are usually very bright and colorful and certainly connected with the churches. During this day people organize long processions, decorated with fresh flowers and even fireworks while people are holding the statue of Mary. People go with this statue and decorations throughout the city, sing prayers in her honor.
All in all, such countries, like Italy and Brazil, for example, have their own traditions, made with the statue and ceremony. All this is acted like a sort of a play, where Christ is also included. The ceremony is really worth to be seen. That is why many tourists try to find out, what is the date of Assumption of Mary 2017 (it takes place on August 15) and try to visit this festival. Those people, who are far from religion may not totally understand the holiday, but maybe it is a chance to know something new and become a bit better.
It is, by the way, an interesting fact that not all countries have such an attitude towards religion. But those countries, where it is extremely important for most people, have a lot of beautiful traditions, which attract the attention of people abroad. At such countries, people often can meet bright processions, like at the holiday of Assumption, greatly organized and widely spread in all corners of the country. It is difficult to say whether such attention is a good or bad trait of any nation, but there is no argue that it joins people and give them good mood and positive emotions. Undoubtedly, tourists visit such ceremonies not in vain and widen their horizon. And we haven’t taken into consideration those emotions, which people get while visiting such events and their spiritual growth.