Today is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin is one of the five main feasts of the Armenian Church, celebrated on the Sunday closest to August 15, between August 1218.

According to tradition (according to the Proto-Gospel of James and the Paracanonical Gospel of John), when the Holy Virgin died, the apostles buried her body in a tomb dug in the Garden of Gethsemane. The apostle Bartholomew was not present at the burial, and when a few days later he went to the tomb with the other apostles to say goodbye, removing the tombstone, they did not find the body of the Holy Virgin there, but only the fragrant shroud.

The Fathers of the Church, based on this tradition, established the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary, recognizing that her body was transferred, transformed, into heaven.

The holiday was first celebrated in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 5th century. The center of the celebration was the temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary, located on the 3rd mile of the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The date was August 13. Later, the place of the celebration was moved to Gethsemane, the place where the tomb of the Holy Virgin Mary was located, and the day was set for August 15.

In the 6th century, the holiday spread to Syria. At the end of the same century, Emperor Maurice made the holiday mandatory throughout the Byzantine Empire. During this period, the holiday also spread to Armenia. At the beginning of the 7th century, the holiday began to be celebrated in the West as well. The liturgy of the holiday is followed by the blessing of the grapes, and the faithful share the blessed harvest with each other, reliving the joy of the holiday.