St. Germain I of Constantinople, Sermon on the Dormition of the
Blessed Virgin Mary 2 (ante 733 AD)
“Let death pass you by, O Mother of God, because you have brought life to
men. Let the tomb pass you by, because you have been made the foundation
stone of inexplicable sublimity. Let dust pass you by; for you are a new
kind of formation, so that you may be mistress over those who have been
corrupted in the very stuff of their potter’s clay.”
St. Andrew of Crete, Homilies on the Dormition 2 (ante 740 AD)
“Why is no body visible? And why are the burial wrappings missing from
the tomb, if not because what had been entombed there escaped
destruction, and because the treasure was transferred to another place?”
St. John Damascene, Second Homily on the Dormition of the Virgin
10, 18 (inter 725-749 AD)
“From ancient tradition we have received that at the time of the glorious
falling asleep of the Blessed Virgin, all the holy Apostles, traversing the
whole earth for the salvation of all nations, were in one moment borne on
high and carried to Jerusalem; and whilst they were there, they saw and
heard angels; and thus amid divine glory, she yielded her soul into the
hands of God. Her body, which God in some unutterable way has taken,
was borne amid angelic and apostolic hymns, and was put in a tomb at
Gethsemane, where angelic songs lasted for three consecutive days. The
angelic singing ceasing after three days, the tomb was opened by the
Apostles, who were then all together; for Thomas, the only one first absent,
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