August 28, 2026

Events of the day

• Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

  Twelve Great Feast

  The falling asleep of the Mother of God and her translation to heaven. Ends the two-week Dormition Fast.

Fasting

Fast day · Wednesday / Friday

A great feast on Wednesday or Friday: fish is allowed.

• Meat: not allowed
• Dairy & eggs: not allowed
• Fish: allowed
• Oil: allowed
• Wine: allowed

Food rules are reference church information. Agree your personal measure of fasting with a priest; consult a doctor if you are ill.

Readings of the day

• Vespers

  Genesis 28:10–17

• Vespers

  Ezekiel 43:27–44:4

• Vespers

  Proverbs 9:1–11

• Matins Gospel

  Luke 1:39–49, 56

  Show the text

  ³⁹Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah,

  ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

  ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

  ⁴²She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

  ⁴³Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

  ⁴⁴For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!

  ⁴⁵Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”

  ⁴⁶Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.

  ⁴⁷My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,

  ⁴⁸for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.

  ⁴⁹For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.

  ⁵⁶Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.

• Epistle · Dormition

  Philippians 2:5–11

  Show the text

  ⁵Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

  ⁶who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

  ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

  ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.

  ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name,

  ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

  ¹¹and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• Epistle

  2 Corinthians 11:5–21

• Gospel · Dormition

  Luke 10:38–42, 11:27–28

• Gospel

  Mark 4:1–9

  Show the text

  ¹Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.

  ²He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,

  ³“Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow,

  ⁴and as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.

  ⁵Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

  ⁶When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

  ⁷Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

  ⁸Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.”

  ⁹He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Source: Orthocal: lectionary data — Slavic tradition, Julian calendar. Text: World English Bible.

Saints and icons

• Prayer of the day: Troparion of the Dormition