DORMITION – Name given to the Assumption of the Mother of God, derived from the Latin word dormire, to sleep. Literally it is “sleeping,” in Slavonic “Ouspeniye.” The feast of the Dormition or Falling-asleep of the Theotokos is celebrated on the fifteenth of August, preceded by a two-week fast. This feast, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ’s mother. It proclaims that Mary has been “assumed” by God into the heavenly kingdom of Christ in the fullness of her spiritual and bodily existence.
It is the custom in some churches to bless flowers on the feast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos.