The Assumption of Mary church was built around the year 1863, in the shape of a cross, having as a titular saint the Assumption of Mary, Mother of Jesus.
Together with the renovation of the church, there was also added as titular saint, Saint Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas. All the biographic elements are late and doubtful. Saint Nicholas from Mira is mentioned for the first time in the VIth century, in the Roman Martyrology; it wasn’t about any mention of the saint, it was only about the vision when the Saint Nicholas the Lician would have shown himself in the dreams of Constantin the Great, asking him to forgive the three soldiers who were sentenced to death.
Saint Nicholas is the spiritual guardian of the Netherlands, of Russian, of the province Lorena, as well as of many other Western – European cities, among which Bari, etc. Saint Nicholas is known as the guardian saint of the wrongfully accused, of the merchants, of the travelers, of the unmarried women, of the brides and, especially, of the little children.
The Assumption of Mary. The Emperor Mauricius (582 – 602) consecrated the date of the 15th of August to the celebration of the Assumption of Mary, Mother of Jesus (“Koimesis” or “to fall asleep”) throughout the entire Byzantine church, this day of celebrating the death of the Holy Virgin Mary being also adopted at the end of the seventh century by the Roman church. Together with the official entry of this celebration in the church calendars, the chronicles regarding it made their way towards the services, doctrines and religious artistic works.
In an ancient Greek service which celebrated the Assumption of Mary, Mother of Jesus, the bishop Joan of Thessaloniki (610 – 649) pretended to collect different testimonies of her death, which described only what really happened then. According to this version, an angel of God announced the Holy Virgin Mary that she was going to die in the next three days. She called her family and friends to stay together with her for two nights, asking them to sing anthems instead of singing sad songs. The Holly Apostle Joan also appeared, followed by the others apostles, all being carried there on clouds from all around the world. During the second night, the Holy Apostle Peter preached, advising all the present ones to “take courage” from the Mother of Jesus and to lead a life full of virtue in expecting their own death. The second day, while the Holy Virgin Mary was lying in bed, Jesus came to her accompanied by numerous angels. When God, having near Him the Archangel Michael, entered into her room, “The Holy Mary felt that her life reached a level of fulfillment, her face aiming smiling at Jesus. Then, God took her soul and put it into the hands of the Archangel Michael.”
There followed the burial, which was slightly delayed by a headman of Jewish priests, who were out of their wits, which darted full of anger at the coffin; his hands clenched at the catafalque, being cut in an instant, until he repented and his arms were connected again to his body, being completely healed.
