15 day Fast of Assumption – Shunoyo Nombu (Canonical Fast)

The Fast before the Migration of Virgin Mary the Mother of God

This is one of the traditional fasts observed in all the Eastern Churches. A feast in commemoration of the Mother of God was celebrated in the East as early as fourth century. Later this was identified as the migration of the blessed Virgin and it came to be called the feast of Sunoyo (Migration) of the Mother of God. This fast starts from the first day of August and ends with the Sunoyo feast on the fifteenth day. This is the time for the faithful to prepare themselves for their death because the death of the Mother of God is a desirable and exemplary death for all.