One of the features of our liturgy is the observance of octaves, an eight-day period during which we continue to celebrate certain major feasts, including the Assumption. The reason is that our joy cannot be contained in a single day, as we recall these great events in the story of our salvation. In fact, time itself cannot contain our joy. The period of eight days is a pointer to eternity – the six days of creation, with the sabbath, then what comes afterwards, ‘the life of the world to come,’ filled ‘with joy unspeakable and full of glory.’
