Parents' Saturdays are the main dates for remembrance of the dead

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Days of special remembrance of the dead are certain dates when the memory of deceased ancestors is venerated. There will be several of them in 2022, and the nearest one is called the Universal Meat Saturday. What to do on such a day, what prayers to read, reports foma.ru.

On memorial days, funeral services are held in churches and they pray in a special way. Then they go to the cemetery, and at home they organize a funeral dinner. You can read prayers for the repose of your loved ones on any day and during every liturgy.

What is customary to do on Parents' Saturday?

On Mother's Day, important religious ceremonies are held in churches. Every believer should pray for the dead at church liturgy. Parishioners submit notes for the repose of their deceased relatives to the temple servants. All names listed will be mentioned during the service.

After the service, most families head to the cemetery. Parents' Saturdays are best suited for caring for the burial places of loved ones. Garbage is removed from the grave sites, the monument is wiped down, and the fences are coated with fresh paint. Many people lay fresh flowers on the grave. There is also a belief that on Parents' Day, treats should be brought to the deceased. However, Church ministers say that it is better to bring food to the temple and give it to those in need, since it does not bring any benefit to the deceased.

Cemeteries of St. Petersburg

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Calling a ritual agent

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What to do

when a loved one died

When visiting a cemetery, it is important to remember that cleaning the area is not a priority. It is much more important to spend time remembering the deceased and offering prayers for his soul.

After a trip to the cemetery, many families get together and hold a memorial service. Reminiscing about those who have passed on and remembering the most meaningful moments of loved ones is the best way to preserve a family legacy. Often a wake is accompanied by a stormy feast. However, it should be remembered that Orthodoxy does not approve of gluttony and alcohol abuse, especially on Orthodox holidays.

How to remember

Commemoration of ancestors, according to folk traditions, includes a visit to the church and cemetery and a memorial meal. There are also secular rituals in memory of parents and deceased relatives, where each family has its own rules and customs. We will tell you about some of them.

What to do on Parents' Saturday

Folk Christian traditions regulate the behavior of Orthodox believers in church, at the grave and at home.

What to do in church

• The day before , submit a memorial note with the names of loved ones at the church candle shop. You can order a magpie or a liturgy.
• Place food on the eve table: bread, cereals, fruits, sweets, pasta, flour . The priests distribute them to those in need and commemorate those for whom their relatives made a sacrifice.
• Receive Communion after the Liturgy.
• Celebrate temple services, offer prayers and chants.
• If you can’t go to church on Parents’ Saturday, you can remember the deceased with prayer at home.

What to do at the cemetery

• Orthodox Christians must light a candle or lamp and pray.
• If the visit to the grave occurs in the winter or autumn, then simply cultivate the burial site and remove the garbage. In the spring you can plant annual flowers, clean the stele of the monument, and in early autumn you can prepare it for winter.
• If you visit the grave alone, you can remain silent while remembering your loved one. If with a group or family, remember out loud about the kind or touching deeds of the deceased.
• You can have a light snack, but Orthodox ministers prohibit large feasts or alcohol at graves.

What to do at home

• Place a portrait of your loved one in a prominent place. Light a candle!
• Invite your family and friends and have a family dinner of memories . It is not necessary to adhere to all the traditions of the funeral table, but you can leave an unoccupied place for the symbolic presence of the deceased person at the table. Or cook your father or mother's favorite dish .
• Take a look at the family album ! Create its analogue - a memory page on the memorial portal.

What is a memory page

• Everyone loves stories. Tell a touching story about your parents to someone close to you.
• And vice versa: find out something new about your parents from relatives or their friends.
• Think about your parents' hobbies. You can enjoy your mother’s favorite book or a family viewing of a Soviet film.
• Honor with your attention the living old people you know. Even a simple telephone conversation can pleasantly surprise an elderly person.

Learn more about how to honor your parents

What not to do on Parents' Saturday

In addition to general civil prohibitions (for example, not visiting cemeteries at odd hours), there are two groups of taboos on Memorial Day . Conventional religion prohibits some things, while others are feared out of prejudice and superstition.

What Orthodox Christians Shouldn’t Do

• Commemorating the deceased with alcohol is a sin. The Church opposes alcohol at funerals and wakes and on memorial days.
• Have fun and feast over the grave . There is no need to leave alcohol and food in the graveyard.
• The dead should not be remembered with anger or resentment . The Church calls “not to lament and kill yourself, but to pray for the souls of the departed.”
• You cannot engage in magic and mystical and occult practices: fortune telling, including using tarot cards, spiritualism, astrology, evoking the spirits of the dead ...
• In churches you cannot submit death notes with the names of suicides or atheists. You can pray for them at home.
• On parental Saturday you cannot refuse alms.
• The Church calls not to engage in work that can be put off for another day . Free time should be devoted to visiting graves, churches and commemorating the dead.

Prayer for the departed on Parents' Saturday

On parenting days, every Christian is supposed to attend a church service and pray for the souls of the dead, including their close relatives. If for some reason it is impossible to visit the temple on such a day, clergy recommend reading prayers at home.

If a person is not a deeply religious person and does not know how to properly commemorate the dead, you can turn to the ministers of the nearest parish for help. It's best to do this in advance. They will tell you what prayers to read on this day. You can find the literal text in the prayer book.

Parental Saturdays in the Orthodox calendar: 7 holidays of remembrance

Despite the fact that all Christians celebrate parental days, there are noticeable differences between faiths. In Orthodoxy there are seven such days.

Schedule of days of special remembrance of the dead in 2022

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On days of special remembrance of the dead, the first thing to do is honor the memory of the parents. In 2022 they will be:

These days, at the cemetery you can perform a memorial service with a lithium and read the 17th kathisma of the Psalter. Divine services begin in the evening on the eve of the memorial day and smoothly flow into the morning liturgy.

The clergy remind: on days of special remembrance, it is important to come to church and pray rather than go to the cemetery. The funeral meal is brought to the church:

• flour;
• cereal;
• sugar;
• vegetable oil.

It is prohibited to bring meat, sausages, and alcoholic beverages.

Parents' Saturdays in 2020-2021

Meat-Eating Parent's Saturday

The first Parent's Saturday is Meat Saturday. This day of remembrance is considered one of the Ecumenical Days, and is celebrated a week before the start of Lent. It got its name from the Orthodox holiday of Meat Empty, which takes place the next day.

Meat-free Saturday plays a special role for all Christians. First of all, because it is the first day of remembrance of the year. This holiday is also important because of its territorial scope: Meatless Saturday is celebrated by representatives of various Christian denominations all over the world. On this day, mass services are held.

Parental Saturdays of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks of Lent

During the weekdays of Lent, the usual Liturgy is not celebrated unless there is a major holiday. Consequently, the main liturgical commemoration of the dead is also performed less frequently. In order not to deprive the dead of prayer representation for them, the Church established three special days for prayer for them during Great Lent. These are the Saturdays of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks of Lent. What is important here is the fact of the opportunity to be personally at the Liturgy and pray for the departed. That is, not just submit a note of repose or order a magpie so that the memorial will be commemorated in the church for forty days or forty Liturgies, but personally take part in the prayer.

Radonitsa

Like Meat Saturday, Radonitsa is important for all believers. This is the first memorial day after strict fasting, when a liturgy can be held for the dead. Radonitsa is one of the days of parents, but it is celebrated not on Saturday, but on Tuesday of the week of Thomas.

The Feast of Radonitsa follows immediately after Easter, so the Church views it as an opportunity to share the joy of the Resurrection of Christ with all the dead. However, some clergy criticize this approach and say that church celebrations cannot be combined with funeral services.

What to do on special days of remembrance of the dead in 2022

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On the eve of the memorial day, churches hold a great memorial service - parastas. It ends in the morning with a funeral liturgy.

On days of special remembrance you can:

• light candles for the repose;
• bring funeral meals to church;
• bring notes with the names of the deceased;
• give alms;
• help the poor;
• clean up the cemetery;
• read prayers;
• prepare a funeral meal;
• bake pancakes.

On the days of remembrance of the dead:

• do not refuse help;
• do not use foul language;
• do not quarrel with loved ones;
• do not raise their voice to children;
• do not harm animals;
• don't gossip;
• they don’t clean the house;
• do not do laundry;
• do not abuse alcohol;
• don't eat enough;
• they do not remember the dead with a bad word;
• they do not perform fortune-telling rituals;
• do not mourn;
• They don’t say “goodbye” when leaving the cemetery.

Day of Remembrance of Orthodox Soldiers - September 11

In September, fallen soldiers have been honored since the time of Empress Catherine II. It was she who issued a decree establishing a memorial date for those killed in battles with the Ottoman Empire. The holiday was called the Day of those who fell for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland. Despite the fact that the day of remembrance was initially established in honor of the soldiers who died during military operations in 1768-1774, over time the holiday was included in the church calendar. Since then, all fallen Orthodox soldiers have been honored on this day. Nowadays, memorial services for September 11 are not held in all churches.

Why Saturday?

So why Saturday? The concept of the Sabbath originates in the Old Testament, where it is said that God created the world in six days “and rested on the seventh day from all His works,” i.e. stopped creating. Since in those days only one people, the Jews, had communication with the One God the Creator, the word “Sabbath,” denoting this state of rest, penetrated into the languages ​​of the world from the Hebrew language. Accordingly, in Russian pronunciation this word sounds like “Saturday”. Subsequently, people were given ten commandments, one of which is about honoring the Sabbath. Thus, in the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a symbol of earthly rest.

After the coming to the world of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection, the New Covenant of God with people was established, and in its context, the understanding of the Sabbath received a new development. Now Saturday is a symbol of joyful peace in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, every Saturday, Orthodox Christians in churches and in their personal prayers pay special attention to prayers for the departed.