Miasopustnaya Ecumenical Saturday - 2025: when to commemorate the deceased, prohibitions

In March, according to the church calendar, there will be an important memorial date - the first Ecumenical Parents' Saturday in 2025. Special services will be held in churches in memory of all deceased Christians, and believers will set a memorial table and remember with a kind word the deceased relatives and loved ones. What number will be Meat Feast Saturday in 2025, how to properly commemorate the deceased and what you can not do on this day, tell "Izvestia".

Ecumenical Parents' Saturday 2025 - how to properly commemorate the deceased

In Orthodoxy there are eight special days in which it is customary to remember the deceased relatives and friends. They are called Parents' Saturdays, and they include Meat Feast Saturday, Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weekdays of Great Lent, on Radonitsa, Trinity Saturday, the Day of Remembrance of Orthodox soldiers and Demetrius Parents' Saturday. On these days Christians ask God through prayers to rest the souls of "all those who have rested from ages past" and grant them a bright life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Meat-Leave Saturday, celebrated by the Orthodox before the week of the Last Judgment, and Trinity Saturday, which is celebrated before the Day of the Holy Trinity (in 2025 - June 8), were called Ecumenical Parents' Saturdays, because only on these days priests in the church read special prayers addressed not only to parents, but also to all those whose earthly life has ended.

On these dates, people who died unnatural deaths are commemorated, including those who died while traveling in the seas, in impassable mountains, in gorges and chasms, in foreign lands, from hunger, cold, fires, wars, and those who died tragically for other reasons. The Ecumenical Commemoration makes it possible to ensure that none of the deceased faithful are deprived of the prayers of the Church, and that the souls of the deceased find peace.

In 2025, Ecumenical Meat-Leave Saturday falls on February 22. On this date, the first special memorial day of the Church calendar will be held.

How to properly memorialize the deceased on Ecumenical Parents' Saturday

The origin of Parents' Saturdays dates back to an ancient apostolic tradition. Christians on certain days gathered and went together to cemeteries to commemorate their deceased brethren in faith. This ancient custom was confirmed in writing in the 5th century by St. Savva the Sanctified, the creator of the Jerusalem Statute, according to which the Orthodox Churches live to this day.

On Ecumenical Parents' Saturday one should remember not only one's deceased loved ones, but also all the deceased at all times.

The service in Orthodox churches in honor of Ecumenical Parents' Saturday will begin the day before - in the evening on Friday, February 21. The clergy will hold a great requiem for all the deceased, which is called a parastasis. During it, the proskomidia takes place, that is, the naming of the deceased people. The parastasis is considered the only way for the deceased to be supported by their relatives. In their prayers, the faithful also ask the holy martyrs for intercession. Everyone can repent of their sins and ask God for forgiveness.

The next day the faithful come to the church for the requiem Divine Liturgy and the general funeral service. They also recite the prayers "Rest, O Lord, the souls of Your servants who have fallen asleep...", the canon "For the departed many" or "For the one who has died alone". During these services it is important to pray not only for your deceased relatives and loved ones, but also for all people who have ever died. Especially for the lonely, for whose repose there is no one else to pray.

The Holy Scripture says that when the end of the world comes, all who have lived on earth will be resurrected and will face the judgment of the Son of God. This is one of the dogmas of Orthodoxy, and it is mentioned in the last lines of the "Creed": "I long for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come."

On Parents' Saturday it is customary for Orthodox Christians to bring memorial products to the church and leave them on a special table - the eve. This can be candy, bread, cereals, apples, sunflower oil and other products. For the feast near the icons put candles for the repose and submit notes with the names of deceased baptized relatives, which the priest will read at the liturgy.

Measopustnaya Saturday and Shrovetide Day

In the Eastern Slavic tradition, Meat-Leave Saturday and Meat-Leave Week (i.e. Sunday) are connected with the celebration of Shrovetide. These are the last days before the Great Lent, when the church statute allows to eat a product of animal origin - meat. The root "pust" means "abandonment" and speaks of saying goodbye to these products until the feast of Bright Easter, which falls this year on May 5.

In Pancake Week, which began on Monday, February 24, meat is not supposed to eat, but cheese, sweet or vegetable fillings in pancakes are allowed. And after Shrovetide, which in 2025 will be celebrated on March 2, Lent will begin.

Ecumenical Parents' Saturday, February 22, 2025: what to do, what not to do

On this day, after the end of the divine service, it is customary to go to cemeteries to clean up the graves of relatives and commemorate them. After that, the table is set at home, the main dish of which is kutya - porridge made of wheat grains or rice with the addition of nuts, fruit and honey. At the memorial dinner the whole family gathers to remember the dead with a kind word. As a rule, an odd number of dishes are served on the table.

In villages, where Orthodox traditions long neighboring with paganism, for the deceased ancestors on Meat Loss Saturday often cooked kisel and poured beer or vodka. People believed that the souls of the deceased could drop by to visit their relatives and remind them of themselves. Another popular tradition was to leave treats on graves.

The Russian Orthodox Church does not forbid, but also does not approve of the custom of leaving food for ancestors, as this tradition belongs to the remnants of paganism. Clergymen remind that on this day to remember the dead enough to pray in the temple, as well as to do without hot drinks at home or use them in moderation. You should not think about bad things, talk about problems and quarrel. Also it is not necessary to indulge in excessive sadness about the deceased. After all, with death, according to Christian belief, human life does not end, but acquires another form of existence.