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- Ecumenical Parents' Saturday has arrived: important memorial rites, strict prohibitions
Ecumenical Parents' Saturday has arrived: important memorial rites, strict prohibitions
Every year Orthodox believers traditionally go to church and cemetery on certain dates to commemorate deceased relatives. These days are called Parents' Saturdays. The first memorial day - Meat Loss Ecumenical Parents' Saturday - in 2025 fell on February 22. This is an important date, when prayers are said for all those who died "from the ages", special services are held in churches, and at home believers remember relatives and set a memorial table. Read more about Meat Feast Parents' Saturday, its history, meaning, as well as traditions and prohibitions - in the material "Izvestia".
Today is Parents' Day: what it is and why it is called so
Orthodox Christians every year celebrate a number of special days when it is necessary to remember the deceased. Most of them fall on Saturdays, like the first, Myasopustnaya, which is also called Ecumenical. In 2025, it fell on February 22. In addition to it, there are others:
- Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weekdays of Great Lent (in 2025 these are March 15, 22, 29 respectively). On these days it is customary to remember close relatives, in particular fathers, mothers, grandparents.
- Radonitsa (April 29, Tuesday). This is the only day of commemoration of deceased relatives, which falls not on Saturday. The very name of the holiday means the joy of the hope that relatives have been granted the kingdom of heaven. On this day one should not mourn, but rejoice and pray for them. Since in 2025 winter in many regions is almost snowless, the memorable day can be spent cleaning the graves of relatives from old leaves and other debris accumulated over the months of winter.
- Ecumenical Trinity Parents' Saturday (June 7). This is the second and last Ecumenical Saturday of the year and is always celebrated before the bipedal feast of the Trinity, which in 2025 falls on June 8, or the 50th day after Easter.
- Intercession Saturday (October 11). It is not on the general church calendar because of the regional nature of the day. This Saturday is celebrated in some dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church: Kazan, Vyatka, Yekaterinburg and Izhevsk, as well as in Tatarstan and Udmurtia.
- Dmitrievskaya Parents' Saturday (November 1). This day of commemoration is one of the most important in the Church calendar. It always falls on the Saturday before the Memorial Day of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Solunsk. Dimitri's Day is not a transitional day and is celebrated annually on November 8.
- St. Michael's Parents' Saturday (November 15). This is the second memorial day, which is also not on the general church calendar. It falls on the Saturday before the Council of the Archangel Michael and other heavenly forces incorporeal, which always falls on November 21. Parents' Saturday is celebrated in some southern dioceses of Russia and in Belarus.
The coming February 22 Meat Feast Saturday has a long history. Its establishment dates back to apostolic tradition, according to which Christians went to cemeteries on certain days of the year to commemorate deceased relatives and loved ones. It is believed that the creator of the Jerusalem Statutes, Sava the Sanctified (lived in 439-532), recorded the existence of this custom in writing.
This Saturday was established because on the Sunday of Meat-Leaves Week the believers and the Church at the liturgy commemorate the promised in the Bible second coming of Christ and the preceding one. The Last Judgment for all "from Adam to this day, the departed <...>".
The name Sabbath is due to the fact that this time is already considered preparation for Lent, which in 2025 will take place from March 3 to April 19, and believers stop eating meat. The word "pust" means "abandonment" - saying goodbye to fasting foods for the duration of Lent. The last week before Lent is Pancake Week, or Cheese Week, when fish, eggs, cheese, cottage cheese and other dairy products are allowed to be eaten.
Parents' Saturdays do not have this name for nothing. On memorial days it is relatives, especially parents and forebears, who should be honored first of all. However, on Ecumenical Saturdays there is a difference: one prays not only for the salvation of relatives and friends, but also for all deceased Orthodox Christians.
In the Synaxar (ABC of Faith) there are the following lines about this: "The Holy Fathers have legitimized the commemoration of all the dead for the following reason. Many very often die unnatural deaths, for example, while traveling in the seas, in impassable mountains, in gorges and abysses; it happens that they perish from hunger, in fires, in wars, freeze. And who will enumerate all kinds and kinds of unintentional and unanticipated deaths? And all such are deprived of the legalized psalmody and requiem prayers. That is why the holy fathers, moved by humanity, established, based on the teaching of the Apostles, this general, universal commemoration, so that no one, whenever, wherever and however he ends his earthly life, will be deprived of the prayers of the Church".
Ecumenical Saturday, February 22: what to do and how to properly commemorate the deceased
Related to the Ecumenical Meat-Passover Parental Saturday services in churches begin the day before, on Friday. The clergy hold a great requiem, which is called "parastasis", and on Saturday there is a requiem Divine Liturgy and a general requiem.
The day before, the faithful are obliged to submit a note with the names of the deceased to be remembered during the liturgy or parastasis. It is considered important on this day to visit the temple, pray for the deceased and put candles for the repose of their souls. Those people who for some reason can not visit the church, say prayers at home.
On Myasopustnaya Parents' Saturday the following is read:
- Troparion. "By the depth of wisdom mankind-lovingly governing all things, and giving useful things to all, One Creator, rest, O Lord, the souls of Thy servants: in Thee have they put their hope, O Creator, and Provider, and our God" (translation: "By the deepest wisdom mankind-lovingly governing all things, and giving useful things to all, One Creator, rest, O Lord, the souls of Thy servants, for in Thee have they put their hope, O Creator, and Provider, and our God");
- kondak. "With the saints rest, O Christ, the souls of Thy servants where there is no sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life without end" (translation: "With the saints rest, O Christ, the souls of Thy servants where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor groaning, but life without end");
- prayer. "Put to rest the souls of those who have gone before in the place of refreshment, as not the dead praise Thee, O Lord, below those who are in hell will dare to bring confession to Thee, but we who are alive bless Thee and pray, and offer purificatory prayers and sacrifices to Thee for their souls."
It is important to bring memorial products to the church. They are left on a special memorial service table called "eve" (on the days of Parents' Saturdays it is usually placed in the center of the church).
After that, a festive table is set at home, on it is necessarily put kutya - porridge, which is usually made of rice or wheat with the addition of dried fruits, nuts and honey. It is customary to put more plates, some of which are for deceased relatives.
Because of its proximity to Shrovetide, Meat-Passover Parents' Saturday was called "little Shrovetide". It happened because on this day they started to bake pancakes, which could then be taken to the grave of a relative, distributed to children, the homeless and the needy. When giving a pancake, a person was asked to remember a deceased relative. It is important to remember that it is not necessary to leave food on graves, as such a ritual has pagan roots.
What should not be done today, on the Ecumenical Parents' Saturday
There are a number of prohibitions on All-Meat Saturday:
- the Church does not approve of the tradition of leaving food on graves because of its pagan roots, in addition, you can not have a picnic at the grave;
- one should not indulge in grief and sorrow, because Parents' Saturday is not a day of sadness: the spiritual life of a righteous person after death continues in eternity, besides, despondency is one of the seven deadly sins;
- general cleaning should be postponed for another day, as well as doing needlework and other household chores;
- it is important to refuse alcohol on this day, you can drink only cahors in small quantities;
- noisy fun is also forbidden;
- swearing and arguments with relatives and friends are especially forbidden on this day;
- if someone asks for alms, it is forbidden to refuse him;
- you can't get married on this day either, the nearest dates for church marriage are after Easter. In 2025 it is April 22.
Folk omens of February 22
In the days of church holidays and memorable days, people tried to notice certain features, including weather. Because of this there are different omens:
- If frost strikes on the day of Meat-Passover Parents' Saturday, there will be long cold weather;
- a scarlet sunset heralds a snowfall;
- if on this day there is a lot of snow on the trees, the year will be productive;
- to see a grouse on a fir tree - to be cold weather;
- if you buy a new thing on this day, it will be worn for a long time, and also good luck will come;
- make plans for the future - everything will not go as planned.
It is also believed that on Miasopustnaya Parents' Saturday there is a great chance to see a prophetic dream, but for believers it is just superstition.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
