In the Orthodox calendar there are special days for the all-church commemoration of the dead. These days are called parent Saturdays.
There are several parental Saturdays in a year: the Saturdays before the Meat-Feast Week and before the feast of the Trinity (Pentecost) - they are called Ecumenical parental Saturdays.
Dedicating the Meat-Feast Week to the remembrance of the last Last Judgment of Christ, the Church, in view of this judgment, has established intercession not only for the living members, but also for all those who have died from time immemorial, who have lived in piety, of all genera, ranks and conditions, especially for those who died a sudden death.
“The Holy Fathers legitimized the commemoration of all the dead for the following reason. Many quite often die an unnatural death, for example: while wandering the seas, in impenetrable mountains, in gorges and abysses; it happens that they die of hunger, in fires, in war, they freeze. And who will re-read (list) all kinds and kinds of accidental and no one expected death? And all such are deprived of the legalized psalmody and prayers for the dead. That is why the holy fathers, moved by philanthropy, established, based on the teachings of the apostles, to celebrate this general, ecumenical commemoration, so that no one, no matter when, where and no matter how he ends his earthly life, would be deprived of the prayers of the Church.
The solemn all-church commemoration of the departed on this Saturday (as well as on Trinity Saturday) brings great benefit and help to our dead fathers and brothers, and at the same time serves as an expression of the fullness of the Church life that we live.
Trinity parental Saturday - June 3, 2017
On Trinity parental Saturday in Orthodox world it is customary to commemorate the dead. This tradition dates back to apostolic times. Trinity Saturday is universal and represents the last day of the Old Testament Church before the unfolding of the Church of Christ in all its fullness on the Day of Pentecost.
Intercession parental Saturday - October 7, 2017
On Intercession parental Saturday, on the eve of the Feast of the Intercession Holy Mother of God, in the Orthodox world it is customary to commemorate the dead. The Intercession Parental Saturday is not a universal tradition, it is performed only in a few regions of Russia, since it is associated with the commemoration of “dead soldiers who laid down their lives for the faith and the Fatherland near Kazan” during the conquest of Kazan by Ivan IV the Terrible in 1552.
Dimitrievskaya (Dmitrievskaya) parental Saturday - October 28, 2017
On November 8 (according to the new style), the Orthodox Church honors the memory of the Great Martyr Dmitry of Thessalonica. And on the coming Saturday before the day of memory of Dmitry Solunsky, a commemoration of all the dead is made - Dimitrievskaya (Dmitrievskaya) parental Saturday.
Parental Saturdays of Holy Fortecost
Holy Lent is called the days of Great Lent, which lasts exactly seven weeks (weeks). It usually starts in February or March and ends in April-May. At this time, the church calls on the faithful to be in the closest union of Christian love and peace, not only with living people, but also with the dead, making prayerful commemorations for them on the appointed days. memorial days during Great Lent, they are scheduled for Saturdays of the week, since on all other days of commemoration of the dead (litanies, litias, memorial services, the third, ninth and fortieth days after death, magpies) are not performed at this time - for the reason that there is no full daily liturgy with which this ritual is associated. Just in order not to deprive the dead of prayer on the days of the Holy Forty Day, the indicated Saturdays are established. They are called Ecumenical Parental Saturdays, and the memorial services performed on these days are called universal memorial services.
Parental Saturday of the second week of Holy Fortecost Orthodox holidays - March 11, 2017
Parental Saturday of the third week of Holy Fortecost Orthodox holidays - March 18, 2017
Parental Saturday of the fourth week of the Holy Fortecost Orthodox holidays - March 25, 2017
Also on these Saturdays, in addition to commemorating each deceased separately, the church creates a commemoration of all “fathers and brothers in faith who have passed away from the age, who were honored with a Christian death, as well as those who, being overtaken by sudden death, were not parted in afterlife prayers of the church. In the circle of the liturgical year, such days of common commemoration are meat-fare and Trinity Saturdays, as well as Saturdays of the second, third and fourth weeks of Great Lent. On all parental Saturdays, the service is performed according to a special charter.
Nika Kravchuk
Parental Saturdays 2017: don't forget to remember the dead
Did you know that our dead relatives and friends need prayers even more than the living? You can pray for them both in home prayer and in church. The church even established special days of remembrance. In this article, we will tell you what days the parental Saturdays of 2017 fall on and how to properly commemorate the dead. Hurry up to find out, because the first parental Saturday is already February 18th.
Why should we pray for the dead?
Christianity is called the religion of life. And this is no coincidence. Both Orthodox and Catholics, and many Protestants believe that after physical death they continue to exist, because a person is eternal.
Therefore, the Church prays for both health and repose. It is believed that after bodily death, the fate of a person is determined - where he will expect the second coming of Christ and the Last Judgment. Some will go to heaven, others to hell.
But this is not yet the final decision. Every sinner has a chance that before the Last Judgment his posthumous fate will change. All this is thanks to the prayers of the living: relatives, loved ones, friends.
That is why believers do not forget their relatives, even if they are in another world. They pray for the dead both at home and in the temple.
Parental Saturdays - days of special church commemoration
In the morning rule there is a prayer to the Lord with a request to repose our parents, relatives, benefactors and all Orthodox.
In the temples, separate services are performed - requiems, during which they pray only for repose. There are even certain days - parental Saturdays, on which the Church calls on all believers to pray for those who are temporarily not with us.
True, in an Orthodox church, you can submit notes only for those baptized in Orthodoxy who died a natural death. The Church does not commemorate the unbaptized, those of other faiths, or suicides, since even in earthly life they were not members of the Church of Christ and did not strive to be with God.
Every Saturday at Orthodox churches memorial services are performed (and in monasteries more often), but only eight days a year have a special status - these are memorial Saturdays.
On what days of 2017 does the Russian Orthodox Church commemorate the dead?
Parental Saturdays 2017 fall on the following days:
- Universal parental Saturday (meatless) - February 18, 2017.
- Saturday of the second week of Great Lent - March 11.
- Saturday of the third week - March 18.
- Saturday of the fourth week - 25 March.
- Commemoration of the deceased soldiers - May 9.
- Radonitsa - April 25.
- Trinity Ecumenical Parental Saturday - June 3rd.
- Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday - November 4th.
Why are funeral Saturdays called parental?
In the calendar above, the two parent Saturdays of 2017 are referred to as "universal". This means that on these days Orthodox Churches all over the world commemorate the dead.
Why are funeral Saturdays called parental? Do they only pray for their parents these days? No, the Church commemorates all the departed Orthodox, but first of all, our relatives. Praying for the parents who gave us life is the duty of every Christian. And if our fathers and mothers have departed into eternity, then we are all the more obliged to remember them, thereby expressing our love and care.
In addition, by parents one should understand not only fathers and mothers, but also other relatives - grandfathers, grandmothers, great-grandfathers, and so on.
In this sense, parental Saturdays are an opportunity, first of all, to pray for our family, for people with whom we are related by blood. And only then - for friends, philanthropists and in general for all Orthodox.
How to prepare for the commemoration?
The first parent Saturday 2017 falls on February 18, nine days before the start of Lent. It is also called meat-fat - on this day and next Sunday you can still eat meat food. On Monday, February 20, 2017, Maslenitsa begins.
The commemoration of the dead begins on Friday. In Orthodox churches, they serve not just Vespers, but the funeral Vespers - parastas . On Saturday morning they celebrate the Divine Liturgy, and then a memorial service.
At the memorial service, notes are usually served with the names of the deceased, as well as food and kolivo.
Why exactly? It is believed that best help to the deceased - this is prayer and almsgiving. Our personal petitions and notes for a memorial service are prayer, and the brought products, which after consecration are distributed to the needy and those serving in the temple, are alms.
There is no specific list of what to bring to the memorial service, and there is no specific “norm”. As much as possible - this is the main rule. Bread, sugar, flour, canned food, sweets, vegetables, fruits - the list goes on. The only prohibition is meat, which cannot be brought into the temple.
Also in churches for memorial Saturdays they prepare kolivo - a ritual dish in the form of wheat or rice with honey. Interestingly, the grain symbolizes the earthly and eternal life of man. In order for a seed to germinate and give a harvest, it must first be planted in the ground. In order for a person to be born for eternal life, he must first die and be committed to the earth. Honey symbolizes the sweetness of the Kingdom of Heaven.
These external paraphernalia - both food for the memorial service and kolivo - are important, but they should not distract a person from the main thing - prayer. The latter should not be assigned only to priests. Our prayer from a sincere loving heart is no less important.
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“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for with Him all are alive” (Luke 20:38), Christ the Savior said to the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! The Holy Orthodox Christian Church, firmly believing in these unfalse words of the Savior, always publicly confesses the indisputable truth that with the death of a person, his life does not stop. Only the body that is taken from the earth and returns to the earth again. The flesh decomposes and turns to dust, but the person himself, with all his feelings and with his immortal soul, continues to live, passing only from this world to another, afterlife. Therefore, communication between the living and the dead is not destroyed by death, but continues to exist.
On the basis of this truth, the Church has always, since the times of the Old Testament, and especially in the New Testament time - the time of the Apostles, made and continues to make commemoration and make prayers for the departed brothers of the same faith. The Holy Church, offering daily prayers for her departed children, encourages all believers to this, so that they, with one mouth and one heart, offer up fiery prayers to the Throne of God with a request for the repose of their deceased relatives in places of blessedness. Encourages us to pray for the dead christian love which unites us mutually in Jesus Christ into one brotherhood. The departed fellow believers are our neighbors, whom God commands us to love as ourselves. For God did not say: love your neighbors while they live on earth. Therefore, the Lord does not limit love for neighbors by the boundaries of earthly existence, but extends it to the eternal afterlife. But how, if not by commemoration, by what, if not by prayer, can we prove our love for those who have passed into the afterlife? It is desirable for each of us that, after our departure from this life, our neighbors do not forget us and pray for us. For this to be fulfilled, we must also commemorate the departed. " With what measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:2), says the Savior. Therefore, those who commemorate the departed will be remembered by the Lord, and people will also remember them after their departure from this world. Great is the consolation and great reward to the one who saves his neighbor from temporary misfortune, but a much greater reward and greater consolation awaits the one who, with his prayers, will help the departed neighbor receive the forgiveness of sins and move from dark hellish dungeons to bright blissful abodes.
Are our prayers for the departed necessary? Yes, they are necessary, because they do them a very great favor. The fact is that after death there are two eternities: either the eternal bliss of the righteous, or the eternal torment of sinners. It is also known that there is no person on earth who would have lived and not sinned. So the statement is true that we are born in sins, we spend our lives in sins, and we end our earthly existence in sins. But do all sinners bring complete and sincere repentance before death? After all, sometimes death overtakes a person who is in a state of such a serious illness, when his memory is lost, and his spiritual strength comes to complete exhaustion. And it is clear that in such a state a person cannot remember his misdeeds and repent of them, and he dies with sins. Often death strikes a person suddenly, and he, without bringing any repentance, also departs with sins. He can no longer help himself by any means. A person can change his fate only when he is alive, doing good deeds and praying for his salvation to the Lord. In such and such cases, prayer for the departed is very necessary and provides them with the greatest benefit.
Many of our relatives have long been gone on earth, but a loving heart cannot forget them, yearns for them, even, perhaps, more than for the living. In the same way, the dead look from underworld in our direction, burning with love for those who here were especially close to their hearts. If any of the dead has achieved justification before God, then he, responding to our love mutual love sends down heavenly help to us from above; and for those who have not yet reached justification, our prayer can greatly help in alleviating their afterlife. The time will come when we will see them. How joyful it will be to hear from them a word of gratitude for their prayer! They will say: “You remembered me, did not forget me and helped me in my time of need. Thank you". And on the contrary, how bitter it will be to hear a reproach to those who did not pray for the dead! “You didn’t remember me, you didn’t pray for me, you didn’t help me in my hour of need, I reproach you.”
The condition of the dead is similar to the condition of a person floating on a very dangerous river. Prayer for the dead is like a lifeline that a person throws to a drowning neighbor. If somehow the gates of eternity were opened before us, and we would see these hundreds, thousands of millions of people rushing to a peaceful haven, then no matter what heart would be amazed and broken at the sight of their fellow believers and consanguineous loved ones, without words appealing to our prayer help!
About how necessary prayers are for the departed, and about the fact that there is communication with afterlife, I will now give you a wonderful, but true story from the life of one temple of our Russian Church. In the village of Lysogorka, a father died. Another priest was sent in his place - a young one, who unexpectedly died at the very first service - right in the altar. They sent another priest, but the same thing happened to him: on the first day of his service, after they sang “ Our Father”and the communion verse, the father did not go out with the Holy Gifts for a very long time, and when the headman entered the altar, he saw the priest lying dead in all his vestments at the Holy See. Everyone was horrified when they learned about this mysterious death, and, not knowing the cause of it, they said that some grave sin gravitates over the parish if two young innocent lives have become a sacrifice for it. The rumor about this spread throughout the district, and none of the priests dared to go to that parish.
Consent expressed only one elder-monk. “I don’t care about dying soon. I will go and serve the first and last Liturgy there, my death will not orphan anyone.”
During the service, when they sang to the “Our Father”, the feeling of self-preservation nevertheless declared its rights, and the elder ordered that both the side doors and the Royal Doors be opened. During the communion verse, he saw a silhouette beyond the High Place. This silhouette stood out sharper and sharper, and suddenly a gloomy image of a priest dressed in robes stood out behind the Throne, who was entangled hand and foot in chains.
Trembling with fear, the monk confused the words of the prayer. But after a while, he nevertheless gathered his strength, strengthened his spirit and went out to give communion to the faithful. Everyone knew that something was wrong with him.
And the ghost still stood, clanking with chains, and with shackled hands pointed to the box standing in the altar.
At the end of the Liturgy, the hieromonk called the headman, and they opened the box, which contained ... memorial notes. The fact is that when memorial notes were served to the deceased priest, he, without reading them, set them aside for the future. Now the elder understood the reason for the vision and began to serve requiems daily and read the accumulated notes.
The next Sunday, he already served the Liturgy for the dead for the soul of the deceased priest. As the communion verse was sung, the silhouette of the dead priest reappeared. But he was no longer tragic, formidable, as he was for the first time, but with a bright, cheerful face and without chains on his arms and legs. After the serving elder-hieromonk communed the Holy Mysteries, the ghost stirred, bowed to the ground and disappeared.
In this example, we see how prayers for the departed benefit them and make their lot easier. And it is no coincidence that we are talking about this today. Because today the Holy Church is celebrating a special day, called Meat-Safe Parental Saturday, and is gathering the Orthodox to pray together before the Throne of God for our brothers of the same faith who have passed away into eternal life. And tomorrow the Holy Church remembers the terrible Second Coming of the Lord and the end of the world.
Encouraging its members to be ready for the Last Judgment, the Holy Church asks us to pray to the Righteous Judge for our departed relatives, that all sins be forgiven them and that the path of transition from the gloomy dungeon to the bright abodes of the Heavenly Father be cleansed before them.
Let us lift up, dear brothers and sisters, a prayer to Christ God and from the bottom of our hearts cry out: Rest with the saints, Christ, the souls of Thy servant, where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no sighing, but endless life. Amen.
Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov)
FEBRUARY 18 - THE DAY OF SPECIAL REMEMBER FOR THE LOST.
MEAT SPENT UNIVERSAL PARENTAL SATURDAY
Parental Saturdays are nine days of special commemoration of the departed Orthodox Christians. They are called parental because parents are the closest people to us, but they pray these days not only for relatives. All parental Saturdays, except for one (May 9), have a rolling date. On these days, funeral services are performed - parastases, requiems, funeral litias. It must be borne in mind that public worship services may begin the night before (i.e. Friday), as the liturgical day begins in the evening. Of the nine days of purely commemoration of the dead, two Ecumenical memorial Saturdays stand out: Meat and Trinity Saturdays. The main meaning of these “ecumenical” (common for the entire Orthodox Church) funeral services is in prayer for all the deceased Orthodox Christians, regardless of their personal closeness to us. Parental Saturdays of Great Lent - 2, 3, 4 weeks.
During weekdays During Great Lent the usual Liturgy is not celebrated,
unless there is a big holiday. Consequently, the main liturgical
the commemoration of the dead is also less frequent. In order not to deprive the dead
prayer representation for them, the Church established these three special day to pray for them.
But God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for with Him are all
alive (Luke 20:38), said Christ the Savior
to the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! Holy
Orthodox Christian Church, firmly believing in this
true words of the Savior, always in public
confesses the indisputable truth that with the death of a person
his life does not stop. What do we see dying? Only
a body that is taken out of the earth and returns to the earth again.
The flesh decays and turns to dust, and on its own
man, with all his feelings and with his immortal
soul, continues to live, passing only from this world to
another, afterlife. Therefore, communication between the living and
dead death is not destroyed, but continues
exist.
On the basis of this truth, the Church has always, since the
Old Testament, and especially in the New Testament time - time
Apostolic, made and continues to make a commemoration
and to make prayers for the deceased brothers of the same faith.
Holy Church, offering daily prayers for the departed
his children, encourages all believers to this, so that they
with one mouth and with one heart raised to the Throne of God
fiery prayers asking for the repose of their departed
relatives in places of bliss. To prayer for the dead
we are driven by Christian love, which unites us
mutually in Jesus Christ into one brotherhood. Deceased
co-religionists - our neighbors whom God commands us
love like yourself. For God did not say: love your neighbors,
while they live on earth. Therefore, the Lord
limits love to neighbors by the boundaries of earthly existence, and
extends it to the eternal afterlife. But what, if not
commemoration than, if not by prayer, we can prove our
love for those who have passed into the afterlife? To each of us
it is desirable that after our departure from this life our
Our neighbors did not forget us and prayed for us. To make it
fulfilled, it is necessary for us to commemorate the dead. What
measure with a measure, it will be measured to you (Matt. 7:2),
says the Savior. Therefore, those who commemorate the departed,
the Lord will remember, people will also remember after their departure from this
peace. Great is the consolation and great is the reward for those who
saves from temporary misfortune, but much more
reward and greater consolation awaits him who, by his
prayers will help the deceased neighbor to receive forgiveness
sins and move from dark hellish dungeons to bright
blessed abodes.
Are our prayers for the departed necessary? Yes, necessary
because they do them a very great favor. The thing is
that after death there are two eternities: either the eternal
blessedness of the righteous, or eternal torment of sinners.
It is also known that there is no person on earth who would
lived and did not sin. So the statement is true that
we are born in sins, we live in sins, in sins and
end our earthly existence. But is it all
sinners bring full and sincere repentance before
death? After all, sometimes death overtakes a person,
in a state of such serious illness, when
him, and memory is lost, and mental strength comes to full
exhaustion. And it is clear that in such a state a person does not
can remember his misdeeds and repent of them - and
he dies with sins. Often death strikes a person
suddenly, and he, without bringing any repentance, also
departs with sins. He can no longer help himself.
by no means. Man can change his fate
only when he is alive, doing good deeds and praying for his
salvation to the Lord. In such cases, prayer for
the departed is very necessary and gives them the greatest
beneficence.
Many of our relatives are no longer on earth, however
a loving heart cannot forget them, yearns for them, even,
perhaps more than the living. Likewise and
the dead look from the other world in our direction,
burning with love for those who were here in their hearts especially
close. But if any of the dead has attained justification before
God, then he, responding to our love with mutual love,
sends down heavenly help to us from above; and for those who have not yet
reached justification, in alleviating his afterlife may
our prayers help a lot. The time will come when we'll see each other
with them. What a joy to hear from them.
thanks for the prayer! They will say: "You remember
me, did not forget me and helped me in my time of need.
Thank you." And vice versa: how bitter it will be
hear reproach to those who did not pray for the dead! "Here
you didn't remember me, didn't pray for me, didn't help me
in my hour of need, I rebuke you."
The state of the dead is like the state of a man floating on
very dangerous river. Prayer for the dead is like
a lifeline thrown by a person to a drowning person
neighbor. If somehow in front of us
the gates of eternity opened and we would see these hundreds,
thousands of millions of people rushing to a peaceful haven -
no matter what heart is struck and broken at the sight of
their co-religious and consanguineous loved ones, without words
calling for our prayerful help!
About the need for prayers for the departed, and about how
that there is communication with the afterlife, I will bring you
now a wonderful, but true story from the life of one temple
our Russian Church. In the village of Lysogorka, a father died.
Another priest was sent in his place - a young one,
who unexpectedly died at the very first service - directly
at the altar. They sent another priest, but with him
the same thing happened: on the first day of his ministry, after
how they sang the Lord's Prayer and the sacramental verse,
father did not go out with the Holy Gifts for a very long time, and when
the headman entered the altar, he saw the priest lying in
all the vestments at the Holy See of the dead. Everyone was horrified
having learned about this mysterious death, and, not knowing its cause,
they said that some grave sin was weighing on the parish,
if two young innocents became a victim for him
life. The rumor about this spread throughout the district, and no one
priests did not dare to go to that parish.
Consent expressed only one elder-monk. "All for me
die soon anyway. I'll go and serve there first and last
Liturgy, my death will not orphan anyone."
During the service, when they sang to "Our Father",
the sense of self-preservation nevertheless declared its rights, and
the elder ordered that both the side doors and
Royal doors. During the communion verse, he saw beyond
A mountainous place some kind of silhouette. This silhouette performed all
sharper and sharper, and suddenly a gloomy
the image of a priest dressed in robes, who was entangled in
chains to arms and legs.
Trembling with fear, the monk confused the words of the prayer. But through
for some time, nevertheless, he gathered his strength, strengthened his spirit
and went out to partake of the faithful. Everyone understood what happened to him
something bad happened.
And the ghost stood still, clanging with chains, and with shackled hands
pointed to a chest in the altar.
At the end of the Liturgy, the hieromonk called for the elder, and they
opened the box, which contained ... memorial notes.
The fact is that when the deceased priest was served
memorial notes, he put them aside for
Future tense. Now the elder understood the reason for the vision and became
daily to serve memorial services and read the accumulated
notes.
The following Sunday, he already served the Liturgy for the dead.
to the liking of the deceased father. When they sang the communion verse,
the silhouette of the deceased priest reappeared. But he was already
not tragic, formidable, which was the first time, but with
bright, cheerful face and without chains on his arms and legs. After
how the serving elder-hieromonk communed with the Saints
Tain, the ghost stirred, bowed to him to the ground and
disappeared.
We see in this example how prayers for the departed
benefit them and alleviate their lot. And it is no coincidence that we
we are talking about this today. 'Cause today is holy
The Church celebrates a special day called meat-fare
parental Saturday, and gathers the Orthodox for
joint prayer before the Throne of God for fellow believers
our brethren who have departed into eternal life. Tomorrow is Saint
The Church remembers the terrible Second Coming of the Lord and
the end of the world.
Encouraging its members to be ready for the Last Judgment,
The Holy Church asks us to pray to the Righteous Judge for
our deceased relatives, may all their sins be forgiven and
may the path of transition from the gloomy
dungeons to the bright abodes of the Heavenly Father.
Let us lift up, dear brothers and sisters, a prayer to Christ
Let us cry to God and from the bottom of our hearts: Rest in peace with the saints,
Christ, Thy servant souls, where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no
sigh, but life is endless. Amen.
______________________________
Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) March 4, 2005
Prayer for everyone who has died:
Remember, Lord our God, in faith and hope of eternal life
reposed thy servant, our brother (name), like Good and
Lover of mankind, forgive sins and consume iniquity, weaken, leave and forgive all his voluntary and involuntary sins, deliver him eternal torment and
the fire of Gehenna, and grant him the communion and enjoyment of your eternal blessings,
prepared for those who love You: even if you sin, but do not depart from You, and
undoubtedly in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Your God in the Trinity glorified,
faith, and the One in the Trinity and the Trinity in Unity Orthodox even before
his last breath of confession. Be merciful to him the same, and even faith in Thee instead of deeds, and with Your saints, as if generously rest: there is no man who lives and does not sin. But Thou art One except for all sin, and Thy truth is truth forever, and Thou art the One God of mercies and generosity, and humanity, and we send glory to You, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.
In the Churches, ecumenical requiems are held - prayers are read for the remission of sins and the granting of eternal life.
The funeral service on this day is called: "The memory performed by all the deceased Orthodox Christians from the age, our father and brethren."
Myasopustnaya
The Orthodox Church celebrates this day on Saturday, a week before the start of Lent. In 2017 great post will start on February 27th.
They call Meatfare Saturday because the following Sunday is called "Meatfare Week" - the day on which last time before Lent, meat food is allowed. Sunday is also called Small Shrovetide, as it precedes Shrovetide week.
This is the first parental Saturday of the year (in church calendar there are seven of them), when a special commemoration of the dead Orthodox Christians is performed in Orthodox churches. All but one (May 9 - Commemoration of the Dead Warriors) have a rolling date.
On this parental Saturday, they especially pray for those who were overtaken by untimely death in a foreign country, far from relatives, at sea, in the mountains, from hunger or infectious diseases, in battle, during natural disasters, who did not have time to repent before death, and over who did not perform the funeral rite.
The Holy Church, based on the apostolic teaching, established this common, ecumenical commemoration, so that no one, where, when and no matter how he ended his earthly life, would be deprived of his prayers.
Story
Meat-fat parental Saturday is one of the most ancient in origin. A special Ecumenical Saturday is mentioned as early as the 5th century in the legends of Savva the Sanctified, but there is evidence of an earlier celebration of this day.
According to legend, on this day, still persecuted and not recognized by anyone, Christians gathered together to honor the memory of tortured and executed brothers and sisters in faith who did not receive a proper burial.
This day was not chosen by chance - the Sunday after Meatfare Saturday is dedicated to a reminder of the Last Judgment of Christ, which will be over all people at His second coming, and when the eternal fate of each person will be determined.
© photo: Sputnik / Alexey Danichev
The painting "The Last Judgment" (artist F. Bruni) over the hall of St. Isaac's Cathedral
During the service, they recall the parable of the Last Judgment of the living and the dead, so that a person remembers that they will have to answer for the committed sinful deeds during the Judgment.
Therefore, the Church has established intercession not only for its living members, but also for all those who have died from time immemorial, especially for those who died of sudden death, and prays to the Lord for their mercy. Thus, the Church gives everyone a chance for the salvation of the soul.
parent saturday
These are the days special commemoration deceased. These days, a special commemoration of the dead Orthodox Christians is performed in Orthodox churches.
The name "parental" most likely came from the tradition of calling the deceased "parents", that is, those who had gone to their fathers. And also because Christians prayerfully commemorated, first of all, their deceased parents.
Among parental Saturdays, Ecumenical Saturdays are especially distinguished, on which Orthodox Church prayerfully commemorates all the dead in general. There are two such Saturdays: Myasopustnaya and Troitskaya (on the eve of the feast of Pentecost, in 2017 it falls on June 3). On these two days, special services are performed - ecumenical requiems.
The remaining parental Saturdays are not ecumenical and are set aside specifically for the private commemoration of people dear to our hearts.
Traditions
On the eve of parental Saturday, that is, on Friday evening, a great memorial service is served in Orthodox churches, which is also called the Greek word "parastas". And on Saturday morning, they serve the funeral Divine Liturgy, after it - a common memorial service.
On this day, one should commemorate their deceased parents in the church - people submit notes with the names of loved ones of the dead and pray for the repose of their souls in the afterlife.
According to an old church tradition, parishioners bring to the temple lean foods and wine for the celebration of the liturgy, which are consecrated during the service, and later distributed to those who wish. Also on this day, it is customary to give alms to the poor with a request to pray for the dead.
After visiting the temples, the Orthodox go to the cemetery, read prayers for the repose of the souls of deceased relatives, put the graves in order.
The clergy believe that on this day it is more important to defend the service in the temple than to go to the cemetery, since our prayer is much more important for deceased relatives and close people than visiting the grave.
But, if it is not possible these days to visit the temple and the cemetery, you can pray for the repose of the deceased at home.
customs
In Russia folk traditions commemorations of dead people were somewhat different from church ones. Ordinary people went to the graves of their relatives before the big holidays - on the eve of Maslenitsa, the Trinity, the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the day of memory of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica.
Most of all, the people revered Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday. In 1903, Emperor Nicholas II even issued a decree on the performance of a special memorial service for the soldiers who fell for the Fatherland - "For the faith, the tsar and the Fatherland, who laid their lives on the battlefield."
© photo: Sputnik / Yuri Kaver
In Ukraine and Belarus, the days of special commemoration of the dead were called "Grandfathers". There were up to six such "Grandfathers" a year. The people superstitiously believed that on these days all deceased relatives invisibly join the family memorial meal.
According to ancient custom, on parental Saturdays, it was customary to eat kutya - an obligatory dish of the funeral meal. Sweet porridge was usually prepared from whole grains of wheat or other cereals with the addition of honey, as well as raisins or nuts. True, today few people follow him.
Prayer for the dead
Give rest, Lord, to the souls of your departed servants: my parents, relatives, benefactors (their names) and all Orthodox Christians, and forgive them all sins, free and involuntary, and grant them the Kingdom of Heaven.
During a church service Orthodox people commemorate by name many generations of their deceased ancestors.
The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.
