Parents' Saturdays are important dates in the Orthodox calendar, and are named so precisely because they fall on the sixth day of the week. As all believers know, some Orthodox dates shift from year to year, and therefore every year you need to turn to the current Orthodox calendar, which not only indicates important dates and holidays, but also tells their history. When Parents' Saturdays will take place in 2017, we will tell you in this material.
Parents' Saturdays: dates for 2017
In total, there are 8 days of remembrance of the dead in a year, seven of which always take place on Saturdays, and the eighth day of remembrance always falls on Tuesday and this date is tied to the date of one of the most important Orthodox holidays, Easter. Memorial Day, which falls on Tuesday, is always celebrated on the 9th day after Easter. 
Parents' Saturdays in 2017 will be held on the following days:
02/18/2017 – Ecumenical (meat-free) Saturday. This day of remembrance always takes place 7 days before the start of Lent.
11.03.2017.
18.03.2017.
25.03.2017.
04/25/2017 – Radonitsa, the ninth day since the celebration of Easter.
05/09/2017 is the day of remembrance of fallen soldiers.
06/03/2017 – Trinity Saturday.
28.10.2-17 – Dmitrievskaya Saturday.
Despite the fact that there are 8 parental Saturdays in total, the most important are Meat Saturday (the eve of the week of Last Judgment) and Trinity Saturday before the great feast of the Holy Trinity. Radonitsa and Dmitrievskaya Saturday are also considered important.
Parents' Saturdays: what to do
Parents' Saturdays are days of remembrance for those who have passed on to another world. As a rule, churches hold memorial services for the dead, where you can light a candle for the repose of your loved ones. These days you need to visit the graves of your loved ones, remember them, and pray.
Many people mistakenly visit a cemetery on Holy holiday Easter, I don’t have reliable information about when this can be done and when it can’t. Moreover, visiting a cemetery on Easter day contradicts the church charter, which states that the dead cannot be commemorated before the ninth day of Easter. Even if a person passes into another world on Easter, he is buried according to a special Easter rite.
In order to avoid such mistakes, it is best to remember the dead on parental Saturdays, of which there are 8. On these days, special services are held in churches in the morning and evening. And if it is not possible to visit the temple, then you can pray for the dead at home, choosing a quiet place where no one will disturb you. On Parents' Saturdays it is very important to remember and pray for those who are no longer with us - this is the most important thing and purpose of such days of remembrance. It is believed that the souls of the deceased find peace when they are prayed for on earth, when they are remembered. It’s not for nothing that they say that love for those who are no longer with us lives in the hearts of living people. It is believed that the soul of the deceased is alive as long as it is remembered and prayed for.
In addition to prayers and visiting church, on Parents' Saturdays you need to go to the cemetery, light a candle on the grave and pray. You can invite a priest to the cemetery to perform a litiya.
On Parents' Saturdays, you need to clean up the grave: weed the ground, throw out old flowers, bring new ones, change the lamps and ribbons on the gravestone. Contrary to the widespread tradition of bringing food and alcoholic drinks to the cemetery to remember the deceased, this cannot be done, since such an action is pagan in nature, and therefore inappropriate in Orthodoxy.
It is important to remember that Parents' Saturdays are not days of mourning and sorrow, they are days of remembrance. There is important nuance– you need to remember the dead with bright thoughts, and not with sadness, otherwise the soul will not be able to find peace. No matter how difficult it may be to survive the loss, you need to remember your deceased loved ones with a smile and a light heart, then they will also have a good time in the next world.
The Orthodox calendar is an obligatory and integral part of the life of believers.
By looking into it, you can find out the dates of Lent and holidays, as well as plan your schedule for the next year - working days, weekends, planting days, fasting days and memorial days.
Parents' Saturdays in 2017 have clearly established dates. If you don’t have time to go to church and light a candle, then you should definitely go to the graves of the deceased. Deliver flowers, clean up and pay respects. There are not many parent's Saturdays throughout the year, but they allow us to stop in the daily bustle and remember, at least for a minute, about those people who were and remain very dear to us. It is important to have the whole meaning of Lent in your heart and limit yourself to weaknesses.
Parents' Saturdays in 2017
Parents' days are special days on which it is customary to remember deceased people.
. May 9, 2017, Tuesday is the day of remembrance for those killed in the Great Patriotic War.
June Parents' Saturday precedes the great holiday of Trinity and falls on June 3.
1September 1, 2017, Monday is the day of remembrance of departed Orthodox soldiers
What to do on Parents' Day
Enough a large number of People visit relatives and friends at the cemetery on Easter. Many, unfortunately, adhere to the blasphemous custom of accompanying visits to the dead with drunken wild revelry. And those who don’t do this very often don’t even know when to Easter days it is possible (and necessary) to remember the dead.
The first commemoration of the deceased after Easter takes place on the second Easter week(week), after Fomin Sunday, on Tuesday. And the widespread tradition of going to the cemetery on the Easter holiday itself sharply contradicts the institutions of the Church: before the ninth day from Easter, commemoration of the dead cannot be performed. If a person passes into another world on Easter, then he is buried according to a special Easter rite.
Like many Orthodox clergy, priest Valery Chislov, rector of the Church of the Dormition Holy Mother of God at the Assumption Cemetery in Chelyabinsk, warns against rash actions and other actions committed out of ignorance on the feast of Radonitsa:
“It should be remembered that a cemetery is a place where one should behave with reverence. It is sad to see how some people drink vodka there and sing worldly songs. Someone crumbles bread and eggs onto the grave mound and pours alcohol. Sometimes they get into a real riot. All this is more reminiscent of pagan funeral feasts and is unacceptable for Christians. If we already took food to the cemetery, it is better to distribute it to the poor. Let them pray for our departed, and then the Lord may send some consolation to our relatives.”
When you come to the cemetery on the feast of Radonitsa, you need to light a candle and perform litia (pray intensely). To perform litia during the commemoration of the dead, a priest should be invited. You can also read the Akathist about the repose of the dead. Then you need to clean up the grave, be silent for a while, remembering the deceased.
There is no need to drink or eat in the cemetery, it is unacceptable to pour alcohol on the grave mound - these actions insult the memory of the dead. The tradition of leaving a glass of vodka with bread on a grave is a relic of pagan culture and should not be observed in Christian Orthodox families. It is better to give food to the poor or hungry.
Parents' Saturdays in 2019 are days of special remembrance of the deceased. At this time in Orthodox churches They perform a special commemoration of Christians who have passed away, and believers visit the graves of their relatives who have left this world in cemeteries. There are seven Saturdays in the church calendar throughout the year.
Special days of remembrance of the dead began to be called parental Saturdays because, first of all, they remembered their deceased parents, and then other deceased relatives and other close people. According to another version, the name was formed because it was once customary to call the deceased parents, that is, “those who went to their fathers.”
Ecumenical Parents' Saturdays
If we are talking about universal parental Saturday, it is understood that all baptized Christians are commemorated. Seven days before the start of Lent, Meat Ecumenical Saturday is celebrated. Meat Saturday is called Meat Saturday because it falls on the week of the same name, which is also called Little Maslenitsa. This is the first parents' Saturday in March.
On the eve of Pentecost, Trinity Day is celebrated Ecumenical Saturday . On Trinity Saturday, all baptized Christians are also remembered in prayers. On these days, special universal memorial services are held. They serve a memorial service “In memory of all Orthodox Christians who have departed from time immemorial, our fathers and brothers.”
Five other parenting Saturdays
Radonitsa or Radunitsa falls on the Tuesday after St. Thomas Week, that is, the second week after the Holy Resurrection of Christ. The main theme of this day is the victory of the risen Christ over death. On this day, according to tradition, believers visit the cemetery and glorify the risen Son of God at the graves of deceased relatives.
May 9, the day of victory in the Great Patriotic War in churches they serve a memorial service for the many soldiers who gave their lives for the salvation of their homeland. Many families have lost someone close to them in this terrible and long war. Therefore, on this day we remember everyone dead soldiers, thanks to whose feat the Great Victory took place, and their loved ones who died during the war.
Dimitrievskaya parental Saturday is also associated with military actions that only took place several centuries earlier. We are talking about the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Initially, on this day they commemorated soldiers who died during a large-scale battle.
Later, this day was transformed into the day of remembrance of all the dead, which is indicated in the Novgorod chronicle of the 15th century. It is known that in 1903, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree ordering a memorial service to be held in memory of the soldiers who died for the Motherland “For the faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, who laid down their lives on the battlefield.”
In 2019, Orthodox parental Saturdays are celebrated in the following order:
- March 16 - Meat Saturday
- March 23 - Saturday of the 2nd week of Lent
- March 30 - Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent
- 6 April - Saturday 4th week of Lent
- May 7, Tuesday - Radonitsa, church-wide commemoration of the dead
- May 9 - Commemoration of deceased soldiers
- May 26 - Trinity Saturday
- November 3 - Saturday Dimitrievskaya
Features of parenting Saturdays
On the days of universal parental Saturdays, memorial services and funeral services are held, during which believers read prayers for their deceased relatives and ask God for forgiveness of their sins. According to the charter, during the parental Saturdays of the second, third and fourth during Lent, funeral commemorations are not performed, that is: funeral litanies, litias, memorial services, commemorations of the 3rd, 9th and 40th days after death, magpies. These days are specially set aside for believers to pay tribute to loved ones.
On Friday evening, on the eve of parental Saturday, a great requiem service (parastas) is served in churches. For the funeral Divine Liturgy You can send notes with the names of your deceased relatives. On this day ancient tradition It is customary to bring it to the temple lean products
and Cahors for performing the liturgy. Wine and Lenten products brought to the temple on Friday are called brought “on the eve.” In former times it was customary for believing parishioners to bring Lenten dishes
for a common table in the temple, where it was possible to remember dead relatives dear to the heart. This tradition has been preserved, only on a smaller scale.
Lenten products and Cahors are left on a special table in the temple. This food is used for the needs of the temple and for distribution to poor people who are under the care of one or another parish.
Often believers are faced with a choice - to visit the grave of a relative on Parental Saturday or come to church for a service. The clergy are more inclined to believe that sincere prayer, which can be performed during a special service, is much more important for the souls of your loved ones. Therefore, it is recommended to give preference to visiting the temple.
You can read a prayer for the departed: “Rest, O Lord, the souls of your departed servants: my parents, relatives, benefactors (their names) and all Orthodox Christians, and forgive them all sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant them the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Before going to the temple, write down on a piece of paper the names of all deceased relatives and other close people whom you would like to mention while reading the prayer.
Previously, Christian families had a very important tradition - from generation to generation, recording the names of all deceased relatives. This is how family memorials were formed, which were used during the reading of funeral prayers. In days special commemoration
For the deceased, it is very important to think about what death is, perhaps to rethink your own life and relationships with loved ones, and try to come to terms with all controversial issues. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh speaks very accurately and succinctly about the issue of the relationship between life and death. For fifteen years he worked as a military doctor, and after forty-six years he was a priest. Here is one of his quotes: “Russians believe in life, go into life. And this is one of the things that every priest and every person must repeat to himself and others: we must not prepare for death, we must prepare for».
eternal life
Lord Jesus Christ our God! You are the keeper of the orphans, the refuge of the grieving and the comforter of the weeping. I come running to you, an orphan, groaning and crying, and I pray to you: hear my prayer and do not turn your face away from the sighs of my heart and from the tears of my eyes. I pray to You, merciful Lord, satisfy my grief over separation from my parent (my mother), (name) (or: with my parents who gave birth and raised me, their names) - his soul ( or: her, or: them), as having gone (or: gone) to You with true faith in You and with firm hope in Your love for mankind and mercy, accept into Your Kingdom of Heaven. I bow before Your holy will, which was taken away (or: taken away, or: taken away) from me, and I ask You not to take away from him (or: from her, or: from them) Your mercy and mercy. We know, Lord, that You are the Judge of this world, you punish the sins and wickedness of the fathers in children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, even to the third and fourth generation: but you also have mercy on the fathers for the prayers and virtues of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. With contrition and tenderness of heart, I pray to Thee, merciful Judge, do not punish with eternal punishment the unforgettable deceased (unforgettable deceased) for me Thy servant (Thy servant), my parent (my mother) (name), but forgive him (her) all his sins ( her) voluntary and involuntary, in word and deed, knowledge and ignorance, created by him (her) in his (her) life here on earth, and according to Your mercy and love for mankind, prayers for the sake of the Most Pure Mother of God and all the saints, have mercy on him (her) and eternal save me from torment. You, merciful Father of fathers and children! Grant me, all the days of my life, until my last breath, to never cease to remember my deceased parent (my deceased mother) in my prayers, and to beg Thee, the righteous Judge, to order him in a place of light, in a place of coolness. and in a place of peace, with all the saints, from nowhere all sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled. Merciful Lord! Accept this day for Thy servant (Your) (name) my warm prayer and give him (her) Your reward for the labors and cares of my upbringing in faith and Christian piety, as He taught (taught) me first of all to lead You, my Lord, in reverently pray to You, trust in You alone in troubles, sorrows and illnesses and keep Your commandments; for his (her) concern for my spiritual progress, for the warmth of his (her) prayer for me before You and for all the gifts he (she) asked me from You, reward him (her) with Your mercy. Your heavenly blessings and joys in Your eternal Kingdom. For You are the God of mercies and generosity and love for mankind, You are the peace and joy of Your faithful servants, and we send glory to You with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Children's prayer for deceased parents P.S.
Death is an inevitability that each of us will face at one time or another. And a person’s position both in earthly life and after death depends on the correct attitude to this issue. Metropolitan Anthony reminds us that it is very important not to commit such a common sin as an indifferent or insincere attitude towards a dying relative with ostentatious care.
On the days of remembrance of the dead, you will mentally replay these moments again and again: when you could have spent a few more minutes with your loved one, and not referred to being busy and important daily matters, you could have given him more warmth, but did not.
These days are important both for the deceased, whom living relatives can help with their sincere prayers, and for the living themselves, who, preserving the memory of the family, can grow spiritually and care not only about earthly, but also about eternal life. Christian traditions, based on eternal life, call to remember our ancestors and pray for their peace. The best place
for commemoration it is a church, but there are 8 days a year of general worship, the main one is Parents' Day 2017, which is celebrated on the 9th day after, it falls on Tuesday.
On Memorial Day, even non-believers go to the grave to visit their parents and other deceased loved ones. On Parents' Day in 2017, in the morning you need to visit the temple of God, pray for the reassurance of the soul of the deceased, leave a memorial note and light a candle. The whole family usually goes to the cemetery, they remember all the good things that are associated with the deceased, it is not customary to be sad and cry - even the name speaks of the joy in which the soul of the deceased rests. But to invite a priest and order a litiya means to take care of the forgiveness of sins and the peaceful stay of a relative in the next world. One should behave with restraint, speak in lower tones, in order to maintain respect for the resting souls. If you decide to take communion at the grave of your relatives, mainly Easter treats, you need to lay out the towel, put out the food, and with a kind word drink a glass of wine or vodka for the repose of the soul of your loved one. The leftover food is distributed to the poor in the cemetery or left on the gravestone, and a lit memorial lamp or church candle is also placed here.
When are Parents' Day and other memorial dates celebrated?
Throughout the year, departed relatives and friends are remembered, this individual dates– birth and death, and general. The church calendar will help you keep track of the holidays, since only the main memorial day is especially revered among the people; almost everyone knows what date Parents' Day is in 2017 - April 25. Here are other days of special commemoration:
- February 18 – Ecumenical Parents' Saturday. They remember all the deceased without exception; this is the day of unity of all souls and communication with the departed;
- March 11, 18, 25 – 2nd, 3rd, 4th Saturdays of Great Lent, during which no other church mass services are held;
- May 9 – a solemn service dedicated to those who fell for the liberation of the country during the Great Patriotic War;
- June 3 – Trinity Parents' Saturday, all relatives are remembered, but the main attention is devoted to the memory of parents;
- November 4 - Dimitrov Parents' Saturday - was established on the initiative of Dmitry Donskoy in honor of those who fell on the Kulikovo Field in the battle with Mamai.
On all of the above dates, solemn services are held in churches, but it is Parents' Day in 2017, on which date the major liturgy is celebrated, that Christians especially honor. It is customary to bring food with you to church services and place it on the eve (funeral table). After the end of the service, the offerings are distributed to the poor and needy and transferred to shelters.
Parents' days for visiting the cemetery in 2017 are any of the above list, but usually this is the general holiday of Radonitsa and, at the request of relatives, the birthdays and deaths of departed loved ones. If relatives live in another city or country, they simply go to church, pray and light a candle for the repose. Prayers addressed to God help souls find eternal peace and deliver them from sins committed during life.
Pagan beliefs accompanying Parents' Day
Before the advent of Christianity, there was also a holiday called Radonitsa, in which the pagan deities Radunitsa, who protected the souls and peace of the departed, were glorified. Gifts were brought and left on the hillock in order to appease the deity. Orthodox Christians celebrate Parents' Day 2017 with some traditions that came from pagan times; they try not to be sad, but, on the contrary, to rejoice for their relatives who have moved to the eternal kingdom of peace. The resurrection of Christ, as a victory over death, helps to overcome the sadness of loss. But the ancient, pre-Christian customs of having fun in the cemetery, drinking alcohol and pouring vodka on the grave, fortunately, have disappeared from our lives. Church canons I am categorically against drinking alcohol in a cemetery and singing secular songs there - this is an insult to the memory of the deceased. Parents' Day 2017, the date on which Orthodox Christians honor relatives, should be celebrated with restraint, with prayer and respect. Cleaning up the grave, standing silently and distributing alms and food to the disadvantaged - these are the actions that befit a true believer.
(1 votes, average: 5,00 out of 5)Parents' Day or, as it is also called, Radonitsa (Radunitsa) is a spring Orthodox church holiday of special commemoration of the dead. According to Radonitsa, it is one of the most important memorial days, when it is customary to visit cemeteries where the graves of relatives and friends are located.
This is the day of blessed memory and, oddly enough, joy, because this joy is for the birth of those who died in new life- eternal life. To prepare for this in time Orthodox holiday, need to know, what date is parent's day celebrated in 2017.
When is Parents' Memorial Day celebrated?
There are eight parental days in a year, and seven of them fall on Saturday and therefore they are called parental Saturdays. But among parental days there is the most important, most important holiday of remembrance of the deceased (Radonitsa), which always falls on Tuesday.
The Radonitsa holiday does not have its own date; it is always celebrated at different times, depending on what date it falls on. In the second week, or, to be more precise, nine days after Happy Resurrection On Tuesday of Christ, the day of remembrance of the dead comes - the first parent's day after the holiday of Easter.
Memorial days extremely important for everyone Orthodox Christian. They are also called “parental” so that we remember the need to take care of the souls of our ancestors.
It is imperative to know the dates of all memorial days so as not to miss the opportunity to remember and commemorate your deceased loved ones, relatives and friends, go to the cemetery and clean up the grave.
History and customs of the holiday of the main parent's day
According to the testimony of John Chrysostom, this holiday was celebrated by Christians in ancient times. The name itself - Radonitsa - was instilled in us from the common Slavic spring pagan holiday with the obligatory remembrance of the departed, which was called Radavanitsy, Graves, Triznami, Navy Day.
The word “radonitsa” comes from “joy” and “kind”; moreover, this holiday takes pride of place immediately after the celebration of Bright Easter Week and, one might say, obliges Orthodox Christians not to delve too deeply into grief for the dead, but to rejoice in their eternal life together with the Lord God.
All christian world celebrates the Resurrection of Christ, His victory over earthly death, and then, nine days later, believers celebrate the rebirth of their ancestors, relatives and friends to a new life, remembering them on a special day - Radonitsa. The Resurrection of Christ, as a victory over death, displaces the sadness of separation from loved ones and therefore on the ninth day from Easter we, as Metropolitan Anthony of Surzh said:
“...with faith, reliable and Easter confidence we stand at the tombs of the departed.”
What to do on Parents' Day
Quite a large number of people visit relatives and friends at the cemetery on Easter. Many, unfortunately, adhere to the blasphemous custom of accompanying visits to the dead with drunken wild revelry. And those who do not do this very often do not even know when on Easter days they can (and should) remember the dead.
The first commemoration of the deceased after Easter takes place on the second Easter week (week), after St. Thomas Sunday, on Tuesday. And the widespread tradition of going to the cemetery on the Easter holiday itself sharply contradicts the institutions of the Church: before the ninth day from Easter, commemoration of the dead cannot be performed. If a person passes into another world on Easter, then he is buried according to a special Easter rite.
Like many Orthodox clergy, priest Valery Chislov, rector of the church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Assumption Cemetery in Chelyabinsk, warns against rash actions and other actions committed out of ignorance on the feast of Radonitsa:
“It should be remembered that a cemetery is a place where one should behave with reverence. It is sad to see how some people drink vodka there and sing worldly songs. Someone crumbles bread and eggs onto the grave mound and pours alcohol. Sometimes they get into a real riot. All this is more reminiscent of pagan funeral feasts and is unacceptable for Christians. If we already took food to the cemetery, it is better to distribute it to the poor. Let them pray for our departed, and then the Lord may send some consolation to our relatives.”
When you come to the cemetery on the feast of Radonitsa, you need to light a candle and perform litia (pray intensely). To perform litia during the commemoration of the dead, a priest should be invited. You can also read the Akathist about the repose of the dead. Then you need to clean up the grave, be silent for a while, remembering the deceased.
There is no need to drink or eat in a cemetery, it is unacceptable to pour alcohol on a grave mound - these actions insult the memory of the dead. The tradition of leaving a glass of vodka with bread on a grave is a relic of pagan culture and should not be observed in Christian Orthodox families. It is better to give food to the poor or hungry.
How to remember the deceased
Prayer for deceased relatives and loved ones is the most important and greatest thing that we can do for those who have passed on to another world. By and large, the deceased does not need either a coffin or a monument - this is only a pious tribute to tradition.
A simple wooden or metal cross is more appropriate for the grave of a true Orthodox Christian. But the soul of the deceased experiences a great need for our unceasing prayer. Saint John Chrysostom wrote:
“We will try, as much as possible, to help the departed, instead of tears, instead of sobs, instead of magnificent tombs - with our prayers, alms and offerings for them, so that in this way both they and we will receive the promised benefits.”
And special help to the deceased is provided by commemorating them in the Church.
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