What to do on Parents' Saturday. What to do on Parents Saturday: important rules

28.09.2019

Orthodox traditions withdraw great place and attention to the manifestation of the memory of the dead. The Church Charter defines special days when the dead are remembered in a special way. Many are interested in how to properly perform the rituals associated with these dates, what cannot be done on parental Saturdays, and what is allowed, how to properly commemorate the dead.

What is Parental Saturday in Orthodoxy

Despite its name, Parents' Sabbath is not intended to honor only one's deceased ancestors. This term goes back, rather, to the concept of the “human race”: the Holy Church believes that the main meaning of memorial days is the spiritual unification of all Orthodox, both the deceased and the living.

AT Orthodox calendar There are a few special days commemoration of the dead. The most revered of them are those that precede important religious holidays: Shrovetide and Trinity. They are part of the liturgical circle and are associated with the celebration of Easter, which does not fall on a specific date. Therefore, the dates of these parent Saturdays also change from year to year.

Memorial days in 2019: table

Among all these dates, the Ecumenical (great parental) Saturdays are distinguished: Meat Empty (a week before Great Lent) and Trinity, when all baptized Christians are prayerfully commemorated by the Orthodox Church in general.

On these Saturdays, special divine services are performed in churches - ecumenical memorial services.

Separately, it should be said about such a memorial day as Radonitsa, the first church-wide commemoration of the dead after Easter. It is celebrated on the 9th day after Christ's Sunday, so it always falls on Tuesday, not Saturday. However, Radonitsa is considered one of the most significant days of remembrance in Orthodoxy.

What Not to Do on Remembrance Days

Parental Saturdays are special days emotional state, manifested in prayers for the bright repose of the souls of the deceased, careful and grateful memories of departed loved ones.

You can not quarrel, violently sort things out, scandal.
Excessive grief is also not approved: church canons recommend moderately expressing grief for the departed.
In addition, it is impossible to refuse any help to needy people on the days of commemoration.

The main thing: respectful of the memory of the deceased

There is a belief that on parental Saturdays you can’t pay attention own appearance: hair dye, haircut, manicure or nail extension, spa treatments. In fact, the church charter on this matter does not express any prohibitions or blessings. Both church-going people and atheists have their own measure of their actions: how appropriate they are, necessary on memorial days, how they correspond to Christian commandments.

Many folk traditions closely associated with religious canons, in modern conditions have lost their original meaning, such as the ban on work on parental day. God is pleased with any work, and if the dwelling needs cleaning or the land needs watering, the Church does not forbid the performance of these works. The most important thing is that they do not contradict the main content of the parental Saturday - manifestations of respect for the deceased, memory of them.

What needs to be done

The main events of the parent Saturday are a visit to the temple and the cemetery.

According to the Orthodox church canon, they come to church twice - on the eve of the memorial day and in the morning on parental Saturday. On Friday, an evening service is held, including the administration of the Great Panikhida and the reading of Parastas (the funeral service). In the morning of the next day, the Divine Liturgy and a general memorial service are held in the church. Parishioners should come to the temple in advance, before the start of the service, in order to have time to submit a note of repose indicating the names of loved ones given to them at baptism.

According to established traditions, they don’t go to the temple without offerings - donations for the needs of the parish and to help the poor - which are placed on a table specially set for this. As a rule, these are products: their set is determined depending on the content of the holiday and the current post. If parental Saturday is celebrated on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th week of Great Lent, they do not donate fast food - eggs, dairy and meat products, confectionery products. On the rest of the memorial days, they are appropriate, as well as sweets, fruits, Cahors wine, which is then used for the liturgy. At the end of the service at the exit from the temple, it would not be superfluous to distribute alms to those in need: such a gesture of mercy corresponds to one of the most important dogmas of Christianity, calling for helping others.

Helping those in need is in the heart of every Christian

After visiting the temple, they usually immediately go to the cemetery, although many clergy are unanimous in the opinion that it is more desirable than necessary to go to the resting places. It is recommended to do the main cleaning on the graves of loved ones by the parental Saturday, so that on the memorial day it is limited to a small amount of work: wipe the tombstone, replace wilted flowers, and remove weeds. The main purpose of coming to the cemetery is to light and place at the head of the grave the consecrated candles or lamps brought with them, to pray for the dead, to say kind, sincere words about them. If possible, a priest may be invited to perform the Litiya, a short funeral service.

It is allowed to commemorate the dead near the grave, sipping a little wine and eating it with a modest amount of food. It is categorically condemned by the Church and offends the memory of the deceased when the commemoration at the cemetery becomes a wide feast with a plentiful libation of alcohol. It is best to leave part of the food and sweets brought with you to the cemetery on the tables set at the graves, and distribute the rest to those who ask for alms.

The main remembrance is arranged at home, in the family circle. Traditionally, it is customary to start a meal with a prayer, which is especially important for those who, for some reason, could not attend a church service. An empty plate and a glass are always placed on the table, symbolizing the invisible presence of the deceased. You need to behave with dignity: do not show excessive grief, but also do not conduct noisy conversations. The best tribute to a loved one is to remember his good deeds in earthly life, and why he was especially dear to his relatives.

About Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday and related traditions are described in the proposed video

Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday and related traditions (video)

External manifestations of the memory of the deceased, although they are an important ritual component of parental Saturdays, the main meaning of these days are bright prayers and high thoughts of believers.

Why is it so important to Christians and how is it related to the theory of the immortal soul? Universal Parental Saturday, we will tell you what to do on this day in the article. Parental Saturday is a day when every believer remembers the deceased relatives, they are in every family. If the parents are alive, then grandparents, aunts, uncles, it doesn’t matter that the event is called “parental”. It's about rather, about all the dead Christians, whose relatives can sing and pray for their souls, already transported to other worlds.

Priests consecrate the brought kuti, then hold a large-scale memorial service, which is dedicated to all the dead. It was the holy fathers who once legalized this event, because not every person dies peacefully, surrounded by relatives or in a hospital. Many disappear and then their fate is unknown. Relatives have been looking for the missing for years, but they rarely find, and if they find, then the bodies. The police then open the files, trying to track down the perpetrators and find out the circumstances of the death. Others die somewhere in the mountains or drown in the ocean.

Do not count the victims of shipwrecks, dead lonely people who had no one to order a memorial service. Many children die before they are born. Lonely old people, homeless people, people from distant, disadvantaged countries are dying. Someone perishes in fires, freezes somewhere in the north or falls from the mountains, in gorges, wandering through the forests. Do not count all the unfortunate, and no one can make up single system, where the name would be indicated, then the date of death of absolutely each person.

Before God, everyone is equal, everyone has the right to a memorial service, except for suicides, whose funeral priests refuse. Therefore, the holy fathers legitimized the new custom. No matter when and where death found a person, he did not lose his right to pray to the church, given that according to the teachings of Christians, prayers greatly help people who have already fallen beyond the bounds of life. They get closer to the right path, the Father finds them. Prayer like good word, a sign that they are not forgotten.

With special zeal, the holy fathers pray for the unfortunate, once abducted and dead somewhere in a foreign land, without relatives, forgotten, for the victims of fires or wars, disasters, natural disasters. About all those who somehow did not receive the posthumous funeral service, which is done at every funeral. Believers, church visitors, pray together with the priests for their relatives, also for all those who died once in their family, their ancestors. After all, people cannot know all their ancestors. Also for friends, relatives, for families of acquaintances.

Also, in addition to the memorial service, the church reminds all living people of the frailty of life, that they must remember the inevitability of death and live their lives with benefit, value their time.

Another thing is when people ask: “Why should we even pray and ask the Almighty for something, if he himself said that he would judge everyone according to his deeds”? so the result of the Judgment is predetermined and prayers can change little at all?”

Yes, Christ really said this, but do people understand the meaning of these words correctly? In reality, the Lord spoke about the value of time, that it is impossible to live carelessly, without thinking about the coming tomorrow, they say death will come anyway. Moreover, the deceased will no longer be able to carelessly wait for the coming of the Court.

If you look at the traditions from the holy fathers, then death does not become a point at all. The soul first leaves the body, then it is met by angels. A person has guardian angels who take care of him all his life. But people also have demons, they constantly push to bad deeds, evoke bad thoughts. And when the soul appears before them, the angels begin to fight the demons for it. Thus, for the first time, the soul comes into contact with the great Eternity, but this is only the beginning of its new path.

The soul of the forty-first days after the death of the body visits all places important for itself, says goodbye to all loved ones. Then they celebrate respectively seven days, then forty days. People remember the deceased, tell their friends about him, pray to help the soul. The deceased, on the other hand, goes through serious ordeals, this is a private court in which the whole life lived is considered, what did she do good or bad.

But the priests also emphasize that this is not the last judgment for the soul. She will face the Last Judgment, when Christ will appear the Second Time and the general Judgment will begin on all the dead, the living, because the border between the dead and the living will be erased, because all the dead will rise. Therefore, the Lord, until that day has come, gives every soul time. Accept the deeds she has done, correct, purify.

But the soul is not the whole personality of a person. It is difficult for her to correct what she has done without a body, but it is possible.
No wonder the Apostle James said that prayer helps to heal the soul. This applies not only to the living, for whom prayer relieves mental pain, stifles wounds. But also dead. True, they cannot fully pray, their bodies are dead, and a person is considered an integral being when his body is alive and his soul is alive, his spirit is alive.

Here is a triple start. Therefore, the living must help their dead relatives. Prayer makes their way easier, corrects their deeds and brings them closer to the Father. After all, according to Christ, every person is like a lost sheep that must find the right way home. And "home" is God.

Parental Saturdays - days special commemoration the departed, when with our prayers we can provide great help to our relatives and friends who have passed away from earthly life. Five of them are set aside to commemorate the deceased relatives, two more and the requiems performed at the same time are called ecumenical. Parental Sabbaths involve the observance of certain rules that all believers should be aware of.

The Deep Meaning of Parental Saturday

Please note that hard liquor, such as vodka or cognac, is not accepted as a donation.

If desired and possible, you can order a memorial service, and after prayers are completed, you are allowed to visit the cemetery, put the grave in order, replace the flowers, thereby showing that you keep the memory of a loved one.

How to spend the rest of the day on parental Saturday and can I clean up? Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko for the online publication Pravoslavie i Mir answers this question as follows: the ban on cleaning the house on this day is nothing more than superstition, of course, you need to start the day with visiting the temple, praying, visiting the cemetery, and after if necessary, you can perform the usual household chores.

Another important question, exciting believers - is it possible to baptize a child on parental Saturday? Hegumen Alexy (Diocese of Vladivostok) and other priests of the Russian Orthodox Church resemble a simple rule - you can baptize a child on all days without restrictions.

For the period of Lent in 2019, the following parental Saturdays fall:

March 23 - Parent ecumenical Saturday of the second week of Great Lent
March 30 - Parent ecumenical Saturday of the third week of Great Lent
April 6 - Parent ecumenical Saturday of the fourth week of Great Lent.

P.S. Prayer for the deceased is the sacred duty of every Christian. A great reward and great consolation awaits the one who, through his prayers, will help his departed neighbor receive the forgiveness of sins.

During the year, parental Saturdays are held eight times. These days, believers remember the dead. It is possible to commemorate relatives and friends who have fallen into another world on other days. Most of the dates on which the parental Sabbath passes are not constant, but are located in the calendar relative to the great church holidays.

These include the following:

meat-soup Saturday (comes a week before Lent);
three Parental Saturdays during the fasting period (2, 3 and 4 weeks);
Demetrius Saturday (before November 8);
radunitsa (9 days after Easter, invariably falls on Tuesday);
Trinity parental Saturday (the day before the feast of the Holy Trinity);
commemoration of fallen soldiers (May 9).

Saturdays of commemoration of those who introduced themselves are special. They are called parental, due to the fact that all the deceased went to their parents, ancestors. Sincere prayer for the departed relatives and friends helps their souls to be cleansed.

How to spend parental Saturday?

On all the days of memory of the departed, the Orthodox go to churches, asking in prayer to give peace to the souls of those who have presented themselves. They also carry sweets and cookies for remembrance, which the ministers will distribute to the parishioners, submit notes with the names of the deceased for later mention in church prayers. Those who did not come to the temple at home with open heart they read the prayer for the dead and the 17th kathisma for the dead.

After the service, believers visit the cemetery, clean and decorate the graves with flowers. Upon returning home, a memorial meal is held. The whole family must attend. Fast food should not be placed on the table during fasting.

What can not be done on parental Saturday?

Many superstitions are associated with the prohibitions on the memorial day. It is not forbidden these days to do housework and gardening, but only after going to church and reading a memorial prayer.

Most believers, when visiting a cemetery, pour alcohol into a glass at the grave or pour vodka over it, believing that if the deceased liked to drink, then they help him so much. It is unacceptable to do this, since the soul of the deceased may suffer for the sin of drinking wine even after death.

In the cemetery you can not arrange a feast and get drunk. There is an opinion that the commemoration of the deceased is an opportunity to skip a glass of another alcohol, but this is not so. The fate of the departed cannot be alleviated by this action. Only conscious prayer is able to convey our love to loved ones. It is also impossible on parental Saturday:

swear;
get drunk;
swear;
speak badly about the deceased;
grieve and cry.

It is important to know that remembering does not mean sadness. To remember means to pray. The soul cannot die, it passes into another world - which one depends on the person during his lifetime. If he sinned, then the soul will suffer and languish. Only prayer, which is read by relatives with special trepidation, will help save her from this. Therefore, every parental Saturday it is necessary to remember your loved ones with a prayer from a pure heart. The one who reads it conveys the love and gratitude that he could not give to his loved one during his lifetime.

Parental Saturdays are days of special commemoration of the departed, when with our prayers we can provide great help to our relatives and friends who have passed away from earthly life. Five of them are set aside to commemorate the deceased relatives, two more and the requiems performed at the same time are called ecumenical. Parental Sabbaths involve the observance of certain rules that all believers should be aware of.

THE DEEP MEANING OF PARENT Sabbath

Parental Saturday is a special day in the Orthodox calendar, when it is customary to remember loved ones who have passed away and pray to help them. First of all, the deceased parents, and then the rest dear to my heart of people. A respectful attitude towards parents in Christian families should be formed in a child in childhood.

Only in this case, an already grown-up person will have a true and complete understanding of the fifth commandment “Honor your father and your mother”, which Father Augustine focuses on in his thematic sermon.

“Honor your father and mother, and it will be good for you on earth and longevity” - in this simple sentence lies deep meaning and key principle successful life in earthly life, and after eternal life, as an individual, and his entire family.

A true understanding of the meaning of honoring parents allows us to reveal parental Saturdays, of which there are seven in the calendar. Two of them are intended to honor the memory and pray for all Christians, which means praying on the universal parental Saturday.

What should you do when parental Saturday comes? First of all, performing the actions taken on this day, visiting the grave loved one, or attending a service in the temple, open your heart and sincerely answer yourself the questions: what is my true attitude towards the deceased, have I forgiven him in everything and what feelings do I really experience? The effectiveness of your prayer directly depends on your sincerity in these moments. This is the main answer to the frequently asked question of what to do on parental Saturday in church.

WHAT IS THE POWER OF THE FUTURE PRAYER

Father Augustine says that a child is born from two parents not only physically, but also spiritually. How physical body the child at the gene level is the bearer of the makings of two parents, and so is his soul. That is why the connection within each clan is so strong, that is why it is so important to keep the memory of your ancestors and make prayers to help them. In the church, the word "deceased" is understood as "asleep", and visiting the grave of a loved one is a remembrance of the place of his last earthly refuge.

The very same soul is where there is no space and time. That is why it is so important to properly commemorate loved ones on the days of parental Saturdays: not only to visit the cemetery, but also to attend a service in the temple in order to pray for the souls of relatives.

First of all, because it is in your power to help a dear and beloved person for you. If a person has crossed the line of life, it is no longer in his power to change his fate, and he urgently needs the prayerful support of his family members, a kind who are still on Earth.

Priest Nikolai Guleiko, in answering questions for the online publication "Orthodoxy and the World", clarifies very important point: is it necessary and how to ask for forgiveness from deceased relatives? It is necessary to ask for forgiveness during a person’s lifetime, and after his death in Orthodoxy it is customary only to pray for him.

In turn, the priest of the temple in the name of St. Father Konstantin Savander recalls Demetrius of Thessalonica in Sulazhgor: “The Church prays for the repose and forgiveness of the sins of the departed, hoping for God's mercy. Although man was a sinner and received God's recompense after death, but when there is the last judgment on mankind, then prayers for him will be remembered by God, and he can be pardoned.

WHAT TO DO IN THE TEMPLE ON PARENT Sabbath

Believers often ask priests a question: what to bring to church on parental Saturday and what other important actions need to be done in the temple. Before the start of the Divine service, a note with the names of the deceased relatives must be submitted. Notes of repose can be submitted on those days when the liturgy of John Chrysostom or Basil the Great is served. These are: Saturdays and Sundays, the Annunciation Holy Mother of God, Thursday and Saturday in Holy Week.

After that, you can put candles for them on a requiem table, and then, listening to church hymns, sincerely pray for the departed. You can use such a short prayer: “God rest the soul of the deceased servant (s) of Yours (name), and forgive him all his sins, free and involuntary, and grant him the Kingdom of Heaven.”

In memory of loved ones, it is also customary to do alms and do good deeds. Believers who do not have large funds can donate food. On the days of Great Lent, which also falls on parental Saturday, they bring to the temple lean foods and Cahors. It is customary to leave them on a special table, which stands either in front of or behind the requiem table. Read more about the rules of Great Lent in the Lent Calendar section.

Please note that hard liquor, such as vodka or cognac, is not accepted as a donation.

How to spend the rest of the day on parental Saturday and can I clean up? Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko for the Pravoslavie i Mir online publication answers this question as follows: the ban on cleaning the house on this day is nothing more than superstition, of course, you need to start the day with visiting the temple, praying, visiting the cemetery, and after if necessary, you can perform the usual household chores.

Another important question that worries believers is whether it is possible to baptize a child on parental Saturday? Hegumen Alexy (Diocese of Vladivostok) and other priests of the Russian Orthodox Church recall a simple rule - you can baptize a child on all days without restrictions.

For the period of Great Lent in 2017, the following parental Saturdays fall:

March 11 - Parent ecumenical Saturday of the second week of Great Lent
March 18 - Parent ecumenical Saturday of the third week of Great Lent
March 25 - Parent ecumenical Saturday of the fourth week of Great Lent.