Parents' Saturdays during Easter Lent. Saturdays of Great Lent. Dmitrievskaya Parents' Saturday

Parents' Saturdays are days of special remembrance of the dead, when with our prayers we can provide great help to our family and friends who have passed on from earthly life. Five of them are reserved for commemorating deceased relatives, two more and the memorial services performed at the same time are called ecumenical. Parental Saturdays require the observance of certain rules that all believers should be aware of.

The deep meaning of parental Saturday

Please note that strong alcoholic drinks, such as vodka or cognac, are not accepted as donations.

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

How to spend the rest of the day on Parents' Saturday and is it possible to clean up? Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko for the online publication “Orthodoxy and Peace” answers this question this way: the ban on cleaning the house on this day is nothing more than superstition, the day, of course, needs to start with visiting the temple, performing prayers, visiting the cemetery, and then If necessary, you can perform your usual household chores.

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

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

• March 23 - Parental Ecumenical Saturday of the second week of Lent
• March 30 - Parental Ecumenical Saturday of the third week of Lent
• April 6 is Parental Ecumenical Saturday of the fourth week of Lent.

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

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 parent's Saturday in March.

On the eve of Pentecost, Trinity Ecumenical Saturday is celebrated. 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.

On May 9, the day of victory in the Great Patriotic War, a memorial service is held in churches for the many soldiers who gave their lives for the salvation of their Motherland. 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 it took place a great victory, 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
• April 6 - Saturday of the 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, according to ancient tradition, it is customary to bring 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 the common table in the church, where they could remember deceased relatives dear to their hearts. 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.”

How to spend All Souls' Day

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.

On days of special remembrance of the dead, it is very important to think about what death is, perhaps to rethink own life and relationships with loved ones, try to reconcile in 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.”

Children's prayer for deceased parents

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, not to 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.

P.S. Death is an inevitability that each of us will face at one time or another. And from correct attitude This question depends on the position of a person both in earthly life and after death. 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.

From this article you will find out what date Orthodox parental Saturdays will be in 2019. You will also learn about the meaning of this Ecumenical service.

Parents' Saturdays in 2019

Often these special days of remembrance of the dead are called “ecumenical parental Saturdays.” This is not true. There are two Ecumenical Memorial Saturdays: Meat (on the Saturday preceding the Sunday of the Last Judgment) and Trinity (on the Saturday preceding the Feast of Pentecost, or also called the Feast of Holy Trinity- the birthday of the Church of Christ).

The main meaning of these “ecumenical” (common to the entire Orthodox Church) funeral services is to pray for all deceased Orthodox Christians, regardless of their personal closeness to us. This is a matter of love that does not divide the world into friends and strangers. The main attention these days is to all those who are united with us by the highest kinship - kinship in Christ, and especially to those who have no one to remember.

Parents' Saturdays in 2019 fall on the following dates:

• – March 2, 2019.
• Saturday of the 2nd week of Great Lent – ​​March 23, 2019.
• Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent – ​​March 30, 2019.
• On Saturday of the 4th week of Great Lent - April 6, 2019 - the forefeast of the Annunciation, therefore the funeral service is not performed.
• Commemoration of deceased warriors– May 9, 2019.
• Radonitsa– May 7, 2019.
• – June 15, 2019.
• – November 2, 2019.

• Parents' Saturdays in 2020 fall on the following dates:

  • Ecumenical Parental Saturday (meat-free)– February 22, 2020.
  • Saturday of the 2nd week of Great Lent – ​​March 14, 2020.
  • Saturday of the 3rd week of Great Lent – ​​March 21, 2020.
  • Saturday of the 4th week of Lent – ​​March 28, 2020.
  • Commemoration of deceased warriors– May 9, 2020.
  • Radonitsa– April 28, 2020.
  • – June 6, 2020.
  • – October 31, 2020.

• Parents' Saturdays in 2021 fall on the following dates:

  • Ecumenical Parental Saturday (meat-free)– March 8, 2021.
  • Saturday of the 2nd week of Great Lent – ​​March 27, 2021.
  • Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent – ​​April 3, 2021.
  • Saturday of the 4th week of Lent – ​​April 10, 2021.
  • Commemoration of deceased warriors– May 9, 2021.
  • Radonitsa– May 11, 2021.
  • – June 19, 2021.
  • – November 6, 2021.

For preferential commemoration to us personally dear people There are other parenting Saturdays. First of all, these are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Saturdays of Great Lent, and besides them, the parental Saturday established in the Russian Orthodox Church, which was originally intended to commemorate the soldiers who died in the Battle of Kulikovo, but gradually became a general memorial day .

This memorial service falls on the Saturday preceding the memory of St. Vmch. Demetrius of Thessalonica - patron saint of the prince. Dmitry Donskoy, at whose suggestion, after the Battle of Kulikovo, an annual commemoration of soldiers was established. But over time, the memory of the liberating soldiers was crowded out in the popular consciousness, which is very regrettable, and Dimitrievskaya Memorial Saturday turned into one of the “parents’ days.”

Why "parental"? After all, we remember not only our parents, but also other people, often not connected to us by any family ties? By various reasons. First of all, not even because parents, as a rule, leave this world before their children (and therefore too, but this is not the main thing), but because in general our first priority prayer duty is for our parents: of all the people whose temporary earthly life is over, we first of all owe it to those through whom we received this gift of life - our parents and forefathers.

However, at the same time, it is also interesting when parent’s Saturday comes, what kind of day it is, what its features are.

Actually in Orthodox calendar we can find not one, but as many as 8 memorial days. Each of them has its own name and features, which are described in detail below.

There are several answers to the question of when Parents' Saturday will come this year:

1. Ecumenical parental Meat Saturday is celebrated on March 2.
2. During Lent, there are three parental Saturdays at once - in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks (i.e. March 23, 30 and April 6).
3. And then there is a break associated with the celebration of Easter. The next day is Radonitsa (often called the parent day), which falls on May 7, 2019.
4. Then they remember all the fallen who fought for their Motherland during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War, i.e. 9th May.
5. After this, the deceased are commemorated on Trinity Saturday - June 15.
6. Then they salute all the fallen soldiers for the Tsar and the Fatherland on September 11th.
7. The last parent's Saturday is celebrated on November 2, 2019 (it is called Dmitrievskaya).

The dates of these days are closely related to the most important church events (Lent, Easter and feast). Therefore, all dates are transitional - they change from year to year. The only exception is Memorial Day on May 9, which for obvious reasons is celebrated only on this date.

What is it - parents' Saturday

It is also interesting to understand what parental Saturday is - after all, in fact, the memorial day can fall on other days of the week (although in most cases it is the 6th day).

There are several versions on this matter. At least two of them are worthy of attention:

1. First of all, the Bible describes the creation of the world in 6 days, after which God rested from all his days and called it the Sabbath ( for a long time it was she who was the 7th day of the week, not Sunday). The state of peace harmonizes well with the mood of a person who wants to remember the deceased. There is no place for fuss in such a delicate issue, and it is better to postpone routine matters until later.
2. There is also an opinion that the word Sabbath itself literally means “intercession” (translation from ancient Greek). And in this case, too, everything falls into place: when remembering the deceased, people try to intercede for the deceased before God. That is why it is customary to pray intensely for an immortal soul who has left our world, and also to give alms in order to provide spiritual assistance to the deceased.

Special days of remembrance

When talking about the next or any other parent's Saturday, it is important to consider which day we're talking about. Dates of commemoration are different meaning- for example, in the Orthodox Church they intensively remember the deceased on special 5 days:

• Ecumenical Meat-Free Parental Saturday.
• 2, 3 and 4 parental Saturdays of Great Lent.

These days it is customary to serve a funeral service for all deceased Orthodox Christians, and not just for parents. Of course, this does not mean that it is prohibited to remember them on other days.

It’s just that these 5 dates of the year are the most significant and large-scale to remember. Moreover, Meat and Trinity Saturdays are considered ecumenical - churches hold ecumenical funeral services in memory of all the baptized who have already passed into another world.

Private parent days

And these days, according to the church charter, are not listed as funeral days, but services are still held - and in three Orthodox churches:

• Russian;
• Bulgarian;
• and Serbian.

These days include:

1. The main date is Radonitsa (it always falls on the second Tuesday after Easter), which is celebrated this year (2019) - May 7. Traditionally, it is customary to attend church and then go to the cemetery to restore complete order to the grave. But leaving food there, and especially vodka, and even drinking alcohol yourself is highly not recommended.
2. May 9 is not only Victory Day, but also a day of mourning. We remember all the victims of the monstrous and terrible war. Memorial services are also held in churches, so everyone can perform a funeral prayer and give alms.
3. Another private day is September 11th. The history of this date goes back to the distant 18th century, when Empress Catherine the Great issued a decree commemorating those who died in Russian-Turkish War. It is customary to pay last respect to all Orthodox soldiers.
4. Also included in these dates is Dmitrievskaya (Dimitrievskaya) parental Saturday (this year November 2, 2019), which is dedicated to the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. Interestingly, the tradition has developed since the time of Dmitry Donskoy, who remembered his fallen comrade after the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.

Saturdays of Lesser Fasts

Finally, there are three more memorable days - these are Saturdays, which come on the eve of memorable fasts:

• Rozhdestvensky;
• Petrova;
• Uspensky.

On such days, you can also remember the deceased person - pray for him and give alms.

Thus, if we talk about whether today or not is a parental memorial Saturday, you should immediately turn to church calendar. There are indeed many days to remember loved ones, and the most important thing is to remember the person and pay tribute to him.

It is best to go to the temple and then clean up the grave. But drinking vodka and leaving food on the grave is extremely undesirable.

Parental Saturdays of Great Lent– days when love and warmth for the souls of deceased loved ones are especially manifested. According to the calendar, they fall on March 23 and 30, as well as on April 6. On this day, believers pray for loved ones who are dear and close to their hearts, so that the Lord does not leave them without his prosperity.

Since this year the last parental Saturday of Lent falls on the eve of the great feast of the Annunciation, it is cancelled.

Although, with the modern rhythm of life, everyday worries and routine, the once kind and warm feelings for those we love seem to be erased. Regardless of how a person feels about church holidays, whether he is a believer or not, in any case, one must gratefully honor and remember his loved ones. That is why parental Saturdays are special days of greatest respect and honor for each other.

Rules for memorial days

The rules on all memorial days are practically the same. These days it is customary to attend churches, in particular memorial services. Believers take with them Lenten food, as a donation to the funeral table. They are distributed to all those in need: the poor and the needy. In addition to church, on Parents' Saturdays it is customary to visit cemeteries and remember deceased loved ones. It is considered a great sin to drink alcohol in a cemetery. The best thing you can do for the dead is to pray for the repose of the soul.

From the article you learned that the calendar has exactly eight days of commemoration of the departed and now you know what dates the main days fall on in 2019. By the way, in some regions of Russia, the Radonitsa holiday was equated to a day off, which once again suggests that parental Saturdays are important days when we pay tribute to loved ones.