07:09, 17.06.2021 9837
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Trinity Parents' Saturday is an important Orthodox holiday during which the deceased are remembered
Trinity Saturday is one of the special days when great services are held in all churches to commemorate deceased Christians. According to the priests, memorial prayers for the departed at such a time are a precious gift for both the living and the dead.
In 2021, Trinity Parents' Saturday falls on June 19, Trinity Day - on June 20.
What you can and cannot do on Saturday before Trinity
On Trinity Saturday, Orthodox Christians go to church for worship, and then to the graveyard to visit the graves of their deceased loved ones. In the cemetery, you can clean the graves, light a candle or lamp.
But you shouldn’t drink, eat or leave funeral bags. The priests once again explain that the best help for the deceased is sincere prayer. The most important thing is that prayer on the day of Trinity Parental Saturday is conscious, so that it does not turn into a formality, however, the same applies to Parental Saturday itself.
Dmitrievskaya Saturday
Parents' Saturday 2021. Dmitrievskaya Saturday.
Parents day. What to do in November Parents' Saturday in November is associated with the name of the famous Russian prince Dmitry Donskoy. According to legend, it was he who proposed to perpetuate a memorial date in honor of the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, which became an important milestone in the fight against the Mongol yoke. Since then, soldiers who died during the battle have been remembered every year.
Parents' Saturday 2021. Dmitrievskaya Saturday. Parents day. What to do in November
Memorable dates in the Orthodox calendar often do not have one specific date, so they can shift. Dmitrievskaya Saturday was no exception. It falls on the Saturday before the day of remembrance of the Great Martyr Dmitry of Thessalonica (November 8).
It is curious that in 2021 these two dates follow each other closely - Saturday falls on November 7th.
What you need to do on the eve of Trinity
The most important thing we can and should do is to pray for the repose of deceased loved ones, both relatives and just acquaintances with whom life has encountered us. It would also be good to say a prayer for all departed Christians.
Go to church for the morning service and write memorial notes, indicating the names of all the deceased whom we remember (many even specifically turn to older relatives to find out as many names of ancestors as possible).
Order a magpie for the repose of someone closest to you. Then the priests will pray for the deceased person for forty days in a row, remembering his name in the altar. You can also order a memorial service for the deceased.
Bring donations to the canon and give out alms. You can gather your relatives for a memorial dinner, where you can honor the memory of all the deceased and remember the good moments from the lives of the deceased.
How is it customary to remember the dead?
It is important to visit the church on this day and pray there for the souls of the dead. In this case, you should give alms or simply help your neighbors - good deeds are considered retribution in memory of the deceased Christian. When attending both the evening memorial service and the morning liturgy, you need to pray for the repose of souls and submit appropriate petitions.
You can go to the cemetery where your relatives are buried and clean up their graves. It is also good to remove weeds, garbage and straighten sagging elements on abandoned graves - if there is no one to look after them, this will be considered a good deed in memory of the people who lived. It is considered extremely unfavorable to organize large funerals, and even more so, to abuse alcoholic beverages. It is especially bad to pour vodka on graves or simply leave cups of it - a “tradition” invented by no one knows who offends the souls of relatives.
Of particular importance are stories to growing children and young people about their ancestors and grandparents. It is useful to talk about them, show existing photographs and generally remember them with a bright word. When having a feast at home, you don’t need to drink too pretentiously without clinking glasses – simple thoughts about departed relatives are enough. All Souls Day is worth honoring.
Send this prayer to your loved ones
Text of the prayer for the dead
Prayers for the departed in Russian
Remember, O Lord our God, in the faith and hope of eternal life, Your departed servant (Your) (name), and as the Good and Lover of mankind, forgiving sins and iniquities, let go and forgive all his (her) voluntary and involuntary sins, deliver him (her) from eternal torment and the fire of hell, and grant him (her) communion and enjoyment of Your eternal blessings prepared for those who love You: after all, although he (s) sinned, he did not depart from You, and without a doubt she believed in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, God glorified in the Trinity, and Orthodoxy confessed the Trinity of the Consubstantial One even until her last breath.
Prayers for the departed in Church Slavonic
Remember, O Lord our God, in the faith and hope of the life of Your eternal servant, and as He is good and a lover of mankind, forgiving sins and consuming iniquities, weaken, forgive and forgive all his voluntary and involuntary sins, raising him up at Your holy second coming into the communion of the eternal For your blessings, for the sake of the One who has faith in You, the true God and Lover of mankind.
For Thou art the resurrection and life and rest of Thy servant, O name, Christ our God. And we send glory to You, with Your beginningless Father and with the Most Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.
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Mermaid pranks
This period, starting from Trinity, and in pre-Christian times - from the beginning of June, is called Rusalia. Our Slavic ancestors believed that at this time it was too early to swim in open reservoirs, since the water was still cold and unclean. At the same time, according to superstitions, mermaids awakened by the first warmth can not only drag an early swimmer to the bottom, but also plot various tricks on earth. They get out of ponds to bask, sit in trees, scare people, and send diseases to livestock. Sometimes the awakened mermaids are joined by their owner, the merman, and all this “wet” evil spirits make noise, sing songs, play tricks, and harm crops and livestock. To calm the mermaids and drive them back into the water, the evil spirits were frightened by fires that people lit on the hills and banks of reservoirs, noise, screams and spells.
Fortune telling for marriage
On Trinity days in Rus', girls told fortunes about suitors and marriage. One of the most famous fortune telling is to curl a birch tree. In the week before Trinity, girls wove braids from thin birch branches leaning down right on the trees. On Trinity Sunday they checked - if the braid is intact, it’s time to prepare for the matchmakers’ meeting; unraveled - you will have to wait at least another year for marriage.
Another popular fortune telling is with wreaths. The girls wove wreaths from the first wildflowers or from birch branches, put them on their heads, and then, as if by accident, “shaken them” into the water. Where the wreath floated, the betrothed will appear from there; the wreath swirled near the shore - a long girlhood awaits the owner; unraveled or drowned - trouble cannot be avoided.
Ecumenical Parents' Saturday: how to spend it correctly
To the unaccustomed ear, the name “Ecumenical Meat-Free Parental Saturday” sounds incomprehensible, although this is one of the main days of the Orthodox calendar, when believers commemorate the dead. In general, in the Church the dead are remembered every Saturday - after all, Sunday is ahead, the day that reminds us of the Resurrection of Christ and that from now on death has been defeated (that’s why we often use the word “departed” rather than “dead”).
Among these Saturdays, there are those when during the service we remember deceased loved ones in a special way - they are called parental. There are six such Saturdays: The Church recognizes the importance of our prayers for those who can no longer pray on their own and reminds believers of our duty to our departed relatives and friends. Let us note that the Church does not limit the prayerful remembrance of those who are already on the other side of their breath to these six parental Saturdays - they also pray for them at the Presentation of the Lord, which coincides with the day of the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan (February 15) - for the soldiers who died fulfilling their international duty , and May 9, and on Radonitsa (May 11).
And twice a year during divine services we prayerfully commemorate not only those deceased whose memory is still alive in the human race, not only our ancestors, relatives and loved ones, but also all “Orthodox Christians who have departed from time immemorial.” Moreover, “both those who were honored with Christian death, and those who were not guided into the afterlife by the prayers of the Church.” These days are called universal days.
Now about the word “meatless” in the name of Saturday, March 6, 2021. The Church Slavonic word “meat is empty” is equivalent to the Greek verb translated as “I leave the meat,” “I let go of the meat,” that is, I eat it for the last time. And since the next day, Sunday, is the last day when believers allow themselves to “eat meat”, the day when we “leave meat”, that is, “meat-free”, the Saturday before is also called “meat-free” - in order to distinguish it from the other universal parental Saturday - Trinity. And yet, on this day for believers, the main thing is not the upcoming dietary restrictions of Lent (March 15 - May 1), which begins a week after Maslenitsa (March 8 - 14). The main thing is our prayer for the departed. Tomorrow Sunday will be dedicated to the Last Judgment, and today, during the services of the Ecumenical Meat-Free Parental Saturday, the Church commemorates “all from Adam to this day who have fallen asleep in piety and the right faith.” This is the day when the Church especially prays for those dead who, for one reason or another, did not receive a church funeral service or church prayer: “they did not receive legalized psalms and hymns of memory.” Prays for those who were kidnapped by sudden death in a foreign land, in the sea and impassable mountains, on cliffs, in abysses; died from pestilence and hunger, in war, in fires, from cold, as well as about all the poor and weak.
Saint Athanasius (Sakharov) wrote: “If all Orthodox Christians began to pray exclusively only for their relatives and friends, what kind of grace would they have?.. In such an order, when everyone would pray only for their own, prayer for our beloved relatives and friends and about us ourselves would continue only for several years or decades after death, only until those who knew and loved them were still alive and had not forgotten the deceased - and then there would be no one to remember them.” That’s why the Church sets aside special days when we pray for everyone.
But do the departed need our prayers? Saint Theophan the Recluse writes: “Those who have departed are alive, and our communication with them is not interrupted. We pray as for the living, without distinguishing whether someone follows the righteous path or another; So we pray for those who have departed, without searching to see whether they are numbered among the righteous or among the sinners. This is a duty of brotherly love. Until the last judgment separates believers, all of them, both living and dead, constitute one Church. And we should all relate to each other as members of one body, both living and dead, without being divided in half by dying.” The human soul is created immortal; it does not die along with its body and after separation from it, that is, after physical death, it appears before God for private judgment. Having gone through this private trial, until the general resurrection and the Last Judgment, the soul remains awaiting its eternal fate. Where exactly is it located? We are not allowed to know. “In My Father’s house are many mansions,” Jesus Christ says to His disciples. But since the soul is immortal, since it “abides,” even if it is unknown where, it means that it is not only within the reach of our prayers, but also needs them.
The texts of the service of the Ecumenical Meat-Free Parental Saturday reveal to us the “theology of death and resurrection.” And during prayers for the departed, long before Easter, the Easter exclamation sounds in the church: “Christ is risen!”, and then an amazing appeal to all the departed, an amazing call to them: “Christ is risen!... Dare all the dead!” Tomorrow, March 7, the Last Judgment is remembered in churches, and the Church “wants to somewhat ease the fear of this terrible Day, wants to encourage the departed, and at the same time the living” (St. Athanasius (Sakharov).
On this day, Orthodox Christians try to be at the service and not only light a candle for repose, write a note for the memorial service, but also pray at the service, confess and receive communion. After the service on Parents' Saturday, it is customary to come to the cemetery, but if the weather does not permit, do not be upset: the main thing that our deceased loved ones need is our prayer. And in 2021 there will be more days of church remembrance of the dead: March 27, April 3 and 10, May 9 (commemoration of deceased soldiers), May 11 (Radonitsa), June 19 (Trinity Ecumenical Parents' Saturday) and November 6 (Dimitrievskaya Parents' Saturday).
The meaning of the holiday in Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church is part of the Christian Church. According to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the further development of theology, the salvation of the soul is possible only after joining the community of Christian believers (church). Church members include both living and deceased baptized into the Christian/Orthodox faith.
During the funeral service, believers turn to Jesus Christ with a request to show mercy to all pious Christians, including the departed. Remembering Christians who long ago gave their souls to God, they pray for forgiveness of sins, including those who died suddenly, by a tragic accident, and were not buried according to Christian custom.
How to prepare kutia
For the funeral kutia you will need:
- wheat/rice/pearl barley;
- dried apricots, raisins, prunes;
- nuts;
- honey/sugar syrup.
The choice of ingredients depends on desire. If wheat or pearl barley is chosen as the main filler, then you need to rinse the grain/grain, add cold water and leave to swell overnight. The rice is boiled immediately. To obtain crumbly porridge, the washed rice is brought to a boil and cooked for 15-20 minutes over low heat. Wheat and pearl barley are simmered over low heat until tender.
The ratio of salt water and cereals is approximately 2:1. You should monitor the cooking process, adding hot, salted water if necessary. If at the end of cooking the water has not all been absorbed into the cereal/grain, then the remaining water should be drained.
Fillers are added to the crumbly porridge to taste. Dried apricots, raisins and prunes are pre-boiled for several minutes, cooled and cut into small pieces. Nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts) are crushed, but not to crumbs. For viscosity and sweetness, add honey or sugar syrup (to taste). All ingredients are mixed well and allowed to soak for an hour or two, after which the kutya can be eaten.
Kutya can be prepared according to simplified recipes using a limited number of products:
- rice, raisins, honey (in a ratio of 2:1:1);
- wheat, poppy seeds, honey (for 0.4 kilograms of wheat add 100 grams of brewed poppy seeds, 1 glass of honey).
- rice, almonds, sugar (for 300 grams of rice - 1 cup peeled almonds - ½ cup sugar).
According to tradition, milk jelly is prepared for the funeral table. To do this, pour diluted starch into boiling milk, add sugar and cook after boiling for 1-2 minutes. Vanillin is added to the finished dish. For half a liter of milk you will need 2 tablespoons of starch, sugar and vanillin to taste.
The need to pray for the dead
According to Orthodox canons, the souls of the dead are burdened with earthly sins. The prayers of relatives and loved ones help bring them closer to heaven, because the Bible says that the Lord is merciful and is able to accept a lost sheep into his flock.
If a person led a righteous lifestyle, then it would not be superfluous to pray for him. Sins could be unnoticed by outside observers or committed in secret (for example, condemnation, pride, etc.).
During memorial periods, it is important not to forget about the holy martyrs. Their earthly life is a worthy example for Orthodox parishioners. It is believed that by praying for the saints, one gains strength to resist temptation and walk the earthly path with dignity.
Signs
In Rus' it was believed that winter began on Intercession Saturday, when the first snow fell. They judged the coming winter by the weather: what the weather was like before the Intercession, the same it would be in the winter. At this time, the cattle were transferred to a warm barn. Also, before the Intercession, the slaughter of cattle began. Meat was stored for future use and prepared for Pokrovsk wedding feasts.
Nation News / Natalya Ageenko
Orthodox traditions
On funeral Saturday, after visiting the memorial service and the cemetery, it is customary for all relatives to gather for a funeral lunch/dinner. Kutia and church wine were served on the table. After Meat Week comes Maslenitsa. On Shrove Monday, the family remembers their deceased relatives over dinner. An odd number of dishes are served on the table, the main one being pancakes.
The first pancake is placed on the shrine. Food from all dishes is placed in separate dishes. Vodka/jelly/beer is poured into a glass. At the end of dinner, uneaten food is not removed from the table so that the souls of the deceased can be satisfied at night.
