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Parental Saturdays in 2021: do’s and don’ts these days
In the Orthodox tradition, there are several days of special commemoration of the dead.
What should be done on parental Saturdays? On these days, memorial services are held in churches and cemeteries, and believers go to the graves of their loved ones to put things in order and pray there.
The name “parental Saturday”, according to one version, appeared due to the custom of calling all the dead, that is, those who went to the forefathers, as parents, and according to another version, because of the Christian tradition, first of all, parents – mother and father – are remembered in prayers.
There are eight parental Saturdays in total in the year. Among them, two stand out especially, they are called Ecumenical parental Saturdays: Meat and Trinity.
The special meaning of Ecumenical Parental Saturdays is in prayer for all dead Orthodox Christians, regardless of personal closeness. These days the ministers of the church pay special attention to those whom there is no one to remember.
Parental Saturdays in 2021:
March 6 – Universal Meat Parent Saturday. It is celebrated on the last Saturday before Lent.
March 27, April 3, April 10 – Parental Saturdays of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks of Great Lent.
11 May – Parent’s Day (Radonitsa). It is celebrated on the ninth day after Easter.
9 May – Commemoration of the departed warriors.
19 June – Ecumenical Trinity parental Saturday, it is celebrated on the eve of Trinity.
6 November – Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday.
On these days, it is especially important to attend a service in the church, even if it interferes with going to the cemetery. In Orthodoxy, it is believed that praying for them is much more important for the dead than visiting the grave.
Do’s and Don’ts on Parent’s Saturdays
The main thing that needs to be done on parental Saturday is to go to church, to pray for the ancestors, and to the cemetery, to visit the graves of relatives. It is imperative to put things in order, clean out all winter debris, foliage. On Trinity Saturday, you need to decorate the graves with greenery – earlier this day was also called Green Saturday. It was believed that the dead on this day come to earth and move into trees, grasses, flowers.
Treats are left at the cemetery: pastries, sweets, boiled eggs. And also signs say that on this day it is not a sin to share your problems with those who have gone, to ask them for help.
Signs say that if rainwater is collected on parental Saturday, washing with it will give beauty and youth. And if you collect all the old shoes in the house and throw them away, it will bring happiness and prosperity.
Forbidden List:
You cannot leave alcohol in the cemetery. And in general, it is not advised to remember the dead with alcoholic beverages: they say that alcohol burns the souls of the departed. In addition, signs claim that those who drank alcohol on this day will be haunted by misfortune throughout the year.
You cannot take home unfinished food from the cemetery – it is left on the grave or distributed to the poor.
If you have a bathhouse, you need to flood it, but not wash – you can go inside only after a day.
On Meat Saturday, signs are forbidden to look at the stars – the sky on this day steals happiness.
You can’t start anything new, everything will be unsuccessful.
You cannot work in the country or in the garden, otherwise the entire crop will die.