Ancestral Saturdays #
The Church prays for the departed every week, on each Saturday. Saturday is the seventh day of creation, on which the Lord rested from His works and appointed it as a day of rest from worldly cares and for prayer, as the God-seer Moses wrote in the Old Testament Law. Christians, understanding the Mosaic Law in a spiritual sense, pray on Saturdays for the eternal rest of their departed ones together with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with the patriarchs, prophets, and all the saints.
Saint Macarius the Great received a revelation concerning Saturday. Once, while in the desert, he found a human skull and asked it about the fate of the soul in the afterlife—whether the soul of the deceased, and those like it, receive any consolation after death. The skull, which belonged to a pagan priest, replied: “When Christians pray on Saturday for those who have departed in the faith, and when light shines upon them from Friday evening until the dawn of Monday, then even we (the souls of the unbelievers) receive some relief.”
Universal Parental Saturdays #
The Holy Church especially honors the Universal Parental Saturdays—days of general commemoration for all departed Orthodox Christians.
Meatfare Saturday falls eight days before the beginning of the Great Fast. Its significance is closely tied to the following day—Meatfare Sunday, which is dedicated to the remembrance of Christ’s Second Coming and the Last Judgment. Each year, this solemn memory should increasingly compel Christians to pray for those who have already departed this life and can no longer prepare for that day with good deeds and repentance.
During the Great Fast, the second, third, and fourth Saturdays are dedicated to the commemoration of the departed. On other days of the Fast, neither memorial Liturgies nor Panikhidas are served; however, a memorial Litiya is performed daily, except on Saturday evenings. If the third-day or ninth-day commemoration for the departed falls during the Great Fast, the memorial service is postponed until the nearest Saturday (Great Typikon, leaf 937). The fortieth-day memorial service is always observed, but the commemorative meal is delayed until the nearest Saturday.
Before the feast of Pentecost, the Trinity Ancestral Saturday is observed. The event commemorated on this feast—the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles—clothed them with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Inspired by this mystery, the Holy Church, with special divine grace, dares on this day to pray not only for the righteous and the repentant but even for those who are held in Hades (Great Euchologion of Patriarch Joasaph, year 5, leaf 92 verso, third prayer).
Commemorative Days in the Russian Tradition #
In Russia, a special day of remembrance for the departed was established—the Saturday before the feast of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. It was instituted by Prince Dmitry Donskoy. The victory of the Russian army over Mamai’s Tatar horde came at the cost of much bloodshed. Prince Dmitry, who himself miraculously survived the fierce battle, made a vow to commemorate his fallen comrades every year on the Saturday before the feast day of his heavenly patron, the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. Since then, this custom has been firmly preserved in Russian Christianity. On this day, special remembrance is given to warriors who perished for their homeland and for the true faith. Unlike other Parental Saturdays, Demetrius Saturday may be moved forward by a week if the nearest Saturday falls on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy God-bearer or the Joy of All Who Sorrow Icon of the God-bearer (St. Arseny Uralsky, A Brief Practical Typikon).
Another widely observed commemoration of the departed in Russia takes place on the second week after Pascha, on Tuesday of Thomas Week (in some local traditions—on Monday or Saturday). Among the people, this day is called Radonitsa. On this day, memorial services are limited to Panikhidas (requiem services), while the main liturgical service follows the regular order.
There is also a pious custom among Christians to visit cemeteries during Holy Pascha, singing the Paschal Canon or the stichera with the verse “Let God arise” at the graves of their loved ones, exchanging the Paschal greeting with the departed as if they were alive. This Paschal commemoration in prayer has ancient roots. Saint John Chrysostom gives testimony to this practice in his homilies:
“Why did our fathers establish that, leaving the temples in the cities, we should gather today outside the city and in this very place?” asks the great hierarch. “Because today Jesus Christ descended into Hades to the dead, to proclaim victory over death” (Homily 62).
The Kiev-Pechersk Paterikon preserves the following account. In 1463, during the Paschal Matins, Dionysius, the keeper of the caves, descended into the monastery catacombs to cense the tombs of the departed brethren. With love, he cried out: “Holy fathers and brethren! Today is the Great Day—Christ is Risen!” And from all sides came the thunderous reply: “Truly He is Risen!” (Kiev-Pechersk Paterikon, Homily 38).
A long-standing Russian tradition, preserved in many places until the early 20th century but now nearly forgotten, was the commemoration on Semik—Thursday of the seventh week after Pascha, two days before Trinity Parental Saturday. On this day, prayers for the departed were accompanied by acts of mercy. Together with the clergy, carrying crosses and chanting sacred hymns, people would go to the so-called “houses of the poor”—open mass graves where, throughout the winter, the bodies of the unknown dead were placed, the poor, the homeless, those who had perished from cold and hardship. Nearly everyone who had the means considered it their Christian duty to provide for the burial of at least one of these unfortunate souls, often covering the costs and even personally participating in the burial. Even Russian princesses took an active part in this moving rite, which astonished foreign visitors to Russia 300–400 years ago.
Since these “houses of the poor”—also known as skudelnitsy—were usually located near churches, memorial services were held there. On the eve (Wednesday), a Panikhida was served, and on Thursday, a memorial Liturgy was celebrated. In the other churches of the city, the divine services continued as usual.