The traditions of the Orthodox Church, in contrast to Protestant denominations, recognize the legitimacy of prayers for the departed. Therefore, the presence on the calendar of days specially set aside for prayer commemoration of the deceased ancestors is no accident within the framework of the Orthodox tradition. As a rule, they are attached to the Sabbath, and therefore are called parental Saturdays. In total there are seven plus one day on the ninth of May, which is not linked either to Saturday or to any other part of the week. One of these days, which will be discussed below, is called Dmitrievskaya Saturday.
The history of the establishment of Dmitriyev Saturday
Not all days of memory of the departed were established at a time. Some of them are much older than others. Dmitrievskaya memorial Saturday, for example, had the notorious Battle of Kulikovo as a reason for its establishment . For the first time on this day, only the soldiers killed in that battle were remembered. But over time, the memory of the dead defenders of the fatherland began to erode, as a result, they began to remember all the deceased Orthodox in general.
As such, Dmitriyev’s Saturday was established by Prince Dmitry Donskoy, on behalf of whom it received its name. Of course, this did not happen immediately, not by some official order of the ruler. The development of this tradition took place gradually. But the starting point is the year 1380, when the army of Mamai was defeated. With thankful prayers for the victory, Dmitry Donskoy visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he had previously received a blessing for this battle from the founder and hegumen of the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Together with thanksgiving prayers, a memorial service was held in memory of the murdered comrades, which has become a tradition to be repeated annually. Dmitrievskaya Saturday did not acquire such a scale on purpose - tens of thousands of soldiers from the Russian side were killed on the battlefield, which represents a very large number compared to the population of that time. Many families have lost loved ones - fathers, husbands, brothers. Therefore, the joy of victory in this battle inherently merged in Russia with the bitterness of loss.
The date for this memorial day was chosen Saturday before October 26 according to the old style, or November 8 according to the new one, that is, before the feast of the Great Martyr Dimitry of Solunsky (this saint is the heavenly patron saint of Prince Dmitry Donskoy). Thus, last year Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday was celebrated on November 1, and this year it falls on the 7th. Soon, a new tradition was supported in all dioceses of the Russian Church, and it firmly entered the liturgical tradition.
Commemoration customs
Like any memorial day, Dmitriyev’s Saturday is celebrated with memorial services, prayers for the dead, visits to cemeteries and special memorial meals. In the folk tradition of the Dmitriyev Saturday, the previous pre-Christian customs of the Slavs associated with the cult of their ancestors were imprinted. So, for example, besides church memorial prayers, on the eve of Saturday it was customary to leave clean water and new brooms for the souls of the deceased in the bathhouse. Likewise, a specially prepared dinner was left on the table for the night so that the ancestors who came could get enough. Treats for the deceased were also taken to the cemetery. In general, the sheer scope and scale of celebrating this day in Russia indicates the merger of two traditions - the pagan feast of the ancestors and the Christian day of remembrance of the dead.
Church commemoration
Relatively purely a church ritual, the Dmitriev Memorial Saturday does not stand out in anything special. The day before, on Friday night, the so-called parastas, a memorial evening service, is served in the temples. And on Saturday itself, in the morning, a memorial service is held with a requiem. As a donation on this day, it is customary to carry products to the temple, with the exception of spirits and meat.
Personal commemoration
Talking about what the Dmitriyevsky Parental Saturday is, the sermon of the church also draws attention to the need for personal, and not only temple commemoration of the deceased. First of all, this concerns the nearest deceased relatives. Actually, that’s why the funeral sabbaths are called parental — they primarily pray for the repose of parents (if they died) and other close people. To do this, special orderly sequences of memorial prayers are offered to help believers in church prayer books.