Dmitrievskaya Saturday: the history of the establishment and traditions of commemoration of the dead

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The traditions of the Orthodox Church, unlike the Protestant denominations, recognize the legitimacy of prayers for the dead. Therefore, the presence in the calendar of days specially set aside for the prayerful commemoration of deceased ancestors is not accidental within the framework of the orthodox tradition. As a rule, they are tied to Saturday, and therefore are called parental Saturdays. There are seven of them in total, plus one day on the ninth of May, which is not tied to either Saturday or any other part of the week. One of these days, which will be discussed below, is called Dmitrievskaya Saturday.

History of the establishment of Dmitrievsky Saturday

Not all the days of memory of the deceased were established at the same time. Some of them are much older than others. Dmitrievskaya memorial Saturday, for example, had the notorious Battle of Kulikovo as the reason for its establishment. At first, on this day, only the soldiers killed in that battle were commemorated. But over time, the memory of the fallen defenders of the fatherland began to fade, as a result, they began to commemorate all the deceased Orthodox in general.

As suchDmitrievskaya Saturday was established by Prince Dmitry Donskoy, from whose name it got its name. This happened, of course, not immediately, not by some official order of the ruler. The development of this tradition took place gradually. But the starting point is 1380, when Mamai's army was defeated. With prayers of thanks for the victory, Dmitry Donskoy visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he had previously received a blessing for this battle from the founder and abbot of the monastery, St. Sergius of Radonezh. Together with thanksgiving prayers in memory of the murdered comrades, a funeral service was performed, which has become a tradition to repeat annually. It was not by chance that Dmitrievskaya Saturday acquired such a scale - tens of thousands of soldiers from the Russian side alone died on the battlefield, which, compared with the population level of that time, is a very large number. Many families have lost loved ones - fathers, husbands, brothers. Therefore, the joy of victory in this battle inseparably merged in Russia with the bitterness of loss.

The date for this memorial day was chosen to be 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 Demetrius of Thessalonica (this saint is the heavenly patron of Prince Dmitry Donskoy). Thus, last year Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday was celebrated on November 1, and this year it falls on the 7th. Soon, the new tradition was supported in all the dioceses of the Russian Church, and it became firmly established in the liturgical tradition.

Customscommemorations

Like any memorial day, Dmitrievskaya Saturday is celebrated with memorial services, prayers for the dead, visits to cemeteries and special memorial meals. In the folk tradition of Dmitriev's Saturday, the former pre-Christian customs of the Slavs associated with the cult of ancestors were also imprinted. So, for example, in addition to church prayers for the dead, on the eve of Saturday it was customary to leave clean water and new brooms in the bathhouse for the souls of the departed. In a similar way, a specially prepared dinner was left on the table at night so that the ancestors who came could get enough. Treats for the deceased were taken to the cemetery. In general, the very scope and scale of the celebration of this day in Russia testifies to the fusion of two traditions - the pagan holiday of the ancestors and the Christian day of commemoration of the dead.

Church commemoration

Regarding a purely church ritual, Dmitriev's memorial Saturday is nothing special. The day before, on Friday evening, the so-called parastas is served in the temples - a memorial evening service. And on Saturday morning itself, a funeral liturgy is performed with a memorial service. As a donation on this day, it is customary to bring food to the temple, with the exception of strong alcoholic drinks and meat.

Personal commemoration

Talking about what Dmitriev's parental Saturday is, the sermon of the church also draws attention to the need for personal, and not just temple, commemoration of the departed. First of all, this concernsclosest deceased relatives. Actually, this is why memorial Saturdays are called parental Saturdays - in them, first of all, they pray for the repose of their parents (if they died) and other close people. To do this, to help believers in church prayer books, special rites of prayers for the dead are offered.