The charter of the divine services of the Russian Orthodox Church implies special days of remembrance of the departed, called parental days (Saturdays). These dates are especially important for the prayer commemoration of deceased ancestors.
The first parental memorial Saturday of 2017 is set to February 18th. On this day, the church charter provides for the celebration of the divine service of the universal meat-and-mouth Saturday. The name of this memorial day indicates the time of remembrance - the last Saturday before Holy Great Lent, on which the use of food of animal origin is allowed. After a week of meat-eating, cheese week begins, and then the believers enter the holy Forty-day.
During Lent in 2017, the departed are commemorated three times. The Charter sets aside for this Saturday the middle of the Fortune (in particular the 2nd, 3rd and 4th). The strictest Orthodox fast implies prayer not only for the personal salvation of the soul, but also the remembrance of dead people. Parental Saturdays on Fourth of 2017 fall on March 11th, 18th and 25th, respectively.
One of the most famous memorial days in Orthodoxy is Trinity Parental Saturday. On this day, in Orthodox churches, commemoration of all Orthodox Christians who have died from the century is performed, and the cemeteries are full of people as never before. In 2017, Trinity parental Saturday falls on June 3 (the next day, on Sunday, the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity).
In the fall of 2017, the service of Dimitrievskaya parental Saturday is celebrated. This memorial day falls on the last Saturday before the celebration of the great Christian Great Martyr Demetrius, named Thessaloniki. In 2017, Dimitrievskaya Saturday is determined by the calendar for November 4th.
It is especially worth mentioning about other significant parenting days of 2017, which do not fall on Saturdays. First of all, it is the commemoration of the dead in the post-Easter period. On April 25, on the ninth day after Easter, in 2017, Radonitsa is celebrated - the time when, after Easter joy, Orthodox people prayfully commemorate the dead (it always falls on Tuesday).
Another commemoration date is May 9th. The date itself indicates the prayerful commemoration of the soldiers and the special honor given to the heroes who participated in the Great Patriotic War. The Gospel clearly says that the highest deed of love is the sacrificial slaughter of one's life for the sake of one's neighbor.
The Russian state has identified another significant day for the commemoration of soldiers, which has become part of church liturgical practice. On February 15th, the internationalist warriors are remembered. This day in 1989 was marked by the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan. The Orthodox Church in Russia celebrates special memorial services on February 15th in memory of the deceased. Despite the fact that this day of the calendar is marked by the great twelveth feast of the Presentation of the Lord, in many Orthodox parishes, at the end of the liturgy, a panikhida is performed, where special petitions for the dead soldiers-internationalists are inserted at the funeral ectinia.
