Dmitrievskaya Saturday. Dimitriev parental Saturday

Dimitrievskaya parent saturday- the closest Saturday before Memorial Day (October 26 / November 8). Installed after . Initially, the commemoration was performed for all the soldiers who fell in this battle. Gradually, Demetrius Saturday became the day of requiem commemoration of all the departed Orthodox Christians.

Establishment history

Demetrius Saturday established by the Grand Duke. Having won the famous victory on the Kulikovo field over Mamai on September 8, 1380, Dimitri Ioannovich, upon returning from the battlefield, visited the Trinity-Sergius monastery. , hegumen of the monastery, previously blessed him for the battle with the infidels and gave him from among his brethren two monks -. Both monks fell in battle and were buried near the walls of the Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God in the Old Simonov Monastery.

In the Trinity Monastery, the Orthodox soldiers who died in the Battle of Kulikovo were commemorated with a funeral service and a common meal. Over time, a tradition has developed to make such a commemoration annually. More than 250 thousand soldiers who fought for the Fatherland did not return from the Kulikovo field. Together with the joy of victory, the bitterness of loss came to their families, and this private parental day became in fact a universal day of remembrance in Russia.

Since then, on Saturday before October 26 / November 8 - the day of memory of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica (the name day of Demetrius of the Don) - funeral services were performed everywhere in Russia. Subsequently, on this day, they began to commemorate not only the soldiers who laid down their lives on the battlefield for their faith and Fatherland, but also all the departed Orthodox Christians.

Traditions

On Dimitri's parental Saturday, the graves of deceased relatives are traditionally visited, panikhidas and funeral litias are served in churches and cemeteries, and memorial meals are held.

On this day, as on other parental days (on and Saturdays, on Saturdays of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks), Orthodox Christians pray for the repose of the souls of deceased Christians, mainly parents. But Demetrius Saturday also has a special meaning: established after the Battle of Kulikovo, it reminds us of all those who died and suffered for the Orthodox faith.

If it is not possible to visit a temple or a cemetery these days, you can pray for the repose of the deceased in home prayer. In general, the Church commands us not only to, but every day to pray for the deceased parents, relatives, known and benefactors. For this, the following is included in the number of daily short prayer:

Prayer for the dead

Give rest, Lord, to the souls of your departed servants: my parents, relatives, benefactors (their names) and all Orthodox Christians, and forgive them all sins, free and involuntary, and grant them the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is more convenient to read the names from the commemorative book - a small book where the names of living and deceased relatives are recorded. There is a pious custom to keep family commemorations, reading which both in home prayer and during church service, Orthodox people commemorate by name many generations of their deceased ancestors.

Church commemoration on parental Saturday

To commemorate your deceased relatives in church, you need to come to the temple for worship on the evening of Friday on the eve of parental Saturday. At this time, a great memorial service, or parastas, is performed. All troparia, stichera, hymns and parastas readings are dedicated to prayer for the dead. On the morning of the memorial Saturday itself, a funeral service is performed Divine Liturgy followed by a general memorial service.

For church commemoration for parastas, separately for the liturgy, parishioners are preparing. In the note, the names of those commemorated in the genitive case are written in large legible handwriting (answer the question “who?”), with the clergy and monastics being the first to be mentioned, indicating the rank and degree of monasticism (for example, Metropolitan John, Sheikhumen Savva, Archpriest Alexander, nun Rachel, Andrei, Nina). All names must be given in church spelling (for example, Tatiana, Alexy) and in full (Michael, Lyubov, not Misha, Lyuba).

In addition, it is customary to bring food to the temple as a donation. As a rule, bread, sweets, fruits, vegetables, etc. are placed on the canon. You can bring flour for prosphora, Cahors for liturgy, candles and oil for lamps. It is not allowed to bring meat products or spirits.

Need to remember

Prayer for the departed is our main and invaluable help to those who have departed to another world. The dead man does not need by and large, neither in the coffin, nor in the grave monument, and even more so in the memorial table - all this is just a tribute to traditions, albeit very pious ones. But the eternally living soul of the deceased feels a great need for constant prayer, for she cannot do good deeds herself, with which she would be able to propitiate the Lord.

Pushkin has ingenious lines that directly relate to the day, which is celebrated on November 3 in 2018. This is Dmitrovskaya, or, as they say in the Church, Dimitrovskaya parental Saturday, among the people - Grandfather's Day. And although there is no direct mention of this, and any other parental Saturday in the poem, in fact, it explains why such memorable milestones are needed.

Two feelings are wonderfully close to us,
In them the heart finds food:
Love for native land
Love for father's coffins.
(On them is based from the ages,
By the will of God himself,
human self,
The pledge of his greatness.)

Modern political scientists formulate the same idea a little differently: a person who is not interested in his ancestors, the history of his people, finds himself suspended in a vacuum. Without relying on experience - family, tribal, national, it easily perishes, and if there are many such, cut off from the roots, society is doomed to degeneration. By the way, such homunculi, artificially taken from the experience of previous generations, functioning only in the mode of their own reflexes, are not only the dream of marketers of all stripes in the era of the consumer society, but also a reliable base for the organizers of any color revolutions, any acts of destabilization.

Of course, when our ancestors first celebrated Dimitrov's parental Saturday, and it was probably in 1380, the ancestors of the brilliant poet had not yet heard of Russia, and political science did not exist at all. According to historians, the appearance of Dimitrov's parental Saturday and its approval in the calendar is an indicator of the moral purity and foresight of the people.

So, in 1380, September 8 (September 21, according to the new style), Grand Duke Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ioannovich Donskoy defeated the Horde army under the command of Khan Mamai. famous battle took place on the Kulikovo field. The battle was protracted, bloody, according to the chroniclers, the horses could no longer step over the corpses - there was no clean place. Russian warriors from almost all the lands of North-Eastern Russia fought not just bravely - "without sparing their belly", Mamai's army was completely defeated. Yes, Tatar-Mongol yoke did not fall and lasted another century, but the victory at the Kulikovo field dealt a powerful blow to the hitherto invincible Golden Horde.

Forgetfulness deprives us not of the past, but of the future

Immediately after the victory on the Kulikovo field, Dmitry Donskoy went to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery to Sergius of Radonezh, its rector. It was Father Sergius, the great Russian saint, who blessed Dmitry Donskoy to fight with the Horde. Moreover, two monks of the monastery also participated in the battle - the heroes Alexander Peresvet and Andrey Oslyabya. Both died like heroes.

Apparently, in the autumn of 1380, in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, the beginning was laid to commemorate the fallen soldiers on the Saturday preceding the day of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. Why exactly? Firstly, the Church does not accept the commemoration of the dead on Sunday: this day of the week, even by name, reminds us of the Resurrection of Christ, and on Saturday, Jesus Himself was in the tomb, so the dates of the general commemoration of the dead are, as a rule, exactly Saturdays. Secondly, Dmitry Donskoy got his name in honor of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, extremely revered in Russia at that time. Memorial Day of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, which means the day of the angel Dmitry Donskoy - October 26 (November 8, according to a new style). Therefore, the day of commemoration of the soldiers who gave their lives on the battlefield was chosen on the Saturday preceding the name day of Dmitry Donskoy, that is, the Saturday preceding November 8th. Every year the date is different here, the day is one - Saturday. And the logic of Dmitry Donskoy was simple and majestic: before celebrating our name days, let's remember the dead, those who, by their death, gave you life.

After the first commemoration of the fallen on the Kulikovo field, the boyars expressed their wishes to the Grand Duke Dmitry Ioannovich for the future: continue to "create the memory of those who laid down their lives."

Years passed, new battles for the Russian land, new thousands of soldiers who died for their faith, for their homeland. In the 16th century, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible legalized Dimitri's Saturday, ordering "to sing panikhidas and serve masses in all churches and give general alms, and put food." The day took root, the people commemorated both soldiers and relatives on Dimitrov Saturday. They said: "During the grandfather's week, the parents will take a breath," and this is not the only proverb born at the autumn commemoration of the cathedral. In 1903, an imperial decree was issued: memorial services on this day should also be served in military units - for the soldiers "for the faith, the tsar and the Fatherland, who laid their lives on the battlefield."

In our time, on the day of Dmitrov Saturday, not only soldiers are especially commemorated, but also all those who died a sudden death, that is, those who "were not admonished to eternal life by the prayers of the holy Church," well, they do not forget about their departed relatives.

Ivan Shmelev has a description of how the days of remembrance for the dead were held. Surprisingly, the theme associated with the pain of loss, with longing and sorrow, is given by the writer with warmth and even joy. And the point here is not Ivan Sergeevich's talent, it's just the Christian perception of death, the understanding that after the Resurrection of Christ, she was defeated. And also a sense of accomplishment in relation to our departed. Yes, prayer for the dead is the duty of the still living towards those "whose lips are dead."

Here is how the famous elder Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) spoke about this: “Most people pass away into eternity with sins, not having time to cleanse themselves of sins due to unexpected death or illness and infirmity, and such turn out to be guilty before the Justice of God. At the same time, we we know that in the future there will be only two places for people to stay: hell and paradise. The deceased, who have not been cleansed of sins for themselves, can no longer offer prayers, they cannot help their situation. All hope is placed by them only on the living on earth - they can help change their fate after death. If the gates of eternity suddenly opened before our eyes, then we would see how millions of souls stretch out their hands to those living on earth, silently asking for their help in alleviating their lot in the other world. " That is, the souls of the dead need our prayer, just as we who live on earth need food and drink. But for us - and this also needs to be understood! - Our prayer for the departed is no less important. As St. John of Damascus teaches, everyone who prays and fights for the salvation of another benefits himself first of all, and only then his neighbor.

In churches, priests secretly read a special prayer for the dead. Today we will reveal its meaning. First, as usual, in the prayer it is stated to whom we are addressing: “God of spirits and all flesh, abolishing death and the devil, and bestowing life on Your world!”, Which in translation from Church Slavonic sounds like this: “God of spirits and all flesh, who corrected death and abolished the devil, and gave life to your world! Further, in a prayer read secretly, the priest asks: "Lord Himself, give rest to the souls of the departed servants of Yours (names), in a place of light, in a place of greenery, in a place of peace, sickness, sorrow and sighing will flee from nowhere." That is, the priest asks: "He Himself, Lord, rest the souls of His dead servants (names) in a place of light, in a place of bliss, in a place of joy, from where torment, sorrow and groaning departed." And then a request for the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased, a request containing an excuse for all of us: "Every sin committed by them, in word, or deed, or thought, as the Good Lover of mankind God forgive, as if there is a person who will live and not sin, You are the only one except sin, Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and Your word is truth." "Any sin committed by them in word, or deed, or thought, as a good and philanthropic God, forgive. For there is no person who would live and not sin, for only You alone are without sin, Your righteousness is truth forever and Your word is truth ".

A simple text, nothing more - a capacious statement of what the bereaved wants, what he hopes for. And having entrusted the posthumous fate of the deceased to the One, Whose mercy and love is incomparably greater than human mercy and love, the prayer really feels not only relief, but also the fact that love extends beyond the boundaries of the earthly world. Prayer is the conductor through which the current of our love rushes. And here, as in physics: the stronger the current, the higher its frequency, the brighter the light, the less darkness - in our grieving souls. In the world around us - if we leave no room for hopelessness and despair in it.

Competently

How to spend Dmitrov Saturday

Divine services for the departed begin on Friday evening, when a great memorial service (in Greek, "parastas") is served in churches, and on Saturday morning a funeral liturgy is served, followed by a general memorial service. For church commemoration, notes with the names of the deceased are written for the parastas and separately for the liturgy. Names should be written large, legible, in the genitive case, in the full version (not Sasha, but Alexander), in church spelling (Tatian, Alexy). There is a tradition on the day of commemoration to bring food to the temple - "on the canon" (or "on the eve"), that is, leave it on the table next to the canon - the place where candles are lit for the dead. Previously, commemorations were common: all the dead were commemorated at a large table, today the products brought to the temple are given to those in need. Charity is an important way to honor the memory of a loved one.

In the 20th century, unexpectedly, the Battle of Kulikovo became the cause of serious battles between official historical science and followers of the theory of A.T. Fomenko and G.V. Nosovsky, who believe that the battle did not take place on the field between the rivers Don and Nepryadva, but in the area of ​​​​Moscow, called Kulishki.

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"According to the Prince"

Saturday in Holy Scripture is a special day. In the Old Testament - the day of rest, and in the New - the day of forgiveness, remission of sins. And it is no coincidence that the Church chose the Sabbath day for the cathedral commemoration of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo. the day before holiday- Sundays, when, according to custom, all Christians should be in the temple, believers gathered to pray for the repose of the souls of brothers in faith.

On Varvarka

…That day was a day of great joy and great sadness. The messenger of Prince Dimitri reached the gates of Moscow in a matter of days, and by the time the militia returned, the inhabitants - priests, monks and laity, old and young - with icons and banners went to the outskirts of the city, to that place, lower than Yegoryevskaya Gorka, from where the street leading to Kremlin and big bargaining. Now it is called Varvarka (in honor of the church of St. Barbara the Great Martyr, built later, at its very beginning).

From Kulishki one could see the domes of the church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George - "Egoria", as he was called by the people. Along this very street, asking for a blessing from the patron saint of Moscow, the Russian militia marched to the Battle of Kulikovo.

Along the same street, it was decided to return back. The road of hope, prayer, thanksgiving and tears - this is what it has become for the militias and the townspeople.

Wives, mothers, children and elders were looking forward to theirs. - The messenger brought the news that the losses are huge. - They went out to meet the prince and the squad, knowing that they were followed by a great many carts with the wounded and dead. Exclamations of joy, lamentation, glorification of God, and over all this sea - a heartfelt prayer for the repose of the souls of the Orthodox soldiers killed on the Kulikovo field.

…110 thousand

Never before has the Russian army known such a victory. She was like the holy wars of history Old Testament when God Himself fought on the side of ancient Israel, when victory was given not by numbers and military skill, but by faith in His undoubted and close help.

Just as Tsar David, still a youth, went out to meet the giant with a sling in his hand, and with the invocation of the Name of God crushed the wicked, so this time the monk Alexander Peresvet rode out of the timid camp towards Chelubey, dressed in heavy armor, with only a spear in his hands. On September 8, 1380, thousands of Russian troops saw a similar miracle. Having struck the enemy with one blow, the monk fell dead and betrayed his soul to God, but this was enough for the Russian regiments to come forward with a prayer.

On that day, the word of St. Sergius of Radonezh was fulfilled, announcing victory to Prince Dimitri Ioannovich, but victory at a high price. Of the 150,000 militias, only 40,000 returned to Moscow. However, from that moment on, Russia began to live in hope of liberation from the Horde yoke.

debt of memory

Immediately upon his return, Prince Dimitri ordered memorial services for the murdered to be served in all churches and monasteries. Lists of the dead were compiled and sent to parishes and monasteries. Many warriors remained forever unknown, and in those days the Orthodox Church collectively prayed for the granting of forgiveness of sins and for the repose of all Russian soldiers, known and unknown, who laid down their lives for Russia, for the Orthodox faith.

The city lived with one prayerful sigh. In front of the altars in the light of chandeliers and under the vaults of monastic cells, in the boyars' chambers and in cramped huts, with the lights of penny candles, the Gospel and the Psalter were read with the commemoration of the fallen governors, thousands and centurions and all Orthodox militias. People who did not know how to read and write prayed from the heart with tears and bows to the ground in front of dark images and on the church porches.

In memory of the dead, at the very place where the Russian army marched to fight the Tatars, a temple was founded in honor of All Saints - the heavenly patrons of Russian warriors who fell during the battle. This is how one of the most ancient Moscow churches appeared - the Church of All Saints on Kulishki. Modern look the temple acquired at the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries. It was built on the masonry of the former wooden church of the 14th century.

And in 1386, the mother of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, Prince Vladimir Andreevich the Brave of Serpukhov, Princess Maria, in gratitude for the fact that the Lord had saved the life of her son, founded a monastery in Moscow in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and herself took tonsure in it with the name Marfa. There is no consensus about the place of its original location: according to one version, it was originally founded in the Kremlin and was called the monastery "that on the moat" and stood until 1484; According to another, it was founded on the present site, on the left bank of the Neglinnaya, not far from Trubnaya Square. There is evidence that the monastery was erected by princely decree. Its first inhabitants were the widows of the Russian militia. Those who lost their breadwinners in the battle on the Kulikovo field found shelter in it.

Every year on the same autumn Sabbath day, Prince Demetrius was appointed to serve requiems in memory of those killed.

Over time, the established custom changed somewhat: the prayer for the fallen soldiers began to be joined by the prayer for the deceased relatives and for all the Orthodox Christians who had died from the age. It was then that "Dimitrovskaya Saturday" - as it was called in memory of Prince Dimitri Donskoy - began to be called "parental". Since ancient times in the Russian Orthodox Church it has been a day of common prayer for the departed, a day of hope for God's mercy.

The custom established in the Church since the time of Prince Dimitri Ivanovich turned out to be that “connecting thread” that united many generations of Russian people with a sense of catholicity, church unity. After the expulsion of the remnants of the Napoleonic army from Russia, on Dimitrov Saturday, the Church also prayed for the soldiers, “who laid down their lives for the faith, the tsar and the fatherland” in the years patriotic war 1812 - 1815 She also called on the mercy of God on all the dead Orthodox Christians in the years Crimean War. Into the reign Alexander III Russian soldiers who gave their lives for the sake of the liberation of brothers in faith in the Balkans were also commemorated. The sounds of cathedral prayer did not subside on Dimitrov Saturday and during the First World War and the Great Patriotic War.

The Sabbath is one of the most important days of the coming week. church calendar. This is a day of remembrance and prayerful fellowship of living and deceased Christians.

How Dmitrievskaya Saturday differs from other days of commemoration of the dead - Hierodeacon John (Kurmoyarov)

Dimitrievskaya (Dmitrievskaya) parental Saturday - Saturday before the day of memory of the saint martyr. Demetrius of Thessalonica (October 26, old style), when the dead are commemorated, despite the fact that this day is not marked as a memorial day in the liturgical charter. In Russian manuscripts, Dmitriev's Parental Saturday is rarely mentioned, is not noted in translated liturgical books (Typicons, Menaia), and is only occasionally indicated in original Russian monuments - cathedral "Officers" and monastery "Obykhodniks". One of the first mentions of Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday as a day of commemoration of the dead is contained in a collection of Novgorod origin of the 15th century. In the monastery "Obikhodniki" Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday is the day of commemoration of the deceased brethren.

Why Saturday? Because on Saturday the Lord with His soul dwelt with the dead in hell: Christ descended into hell immediately after the separation of the soul from the body, and on Saturday the Lord dwelt in hell and led out the Old Testament righteous from there.

Outside the monasteries, Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday was perceived as a day prayer for the dead about all the departed faithful. Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible ordered this Saturday "to sing memorial services and serve masses in all churches and give general alms, and put food." The “Officer” of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral on October 23 contains the following entry of the 2nd half of the 17th century: “Before the memory of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius, on Friday evening there is a memorial service for all Orthodox Christians.” In the Old Believer manuscripts there is a compilation from "Obikhodnikov" and "Charters", dedicated to Dmitriev's parental Saturday with the title: "It is fitting to know about Saturday before the feast of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica."

In the 17th century, Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday, in all likelihood, was not yet associated with the commemoration of the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Kulikovo. The legends about the Battle of Kulikovo also do not contain an indication of the establishment of the Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday by Prince Dmitry Donskoy. Only in the Cyprian edition of The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev, created in the middle of the 16th century and which has come down to us as part of the Nikon Chronicle, it is told that blgv. The prince turned to St. Sergius with the words: “And so that you sing a ponafida and serve mass for all those who were beaten for them. And so be it, and give alms, and feed the Monk Abbot Sergius, and feed all his brethren, ”but even in these words Dmitriev’s parental Saturday is not associated with the Battle of Kulikovo. It can be assumed that the association of Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday with the commemoration of the fallen on the Kulikovo field appeared only in the 18th or even in the 19th century.

St. Filaret of Moscow (Drozdov) wrote in a letter to A. N. Muravyov dated November 26, 1845: “I don’t know the resolution about Dmitriev’s Saturday, except for our Russian tradition. Perhaps the commemoration by St. Sergius of those who fell in the Mamaev battle was the beginning of a common commemoration? Memorial Day, perhaps, was determined by the first convenience upon returning from the campaign. Or, perhaps, after the death of Dmitry Donskoy, on the nearest next to the angel, his Saturday (the usual day of commemoration of the departed in the week, because on this day our Lord was in the departed) they determined to commemorate him and his associates, and, as with everyone, by the way it was to commemorate their relatives, then the commemoration has become universal.

In the 19th century, the opinion about the connection of Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday with the Battle of Kulikovo spread and became dominant. On August 22, 1903, an imperial decree was issued ordering military units to perform requiems for the departed soldiers on Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday. According to some contemporaries, even before the issuance of this decree, “the Russian army honored the memory of all those who fell in the Battle of Kulikovo” on this Saturday.

In Russia, among the people, Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday was considered one of the main memorial days. In the period between the feast of the Kazan Icon Mother of God and Memorial Day. Demetrius, or Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday, did not play weddings.

In the event that Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday coincides with a holiday (for example, from October 22 - the day of memory of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God), the commemoration of the departed is transferred to the previous Saturday. In 1885, 1900 and 1906, when Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday coincided with October 21 - the day of the accession to the throne of the emperor. Nicholas II, Holy Synod postponed the commemoration to Friday, October 20 - the day of the death of Emperor Alexander III.

(The article "Dimitrievskaya Parental Saturday" // Orthodox Encyclopedia. Published by Russian Orthodox Church with blessing His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and All Russia Alexy II. Church Research Center. "Orthodox Encyclopedia". M., 2006. T. 14. "Yes-Dee". pp. 719–721).

From the editor:

The liturgical Charter establishes special ones. One of them - Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday. The day before, on Friday, in the Old Believer churches, after a Panikhida is performed: the reading of kathisma 17 with the singing of her selected psalms and the funeral canon. At the Panikhida, funeral litanies are also proclaimed, on which notes “for the dead” are read. Why the Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday was established in the Russian Church, about the meaning of the commemoration of the departed Christians, about the “memory of death” - read in the article by nun Livia.

Days of commemoration of the dead have a special place in the Christian church tradition. At this time, the inextricable link between the two worlds is most deeply felt - our earthly life and the life of the future century, which will inevitably meet each of us.

Saturday is a day of rest. On the Sabbath day, the Lord Himself deigned, for our salvation, to remain in the tomb. Therefore, this day is determined for a special prayer for the repose of our faithful brothers, when we, with faith and hope, ask the Lord to instill their souls "in places of light, places of coolness, places of peace."

In the people, memorial days are called "parental", because first of all they remember their deceased parents and relatives in the flesh in prayer. The word “parental” also has a broader meaning and refers to all deceased fathers and forefathers, that is, to all Christians who have reposed in Orthodox faith and piety.

The ever-living soul feels the need for constant prayer, but after being separated from the body in another world, it can no longer pray for itself or propitiate the Lord. good deeds. Therefore, the Holy Church, as a loving mother, has established special memorial services, when joint prayers bring great benefit and comfort to the souls of the departed, both sinners and the righteous, for there is no person without sin.

Life beyond this world is an incomprehensible riddle for the human mind, but from patristic teachings and testimonies we can partially learn about the innermost spiritual mysteries of higher, immortal being. The same testimonies tell us a lot about the power of church prayer:

Even if one who died in piety was put in the air, do not deny alms and candles, invoking Christ God, set fire to the tomb, it is pleasing to God and brings a lot of retribution. If the dead man is a sinner, let the sins be resolved. If he is righteous, yes there will be a bribe(St. Athanasius the Great, Synoxarion on the Meat-Feast Saturday).

There is a lot of help for faithful souls, a hedgehog for them is given to the weak, and the priests and deacons pray for their souls, and services are often performed. The apostle was commanded by the saints about those who have reposed in the faith, in holy service commemorated to be, much use for the dead(Instruction of St. John Chrysostom on Pentecostal Saturday, before the Trinity).

Two great Ecumenical memorial Saturdays are known in the year: Meat-Feast, which was established two weeks before the start of Great Lent, and "Trinity" parental Saturday, preceding the feast of Pentecost. These are the days special commemoration when we pray for all "Orthodox Christians who have passed away in orthodoxy and piety from the ages." On the most there are four more memorial parental Saturdays. The special funeral services of this period are established in order to partially compensate for the absence of proskomidia among other days of the week, since in great post solemn liturgical services are supposed to be performed only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Dmitrievskaya parental Saturday, far removed in time from other generally accepted memorial days, also has its own distinctive meaning and a special history of origin. This day of commemoration of the departed always falls on the Saturday preceding the memory of the great martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica (November 8 / October 26, old style), and was established by the right-believing Prince Dimitri Donskoy in order to honor the memory of Russian soldiers killed in 1380 on Kulikovo field.

According to church tradition, having returned to the capital city after a heroic and significant victory - the first crushing victory of Russian soldiers over the Tatar horde, Prince Dimitri ordered funeral requiems to be served in all churches and to commemorate the names of Orthodox warriors who died on the battlefield. With special zeal, they performed services in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, from where Reverend Sergius sent two of his monks to help Prince Dimitri - Alexander Peresvet and Andrey Oslyabya. According to the custom of that time, the battle began with the struggle of two warriors-combatants. From the Tatar camp came the formidable warrior Chulebey, who until that time was considered invincible, and from the Russian side - Sergius monk, Alexander Peresvet. The folk legend, which came to us through many generations, says that both combatants collided with each other on spears, which was strong, and both fell dead at the same moment.

The victory on the Kulikovo field was a special decisive and turning point in the history of the Fatherland, became the first real step towards the liberation of the Russian people from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. In it, we also see God's special providence in patronage over the Russian land, because it would have been impossible to defeat the numerous horde of Khan Mamai by human strength alone. The Lord Himself and the Most Pure Theotokos helped the Orthodox soldiers, on the feast of the Nativity of which the battle, exceptional in its significance for Russia, took place. From church history you can learn about the thanksgiving prayer offerings that people gave in honor of this great and glorious event.

At the place where the Russian army went to battle with the Tatars, a temple was founded in honor of all the saints - the heavenly patrons of Russian warriors who fell on the battlefield. Thus, one of the most ancient Moscow churches, the Church of All Saints, was built. The wooden temple of the XIV century was rebuilt at the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries.

Temples were built not only in memory of the dead. In gratitude for the fact that the Lord saved the life of the hero of the Kulikovo Battle of Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andreevich the Brave, his mother Princess Marya founded a monastery in Moscow in 1386 in the name of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and herself took tonsure there with the name Martha. There is different information about the location of the monastery. According to one version, it was founded in the Kremlin, was called the monastery "on the moat" and stood there until 1484. According to another, it was originally located at its current location: on the left bank of the Neglinnaya, not far from Trubnaya Square.

God is alive." Among Orthodox Christians, it is widely believed that the defenders of their native land, who laid down their lives "for faith and the fatherland", will be counted among the holy martyrs. After all, the highest commandment of Christian love, in the words of the Lord Himself, is “to lay down one's life for one's friends” (John 15:13).

The Holy Fathers do not command us to grieve and mourn for a long time from separation from our beloved friends and relatives, but to believe in the common Resurrection and remember that everything in this life is temporary. Moreover, Christians have great joy, remembering loved ones in fervent prayers, doing alms and offerings in their memory. And if anyone in the family has the holy righteous and saints of God, then, of course, you can count on their help and intercession before the Lord.

If there were immortals here, they would truly weep for the dead. Is it possible that we all pass from this life, so that each of us weep for ourselves, and repent of our sins. Don't you see how we see off the dead with songs and singing, and with incense, and with candles we go along them, forming, as if from a dark exile of life, to the true light of otidosha. And to the east we bury, foreshadowing the dead uprising. Also, do not grieve, brethren, for those who have died, as if unbelievers, who do not have the hope of the Resurrection. Yes, we cannot faithfully imitate the unfaithful. But we will listen to Christ and believe, for the hour will come when the dead will rise, and they will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live, and heaven and earth will be renewed.(The book "Chrysostom", a lesson on Saturday Meat-Saust).

Memorial days are also, undoubtedly, of great benefit to the pious prayer books themselves. Remembering our dead relatives, at the same time we think about our own fragility and about the perishable vanity of the entire visible world.

Some people, of a secular type of thinking, consider it gloomy and indecent in society to talk about death, and argue that such thoughts should be driven away as soon as possible. It turns out a paradox: atheists who claim that after earthly life there will be nothing else - no flour, no bliss, only emptiness - are terribly afraid of even the very talk of an exodus from this world. And Christians who believe in eternal retribution, although they are afraid of a possible punishment for sins, but also have hope for God's mercy and forgiveness, therefore they are not afraid to talk about the inevitable, about temporary earthly life and eternal afterlife.

The Holy Fathers, Christian ascetics, lived in hope and hope, despising the vanity of the entire visible world. “Remember your last and you will not sin forever,” so their God-wise teachings tell us. The memory of death is like a bridle for sin; in it lies a firm guarantee for every virtue. Therefore, just as we bring comfort to the departed, remembering them in our prayers, so we ourselves receive incomparable edification at this time when we stand at the sad, tomb mound and meditate on the words of the Lord:

Thou art earth, and to earth thou shalt go (Gen. 3:19).

Teaching about the memory of death

“It is extremely necessary and very useful for the soul to always remember death. Nothing helps us like this. And nothing brings us such good as reading books about the death of people. For it cuts off from us all the passions of the soul and body, diligently induces us to virtues and elevates us to perfection. If they always kept in mind and did not forget the hour of death, they would never sin.

When we forget about death, the life of the present age is pleasant to us, we become attached to it, we remain in laziness and carelessness, we fall into all evil and sinful passions and move away from God. But we worry over trifles in the bustle of the present century. We do not care about the coming bliss. We do not think: are we not born naked into this world? Are we not naked and leave it, dying? Are you naked and Last Judgment will we rise? Only in the deeds that we did here, and thoughts, we will be clothed, as in a robe. Either bad or good. Those sins that we commit now, inside the body, as in a mirror, will be visible to all people. And the soul and body will be tormented. And the more the flesh has committed sins, the more severe torment it will experience. And the souls and bodies of those who have done good will sparkle from their good deeds, like the sun. And the more a person forces himself, the greater bliss will be granted in the Kingdom of Heaven.

As if in a dream we live in this world, and we should always remember the coming life without end. Kingdom of Heaven, unspeakable joy and bliss. Then despondency, laziness and fatigue, and various vain whims and worldly desires of the present age, indecent and deceitful, will disappear. From them, our soul, as if from the dead, will rise by the grace of Christ, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen ”(The flower garden of the holy monk Dorotheus).