Pray for Parents: When the First Universal (Meatless) Parental Saturday in 2024

Parental Saturday is an important Orthodox event when we ask the Lord to rest the souls of deceased parents, grandparents and grandparents. We visit the graves of loved ones, go to church service, arrange a memorial dinner. March 9 will be the first Universal Parent Saturday in 2024. How to do it right, read on. And at the end of the article you will find the calendar of the main memorial days in the old and new style.



Peels Universal Parent Saturday in 2024 This year we celebrate 7 major Parent Saturdays. Their dates are floating. The main reference point for calculation is Great Lent and Easter. The first in the calendar is the spring Meat-Deliver Saturday on March 9. Friday is the last day you can eat meat. March 18 begins the Great Lent.

Next, we commemorate the deceased relatives on the 3 following Saturdays of Lent. But on Holy Saturday before Easter, our prayers are addressed only in the name of Jesus Christ.



Universal Parental Saturday: What are its features? The largest memorial days in 2024 are Meat and Trinity Saturdays. They're also called universals. How are they different from others?

These memorial days are the first in Christianity, the rest appeared later. They are directly connected with Easter and the Day of the Holy Trinity – days of special veneration among believers.

Who are we praying for these days? It is customary to ask for the repose of all his family, not only the deceased parents. As well as all deceased Orthodox souls up to Adam. The essence of this day is to remember the dead as living and ask the Creator to forgive them their sins in the hope of a future resurrection.



The Holy Fathers instruct parishioners to perform 4 important actions: pray for the deceased, visit the temple, give alms and perform an act of commemoration.

Prayer is the main task of a Christian. The deceased does not need material gifts - monuments, wreaths and flowers. This is how we, the living, show respect and memory. It is through prayer that the departed relative will be able to feel and accept our love.

You can whisper a funeral request to the Almighty at home or at the grave of the deceased. It is also worth visiting the service on Friday evening. First we pray to all the saints who have passed away, then we ask for close and distant relatives and all members of our great family.



Going to church for the Sabbath Liturgy, bring with you a memorial - bread, pies or other treats other than meat and alcohol. After the service, divide the memorial between the people you meet on the way home. Ask them to pray for the soul of your relative.
Be sure to make a donation. It can be anything: food, money, things, or just your presence and help. In this way we show mercy and love to others. It is as if we were to say, “O Allah, I give alms in the name of my departed friend, let this good deed be credited to him.”

It is important to take the time and remember the best. I mean, make a commemoration. Try to bring these qualities into your actions. For example, if the father was social and generous, in memory of him should pay attention to other people. Adopt his virtue and continue in his life.



What not to do on the memorial day of prohibitions a little. The main thing is to be ready to help anyone who asks. To live in a world without arguments and abuse. To speak of the dead only in a good way. It is necessary to clean the house in advance: household affairs on this day are not in honor. Noisy parties and empty conversations should also be postponed to another day.

Grandmothers say: prepare an odd number of dishes for the memorial dinner. It's better to do without alcohol. In the cemetery, it is better to take some food with you to eat or distribute everything. Otherwise, take everything with you. Unless the food fell to the ground. If it is time to put up a monument, move it to another day.



Recall that Ukraine switched to the New Julian calendar in the autumn of 2023. Almost all Orthodox church holidays have shifted to 13 days ago.

But transitional Easter is not. It is calculated every year according to the lunar calendar. The method is as follows: from March 21 - the day of the vernal equinox - calculate the nearest full moon. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after it.

In 2024, the bright holiday falls on May 5. And since parental Saturdays depend on Easter, they are celebrated in the same old and new style.



So, on March 9, we celebrate the Universal Parental Meat Sabbath;
30 March, 6 and 13 April – memorial Saturdays of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th week of Lent;
9 days after Easter, May 14 - Wires (Radonica);
After the Trinity, June 22 – Universal Trinity Parental Saturday;
The final big parental day, October 19 - Dmitriev Saturday.

Praying for the deceased is more important than going to the cemetery. You can ask God for your soul in your own words. Or read the following prayer:
Rest, O God, the souls of your dead servants: my parents, relatives (names) and all Orthodox Christians. Forgive them for their sins, grant them the kingdom of heaven.



“Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are our Lord.” You are our savior and protector. Save the souls of my deceased parents and relatives (names) and help their souls to find peace and peace. Let them lie quietly and calmly, so that they are not disturbed. Amen!

Spend the upcoming parental Saturday with the memory of those who are not around. And be sure to pay attention to the living. People close to you always need your care and love.