Parent day is the ninth dayafter the Holy Easter. At this time, the deceased relatives are commemorated. How does this happen? Believing Orthodox Christians visit the graves of their loved ones and relatives, bringing to the deceased souls the glad tidings of Christ's Resurrection. Since Easter is really joyful news, the parental day began to bear the second name - Radonitsa (or Radunitsa).
There is another version of the origin of this name. The fact is that Radonitsa (and Trizna) are the names of the goddesses who are the guardians of the dead souls. Previously, as a sacrifice to these deities, people brought abundant dishes, leaving them on funeral burial mounds. This was done to ensure that the soul, which is still on earth for forty days, enjoyed the respect given to it by the living. After a while, the names of these goddesses were marked by a wake: the ancient Slavs called this Trizna ritual, and modern people began to call the spring memorial service of the deceased relatives Radonitsa (the same as the parental day).
Tribute to the memory of the deceased
Orthodoxy knows several commemoration days onthroughout the year. All of them are called parental Saturdays, since most of them fall on the Sabbath days. But Radonitsa is, perhaps, the most massive parental day. He does not have a specific date and falls not on Saturday, but always on Tuesday (in Fomin's week).
Today it is customary to visit on a parental daycemetery not only as a tribute to the memory of deceased parents or relatives, but also to bring order to their grave after the winter. People clean last year's leaves, weed weed, put up new artificial flowers or plant live flowers, straighten the fences, fasten the pictures that have fallen off the monuments, and so on.
Spring is the time of awakening and purification!
Parent day, the date of which falls onspring days, it is not accidentally celebrated at this time. The spring wake of the deceased is given huge religious significance in the culturology of Orthodox Christians. After all, spring is the awakening of Mother Nature and the whole world from winter sleep. Alive at this time need the support of their ancestors. So people come and "talk" with their dead relatives and parents, put things in order in their "houses."
Because Radonitsa is directly confined toEaster, then on this day it is customary to bring colored eggs, Easter treats and make a funeral feast at the cemetery. Part of the meal is given to the soul of the deceased relative to the poor people. That's right, according to religious beliefs, there is a "communication" with people who have left us. Together with the dead relatives we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, his unconditional victory over death, we rejoice that they too were able to be reborn in the new - Eternal Life!
Popular belief
It is believed that on the ninth day after Easterthe dead, inspired by the Great Resurrection of the Lord, come out of their graves and rejoice that their children and relatives remember them. This belief is a cult of ancestors.
