Second Saturday of Souls of Great Lent

Overview

The Second Saturday of Souls of Great Lent is the first of three Lenten Soul Saturdays on which the Orthodox Church makes special commemoration of the departed faithful. Falling on the Saturday of the second week of the fast, it extends the mercy sought during Lent to those who have fallen asleep, praying for all Orthodox Christians who have departed this life in the hope of the resurrection.

The observance belongs to a wider cycle of Soul Saturdays kept throughout the liturgical year. Together with the Second, Third, and Fourth Saturdays of Great Lent, these days are set aside because the Divine Liturgy cannot be served on the ordinary weekdays of the fast; Saturday thus becomes the appointed day for commemorating the dead within the penitential season. The Church intensifies its prayer for the departed during Lent, both to remind the believer of his own mortality and to fulfill the Christian obligation of charity toward those who have reposed.

The Second, Third, and Fourth Lenten Saturdays are sometimes called the Ancestors Saturdays or Memorial Saturdays. On these days many of the hymns of the Daily Office and the Divine Liturgy are dedicated to the remembrance of the departed, and memorial services with the offering of kolyva are served for the faithful who have died.

History

The commemoration of the dead on Saturday rests on the ancient association of that day with Christ's rest in the tomb: Saturday is a traditional day of prayer for the departed because Christ lay dead in the Tomb on Saturday. From this foundation the Church developed a series of general commemorations for all the faithful departed, distributed across the liturgical year at several primary times.

The Lenten Soul Saturdays arose from the discipline of Great Lent itself. Because the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated on the weekdays of the fast, the Church designated the Second, Third, and Fourth Saturdays of the season as occasions for memorial observance, alongside Meatfare Saturday before the fast begins and the Saturday before Pentecost. In this way the faithful departed — including those who lack an individual commemoration among the saints — are remembered without disturbing the penitential character of the weekdays.

Beyond the designated Soul Saturdays, the tradition permits shorter memorial prayers on the weekdays of Lent: a brief prayer service for the departed, the Lity, may be served on each weekday when no feast or special observance falls that day. The broader cycle of Soul Saturdays is observed universally among Orthodox churches for the Meatfare, Lenten, and pre-Pentecost commemorations, while additional observances vary by tradition — the Russian churches, for example, commemorate the military dead, and the Bulgarians keep the Saturday of Saint Michael's feast in place of Demetrius Saturday.

Meaning

Through the Lenten Soul Saturdays the Church teaches that the faithful departed remain part of the one body of Christ and continue to be held in prayer. The commemoration honors those who have departed in the hope of resurrection to eternal life, entrusting them to God's mercy during the very season in which the living seek that same mercy for themselves.

The observance also forms the living. By increasing its prayer for the dead during the fast, the Church reminds each believer of his own mortality and so deepens the spirit of penitence proper to Lent. At the same time it calls the faithful to the Christian obligation of charity, praying for the departed as an act of love that reaches beyond death.

The offering of kolyva expresses the season's hope in visible form. Made of boiled wheat, it draws on the image of the seed that is planted in the ground and rises again, joining the memory of death to the promise of life. As the wheat that is buried springs up, so the Church confesses the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in faith.

Hymnography

On the Second, Third, and Fourth Saturdays of Great Lent many of the hymns of the Daily Office and of the Divine Liturgy are dedicated to the remembrance of the departed. The memorial service known as the Panikhida follows the pattern of Matins and includes psalms, litanies, hymns, and prayers, among them the Kontakion of the Departed and the concluding 'Memory Eternal,' which prays for the eternal remembrance of the reposed before God.

Customs & Traditions

Kolyva — boiled wheat kernels sweetened with honey or sugar — is prepared and blessed for the departed, then shared among those present, who remember the reposed and pray that God forgive them.

A memorial service (Panikhida) is served, typically following the Divine Liturgy or Vespers, at which the departed faithful are commemorated by name and the faithful sing 'Memory Eternal.'

The Church remembers on these Saturdays especially those departed faithful who have no individual commemoration among the saints.

The Panikhida and the offering of kolyva

The memorial service central to the Soul Saturdays is the Panikhida, a liturgical service for the repose of the departed. Its name derives from a Church Slavonic word originally meaning 'vigil' or 'all-nighter.' The service serves three purposes: praying for the repose of the departed, comforting the living, and reminding the living of their own mortality and the brevity of earthly life. It may conclude the Divine Liturgy or follow Vespers or Matins, or stand on its own; it is not served during Holy Week, Bright Week, or on Sundays.

During the service the participants hold lighted candles, and kolyva — boiled wheat blessed with holy water — is distributed to those present afterward. The dish is often shaped into a mound to resemble a grave and may be adorned with such additions as sesame, nuts, cinnamon, pomegranate seeds, and raisins. Alongside these general commemorations on the appointed Saturdays, the tradition also keeps individual memorials for a departed person at the third, ninth, and fortieth days, and at three months, six months, and yearly anniversaries after death.