Saturday of Souls before Saint Demetrius

The Demetrios Memorial Saturday was established to commemorate the soldiers who died at the Battle of Kulikovo Field on September 8, 1380, fought between the Rivers Don and Nepryadva. Tradition remembers this battle as the first Russian national deed, rallying the spiritual power of the Russian nation around Moscow in its resistance to the Golden Horde.

The inaugural memorial service was celebrated on October 20, 1380, at the Trinity-St Sergius Monastery by Saint Sergius of Radonezh, in the presence of Great Prince Demetrius of the Don. The prince, who bore Saint Demetrios of Thessalonica as his baptismal name and was deeply devoted to him, had transferred a sacred icon of the saint from Vladimir to Moscow before the battle. He earned the epithet 'of the Don' through this victory. Among the notable fallen were the schemamonks Alexander (Peresvet) and Andrew (Oslyab). A historic poem, the 'Zadonschina,' written by the priest Sophronius of Ryazan in 1381, commemorated the battle.

The Russian Church closely linked veneration of the Great Martyr Demetrios of Thessalonica with the remembrance of national defense. A chapel honoring the saint was established at Moscow's Dormition Cathedral, housing an icon painted on a piece of wood taken from the saint's grave. Over time the Demetrios Saturday expanded from a memorial for the fallen warriors of Kulikovo into a general commemoration of all the faithful departed, becoming one of the principal Soul Saturdays of the Russian Orthodox calendar year.

The Orthodox calendar as a whole includes eight Soul Saturdays annually: Meatfare Saturday in the pre-Lenten period; the second, third, and fourth Saturdays of Great Lent; Radonitsa in the second week after Pascha; the Saturday before Pentecost; the Intercession Saturday in October; and the Demetrios Saturday in October. Different jurisdictions observe varying combinations according to their traditions and histories; the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, for instance, substitutes a commemoration before the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (November 8) in place of the Demetrios Saturday.

The Soul Saturdays, of which the Demetrios Saturday is one, rest on a theological foundation: Saturday is a traditional day of prayer for the dead, because Christ lay dead in the Tomb on Saturday. These observances are devoted especially to remembering the departed faithful who lack a specific saint's commemoration of their own, gathering them into the Church's prayer.

In the Russian tradition the day joins two themes: the Church's prayer for all the reposed and the particular memory of those who gave their lives in the nation's defense. Saint Demetrios, depicted in iconography as a soldier in plumed armor bearing a spear and sword, embodies the ideal of the spiritual warrior; Prince Demetrius of the Don credited his heavenly patron for the triumph at Kulikovo. The observance thus stands at the intersection of Orthodox faith and Russian national identity, holding together military valor, patriotic duty, and divine protection within the Church's remembrance of the dead.

The blessing and sharing of koliva at the memorial service expresses the day's meaning in a tangible form: a dish of boiled wheatberries or rice and honey, offered on behalf of the departed and consumed together as a memorial act, recalling the hope of the resurrection for those who have fallen asleep.

Saint Demetrios, to whose feast this Saturday is anchored, appears in Russian iconography as a soldier in plumed armor, with a spear and sword in hand, embodying the spiritual warrior ideal.

During the Soul Saturday services, hymns honoring the departed are incorporated into the standard liturgy. A panikhida (memorial service) typically follows either the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning or Vespers on Friday evening.

A general panikhida (memorial service) is served for the departed.

Families visit and tend the graves of their reposed relatives.

Koliva -- a dish of boiled wheatberries or rice and honey -- is prepared and placed on the memorial table; after the service the priest blesses it and participants consume it together as a memorial act.

Kept especially in the Russian and other Slavic churches; the Bulgarian Orthodox Church instead keeps a commemoration before the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (November 8).