The Orthodox year has seven Saturdays specially dedicated to general commemoration of the dead. They're called «parental» not because they're only for parents, but because the Church prays for all the departed — «our fathers and brethren». This article is the full 2026 calendar.
The seven parental Saturdays:
1. **Universal Meatfare Saturday** (week before Great Lent). 2026: February 14. Called «universal» because the Church prays for all the dead, not only its own.
2. **Saturday of the 2nd week of Great Lent**: March 7, 2026.
3. **Saturday of the 3rd week of Great Lent**: March 14, 2026.
4. **Saturday of the 4th week of Great Lent**: March 21, 2026.
5. **Radonitsa**: April 21, 2026 (its own article).
6. **Trinity Saturday** (eve of Pentecost): May 31, 2026.
7. **Demetrius Saturday** (before November 8, the feast of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki): November 7, 2026. Established by Prince Dmitry Donskoy in memory of soldiers fallen at Kulikovo.
Observance: Friday evening requiem vespers; Saturday morning Liturgy with commemoration of the dead; panikhida after; many visit the cemetery during the day.
What to bring: kutya, uzvar, even number of flowers, a candle. Demetrius Saturday sometimes adds special pies. Trinity Saturday: birch branches (the green of the Holy Spirit). Radonitsa: paschal foods.
From abroad: a cemetery visit can be timed to any parental Saturday. Standard package: tidy-up, flowers, kutya and uzvar (symbolic, on a cloth not bare ground), candle, photo report. Included in 12+/year subscriptions.
Not all parental Saturdays are equal. Most-visited: Universal Meatfare and Demetrius (general «all-souls»). The three Lenten Saturdays are smaller, mostly for close family. Trinity is festive. Radonitsa is the brightest of all (paschal joy).
Frequently asked questions
They fall on different dates — parental Saturdays don't coincide with May 9. If a veteran is in your family with a May 9 commemoration, visit on that day. That's a separate military memorial, not a church one.