Meatless Saturday - meaning and traditions

In the Orthodox calendar there are special memorial days - Parents' Saturdays. One of them precedes Shrovetide and Great Lent and is called Measopustnaya Saturday. This event passed to Christianity from the ancient Slavs and has its own traditions and meaning. In 2025, the significant day falls on February 22. "Izvestia" tells about the essence and traditions of the day of remembrance.

What Meat Loss Saturday means

All parental Saturdays are associated with the tradition of remembering ancestors. In this case, the word "parent" should not be taken literally - it means all deceased relatives, including grandfathers, great-grandfathers and so on. On Parents' Saturdays it is customary to pray for the deceased in the temple, remember ancestors, take care of their graves and put candles for the repose of the soul.

Meat-Leave Saturday is also the precursor of Shrovetide week. This day is called "little Shrovetide", and many traditions of Meyasopustnaya Saturday echo this Slavic celebration. However, unlike Cheese Week, as Pancake Week is also called, on the first Saturday of the year you can eat meat - it is one of the last preparatory days before Lent. From the words "meat" and "let go" and the name of this parental Saturday is derived.

Meat-Leave Saturday - 2025: traditions

The main meaning of the event is to express respect for departed relatives. Believers visit churches and put candles for the repose of the departed, write notes for the memorial service and light dishes for the memorial table.

The main Orthodox holiday of February - Purification of the Lord: important prohibitions and omens

In 2025, the bicentennial feast falls on Saturday

Also on Meat Loss Saturday, as well as on any other Parents' Day, it is necessary to clean up the graves of the deceased, bring flowers there and gather the family for a feast. On this occasion, many peoples have preserved the tradition of cooking kutya - porridge of cereals, dressed with liquid honey or a mixture of water, sugar and honey.

Even before Shrovetide on this day it is supposed to bake pancakes, but not for the family, but for the deceased and the needy. Thus, the first pancakes in villages and hamlets are put on the roof of the house, and also distributed to children, neighbors and the poor. For the deceased also in a glass pour kisel, beer or vodka - the drink is not touched until morning, so that they could treat the souls of ancestors. But it is not supposed to bring alcohol to the cemetery.

What you should not do on Meat Loss Saturday 2025

It is a bad omen to clean the house on Meat Loaf Saturday. In this way you can push away the souls of ancestors and "clog" their eyes. It is also not allowed to quarrel and conflict, so as not to anger the deceased.

Not allowed and wake with alcohol: this pagan tradition is not approved by the Orthodox Church.

Earlier "Izvestia" told how to correctly put candles for the repose at home and in the temple.