Saturdays of Souls 2026 and 2027: Orthodox days for the dead

Why Saturday

Christ lay in the tomb on Saturday, between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. That is why in Orthodox tradition Saturday is the day of prayer for the dead, and on a few Saturdays every year the Church prays for all who have died, especially for those who have no one left to pray for them.

The dates

The Saturday before Lent and the Saturday before Pentecost move with Orthodox Easter. The Saturday before St Demetrius Day is always the Saturday before November 8.

Greek and Russian churches also keep the second, third and fourth Saturdays of Great Lent. Russian and Ukrainian families remember the dead on Radonitsa as well, the Tuesday nine days after Easter, when they bring Easter eggs to the graves. Ask your parish which days it keeps.

What families do in church

• The names. Write the first names of your departed family members on a slip of paper and give it to the priest, who reads them during the memorial service. Many families keep the list in a small book at home.
• Boiled wheat, called kollyva, koljivo or kutia, sweetened and decorated, is blessed and shared after the service. See the koljivo recipe.
• Candles are lit for the dead, usually on a separate stand from the candles for the living.
• Bread, wine and a donation for the church are brought in many parishes.

At the cemetery

Many families go to the graves on the same day. They clean them, leave flowers, light candles, and in some traditions share food and drink with relatives and passersby, in memory of the dead. On these days people visit the graves of all their family, not only the recently departed.

The Serbian zadušnice

Serbian families call these days zadušnice and keep three main ones: the winter zadušnice before Lent, the summer ones before Pentecost, and the Mitrovske zadušnice before St Demetrius Day. In some regions they also keep the Miholjske zadušnice, on the Saturday before October 12.

1. In the morning, before noon by custom, the family goes to the cemetery, cleans the grave, lights candles and leaves flowers.
2. A priest holds a short memorial service, the parastos, in the church or at the grave, and reads the names the family gives him.
3. For the soul, the family brings koljivo, red wine, bread and the food the person loved, and shares it with relatives, neighbors and passersby, who answer Bog da prosti, may God forgive.

Read more in Serbian funeral traditions.

From far away

Orthodox parishes in the US, Canada and Australia hold services on these Saturdays too, so you can give the names of your loved ones to your local priest, even if their graves are on another continent, and ask a relative back home to light a candle for you. A Voljeni memorial page reminds the family before these days, and anyone with the link can light a candle and leave a message on the day. Here is an example.