RADONITSA OR DAY OF REJOICING

Christ is risen!

The Resurrection of Christ, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, is the foundation of our faith (1 Cor. 15:14). Pentecost is the culmination of Easter. Holiness is the fruit of Pentecost.

There is a special bond between the saints and the dead, between the dead and Easter. This is why there is a mandatory day of commemoration in Orthodoxy, All Souls’ Saturday, on the eve of Pentecost, nine days before All Saints’ Day. Another universal commemoration takes place nine days before Great Lent. It is possible that the Orthodox tradition of special prayer for the departed on the ninth day after death originates from the calendar arrangement of these Memorial Days.

In the Russian Church, there is also a practice of extraordinary commemoration of the departed on the ninth day after Easter. The name of this day is Radonitsa. There are different explanations of the etymology, but literally this archaic Slavic word is consonant with “Day of Rejoicing”.

It is on this day, according to the liturgical charter, that memorial services are permitted. The deceased are always commemorated in the prayers of the liturgy; the petition for “all our fathers and brothers who have gone before us” is read daily during the Litany of Fervent Supplication, including on strictly Easter days, but a separate commemoration is not scheduled before Radonitsa. Historians and theologians explain the origin of this feast in different ways. In one form or another, it exists in the Serbian, Georgian, Romanian, and Polish Orthodox Churches.

“The Care of the Dead” is the title of the treatise on commemoration by the Father of the Church, Saint Augustine (354-430). It is very important to remember that prayer for the dead at Radonitsa is neither a folk custom nor some kind of pagan tradition, but rather the authentic Gospel expression of care for the dead, which the Holy Fathers taught Orthodox Christians.

Christ is risen!