On All Souls’ Day - Meatfare Saturday Orthodox Christians honour the memory of their dearly departed.
It is one of the special days on which the church has ordained that we remember the dead. All of these days fall on a Saturday. Church services are held on All Souls' Day followed by memorial ceremonies at which bread, wine and wheat are laid out, as well as the favourite food of the deceased. The priests thurify the food with incense and say the names of the departed. After the prayer the food is handed out with the words: God rest their souls.
People also hand out bread and wheat - a symbol of immortality - to friends and relatives. On this day the relatives of the deceased go to their graves to clean them, plant flowers and remember the good deeds of the departed. Then they pour red wine over the graves, a symbol of the blood of Jesus Christ, and light a church candle to honour their immortal souls.
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