Mitrovden zadušnici on 7 November: what to do and what to avoid

Orthodox believers mark Mitrovden zadušnici this Saturday, 7 November, a day dedicated to remembering the dead that precedes the feast of Saint Demetrius on 8 November. Families attend church services, visit cemeteries, light candles and share food in memory of departed relatives.

Customs, symbols and what to avoid

The autumn zadušnici are one of four memorial days in the church calendar and carry a distinct set of rituals. After the liturgy and a parastos, priests traditionally pour wine over boiled wheat (koliva) — a gesture meant to symbolize resurrection and God's mercy — and then cense the graves at the cemetery.

On Mitrovden zadušnici people leave bread, boiled wheat, wine and other food at graves. Those offerings are not conceived as “food for the dead” but as an act of charity and prayer: the food is shared with the poor and with any visitors at the cemetery to show love and gratitude toward the deceased.

Red wine is explained as a symbol of God’s grace and the candle as representing Christ’s light for the souls of the departed. Tradition holds that these zadušnici “close the graves” which, according to folk belief, had been opened during the summer zadušnici connected to Saint Peter.

There are also social rules tied to the day: it is considered a grave offence to refuse or drive someone away from a grave on zadušnici, because the day emphasizes equality before God. Clergy stress that the act of prayer and charity is more important than the exact hour of the visit, although families usually go early in the morning, before noon, after attending liturgy.

The custom as practiced in the Balkans was adopted from Russian Orthodox tradition, where the day was later associated with commemorating fallen soldiers after Prince Dmitry Donskoy’s victory at Kulikovo Field in 1380 and eventually broadened into a day for all the departed.

Photo: press material from the event