Picnic with the dead

[Natalia Shostak]

To add to Dr. Kononenko's note,
In central Ukraine this custom is referred to as 'hrobky', or
"mohylky", or simply 'provody'. Commemoration of the dead has been also
in a way 'institutionalized': for example, Kiev graveyards have officially
designated dates for their 'provody' and they are not necesarily the same
dates. Normally the food blessed on Easter Sunday (this should include
boiled eggs) is brought to be left on the grave, and communal meal (bread,
eggs, vodka/horilka plus other food) is held. It is a widely practiced
ritual nowadays.


>         Indeed, there is a picnic with the dead, celebrated
> after Easter.  It used to be on the Tues. after Easter, but,
> because a major holiday mid-week was inconvenient was moved to
> the Sunday after Easter, also called Fomina Nedelia or Doubting
> Thomas Sunday.  The term for this holiday is Radunitsa in
> Russian and Provoden' in Ukrainian (also Provody).  I know of
> the custom in Russia and Ukraine.  I would image that it is
> practiced by all of the Orthodox (and Uniates), though I am not
> sure.  There seem to be 2 types of celebrations of the dead,
> those that are determined by the date of death and celebrated
> 3, 6, 9, 40 days, 6 mos. and 1 year after death.  After one
> year, the dead enter the general category of ancestors and are
> ALL honored on Provoden' regardless of the date of death.  The
> person who knows most about celebrations of death and the dead
> is my former student Anne Ingram.  I suggest you contact her.
>
> Natalie Kononenko
>
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Natalia Shostak
Visiting Lecturer
Ukrainian Program

Department of Slavic Languages
and Literatures
University of Toronto
21 Sussex Ave., Toronto
M5S 1A1, CANADA

General office: (416) 978-4895
Direct line:    (416) 978-4456
fax:            (416) 978-2672

email: natalia.shostak at utoronto.ca

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