Throughout our liturgical year there are many special days set aside for the commemoration of the departed. The most joyful of these, however, is the one that takes place on the Tuesday following St. Thomas Sunday, called the Day of Rejoicing or “Radonitsa” in Russian. Traditionally, this is a day when Orthodox Christians gather at the graves of their loved ones to share with them the Paschal joy of the Lord’s Resurrection. Often they will bring blessed food from the Paschal basket and actually picnic atop the graves. It is also customary to remember the departed faithful with a mixture of boiled wheat, nuts, fruit, and honey called koliva in Greek or kutiya in Russian.
