Radonitsa

Radonitsa (Russian: Ра́доница, Belarusian: Ра́даўніца "Day of Rejoicing"), also spelled Radunitsa, Radonica, or Radunica, in the Russian Orthodox Church is a commemoration of the departed observed on the second Tuesday of Pascha (Easter) or, in some places (in south-west Russia), on the second Monday of Pascha. In the Ukrainian tradition it is called Provody (Ukrainian: Прóводи).

==History and meaning== thumb|200px|Russian Orthodox [[Icon of the Harrowing of Hell and raising up of Adam (16th century).]] The Slavs, like many ancient peoples, had a tradition of visiting family members' graves during the springtime and feasting together with them. After their conversion to Christianity, this custom transferred into the Russian Orthodox Church as the festival of Radonitsa, the name of which comes from the Slavic word "radost'", meaning "joy". In Russia a local name is "Krasnaya Gorka" (Кра́сная го́рка, translated as "Red Hill"; or more archaically, "Beautiful Hill"), and has the same meaning. In Serbia, the day is called "Pobusani ponedeonik" (Побусани понедеоник) i.e. "The Tomb-Sweeping Monday". The word "ponedeonik" is a more archaic form, the standard form for Monday in modern Serbian is "ponedeljak".