Editing Saturday (section)

==Origins==
{{unreferenced|section|date=March 2024}}
{{see also|Names of the days of the week}}
[[File:Saturn.png|200px|thumb|right|Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, which in turn was named after the Roman god Saturn]]
Between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, the [[Roman Empire]] gradually replaced the eight-day [[Roman people|Roman]] [[Roman calendar#Nundinal cycle|nundinal cycle]] with the seven-day week. The astrological order of the days was explained by [[Vettius Valens]] and [[Dio Cassius]] (and [[Chaucer]] gave the same explanation in his ''[[Treatise on the Astrolabe]]''). According to these authors, it was a principle of [[astrology]] that the heavenly bodies presided, in succession, over the hours of the day. The association of the weekdays with the respective deities is thus indirect, the days are named for the planets, which were in turn named for the deities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Richmond |first=B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wwEVAAAAIAAJ&dq=modern%20calendar&pg=PP8 |title=Time Measurement and Calendar Construction |date=1956 |publisher=Brill Archive |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Germanic peoples]] adapted the system introduced by the Romans but glossed their [[Germanic mythology|indigenous gods]] over the Roman deities in a process known as ''[[interpretatio germanica]]''. In the case of Saturday, however, the Roman name was [[Loanword|borrowed]] directly by West Germanic peoples, apparently because none of the Germanic gods was considered to be a counterpart of the Roman god [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saturday {{!}} Etymology of the name Saturday by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Saturday |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref> Otherwise [[Old Norse]] and [[Old High German]] did not borrow the name of the Roman god (Icelandic {{lang|is|laugardagur}}, German {{lang|de|Samstag}}).

In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Saturdays are days on which the [[Theotokos]] ([[Mother of God]]) and [[All Saints' Day|All Saints]] are commemorated, and the day on which [[prayer for the dead#Eastern Christianity|prayers for the dead]] are especially offered, in remembrance that it was on a Saturday that [[Jesus]] lay dead in the [[Holy Sepulchre|tomb]]. The [[Octoechos (liturgy)|Octoechos]] contains [[Hymn|hymns]] on these themes, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Saturdays throughout the year.  At the end of services on Saturday, the [[dismissal (liturgy)|dismissal]] begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the [[intercession]]s of his most-pure Mother, of the holy, glorious and right victorious [[Martyr]]s, of our reverend and God-bearing [[Holy Fathers|Fathers]]…". For the Orthodox, Saturday — with the sole exception of [[Holy Saturday]] — is never a strict [[Fasting#Eastern Orthodoxy|fast day]]. When a Saturday falls during one of the fasting seasons ([[Great Lent]], [[Nativity Fast]], [[Apostles' Fast]], [[Dormition Fast]]) the fasting rules are always lessened to an extent. The [[Great Feast]] of the [[Exaltation of the Cross]] and the [[Beheading of St. John the Baptist]] are normally observed as strict fast days, but if they fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the fast is lessened.