Angel Day, what a holiday. When is Angel Day? Female Orthodox names

In the Orthodox tradition, it is customary to name a Christian in honor of a saint. The name is selected from the list of saints (Orthodox calendar) or according to the church calendar, where each day is dedicated to one or another saint. The name is assigned after the baptism ceremony. This day subsequently becomes a holiday for a convert to Christianity and is called name day, Name Day or Angel Day.

How to determine Angel Day

If a person wants to know when the Day of the Angel who patronizes him is, but he does not remember or does not know the name of the saint, then the name of the saint is considered to be the one that was given to the person at birth. To determine your namesake day, you need to look at the Angel Days calendar and find your name there - this way you will determine the day of remembrance of your patron saint, and therefore your Angel Day.

If a person who was baptized from childhood grew up in a religious environment, then he usually remembers the name of his patron given to him at baptism. But non-religious people, after years, forget the name of their Angel. And saints with the same names are found quite often in the church calendar: for example, there are about thirty Saint Alexanders, and about eighty Johns. Another saint may have not one day of remembrance, but several. All this creates difficulties when determining your Angel Day, but people have developed a traditional solution to this problem.

If your name is Alexander, Ivan, or you have another popular name, do not despair: your Angel Day will be considered the one that comes first on the calendar after your Birthday, or the one that corresponds to your Birthday. This is how the church practice of determining name days has developed: if your patron saint has many memorial days throughout the year, then the next one after your birthday is your name day, and the rest are small name days.

Angel Day: history of the holiday

Name days began to be celebrated in Russia in the 17th century, and until the revolution, this holiday was considered more important and significant than a birthday. On Angel Day, it was customary to go to church, pray to the patron and receive communion, order a prayer service, and in the evening have a festive dinner. The Tsar's name day had the status of a national holiday and was celebrated especially magnificently. The tsar gave birthday cakes to the boyars, and distributed rolls of bread to the people on the streets.

Often the name was chosen on the child’s birthday according to the church calendar, and then Angel’s Day coincided with the birthday. If the name was chosen before the birth of the child in advance in honor of a certain saint who was prayed to before the birth of the child, then Angel's Day became a more important holiday for the person than the Birthday.

In the Orthodox tradition, every Christian had to know the life of his patron saint and imitate him in every possible way in his deeds and achievements. “Let your life be according to your name,” wrote the Monk Ambrose of Optina.

With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and the growth of anti-religious sentiments, this holiday was consigned to oblivion. Moreover, in the 20s and 30s, the celebration of name days was subject to official persecution by the state. Nowadays, Angel Day is important only in religious circles and is inferior in popularity to Birthday.

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Most often, the day of remembrance of a saint is the day of his earthly death, i.e. transition to eternity, meeting with God, to join Whom the ascetic sought.

How to determine the name day

In the church calendar there are several days of commemoration of the same saint, and many saints also bear the same name. Therefore, it is necessary to find in the church calendar the day of remembrance of the saint of the same name as you, closest to your birthday. These will be your name days, and the saint whose memory is remembered on this day will be your heavenly patron. If he has other days of memory, then for you these dates will become “small name days”.

If we want to name a child strictly according to church tradition, then it will be the name of a saint, whose memory is celebrated on the 8th day after the child’s birth. Cm.

When determining a name day, the date of canonization of a saint does not matter, because it only records a fait accompli. In addition, as a rule, it is performed dozens of years after the saint’s transition to the heavenly abodes.

The name received by a person at baptism not only remains unchanged throughout his life (the only exception is the case of accepting monasticism), but also remains after death and passes with him into eternity. In prayers for the deceased, he also remembers their names given in baptism.

Name day and Angel Day

Sometimes name days are called Angel Day. This name day name recalls the fact that in the old days heavenly patrons were sometimes called the Angels of their earthly namesakes; It is incorrect, however, to confuse saints with angels. Name day is the day of remembrance of the saint after whom a person is named, and Angel Day is the day of baptism, when a person is assigned by God. Each baptized person has his own Guardian Angel, but we do not know his name.

Veneration and imitation of one's patron saint

The saint wrote about the prayerful help of the saints: “The saints, in the Holy Spirit, see our lives and our deeds. They know our sorrows and hear our fervent prayers... The saints do not forget us and pray for us... They also see the suffering of people on earth. The Lord gave them such great grace that they embrace the whole world with love. They see and know how exhausted we are from sorrows, how our souls have dried up, how despondency has bound them, and, without ceasing, they intercede for us before God.”

Veneration of a saint consists not only of praying to him, but also of imitating his feat and his faith. “Let your life be according to your name,” said the monk. After all, the saint whose name a person bears is not just his patron and prayer book, he is also a role model.

But how can we imitate our saint, how can we at least follow his example in some way? To do this you need:

• First, know about his life and exploits. Without this, we cannot truly love our saint.
• Secondly, we need to turn to them in prayer more often, know the troparion for him and always remember that we have a protector and helper in heaven.
• Thirdly, of course, we must always think about how we could follow the example of our saint in one case or another.

According to the nature of Christian deeds, saints are traditionally divided into faces (categories): prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, confessors, saints, righteous, holy fools, saints, etc. (see).
The person named confessor or martyr, may well fearlessly profess his faith, act as a Christian always and in everything, without looking back at dangers or inconveniences, in everything he pleases, first of all, God, and not people, regardless of ridicule, threats and even oppression.
Those named after saints, can try to imitate them, exposing errors and vices, spreading the light of Orthodoxy, helping their neighbors find the path to salvation both by word and by their own example.
Reverend(i.e. monks) can be imitated in detachment, independence from worldly pleasures, maintaining purity of thoughts, feelings and actions.
Imitate holy fool- means, first of all, to humble yourself, cultivate selflessness, and not get carried away by acquiring earthly riches. The continuation should be the education of will and patience, the ability to endure the difficulties of life, the fight against pride and vanity. You also need the habit of meekly enduring all insults, but at the same time not being shy about exposing obvious vices, telling the truth to everyone who needs admonition.

Names in honor of Angels

A person can also be named in honor of (Michael, Gabriel, etc.). People named after the archangels celebrate their name day on November 21 (November 8, Old Style), on the day of the Celebration of the Council of the Archangel Michael and other ethereal Heavenly Powers.

If the name is not in the calendar

If the name you were given is not in the calendar, then at baptism the name that is closest in sound is chosen. For example, Dina - Evdokia, Lilia - Leah, Angelica - Angelina, Zhanna - Ioanna, Milana - Militsa. According to tradition, Alice receives the name Alexandra in baptism, in honor of St. passion-bearer Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova, who before accepting Orthodoxy bore the name Alice. Some names in the church tradition have a different sound, for example, Svetlana is Photinia (from the Greek photos - light), and Victoria is Nike, both names mean “victory” in Latin and Greek.
Only the names given at baptism are written.

How to celebrate a name day

Orthodox Christians on their name days visit the temple and, having prepared in advance, visit the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
The days of “small name days” are not so solemn for the birthday person, but it is advisable to visit the temple on this day.
After communion, you need to keep yourself from all fuss so as not to lose your festive joy. In the evening, you can invite your loved ones for a meal. It should be remembered that if the name day falls on a fast day, then the holiday treat should be fast. During Lent, name days that occur on a weekday are moved to the next Saturday or Sunday.
Cm. Natalya Sukhinina

What to give for name day

In celebration of the memory of the patron saint, the best gift will be something that contributes to his spiritual growth: an icon, a vessel for prayer, beautiful candles for prayer, books, audio and video CDs with spiritual content.

Prayer to your saint

We should remember the saint in whose honor we receive a name not only on name day. There is a prayer to the saint in our daily morning and evening prayers, and we can also turn to him at any time and in any need. The simplest prayer to the saint:
Pray to God for me, holy servant of God (name), as I diligently resort to you, a quick helper and prayer book for my soul.
Your saint also needs to know.

In addition to the icons of the Savior - the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Mother of God, it is advisable to have your own saint. It may happen that you have some rare name, and the icon of your heavenly patron will be difficult to find. In this case, you can buy an icon of All Saints, which symbolically depicts all the saints glorified by the Orthodox Church.
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Patristic sayings about name days

“We began to choose names not according to God. According to God, this is how it should be. Choose a name according to the calendar: either on what day the child will be born, or on what day he will be baptized, or within three days after baptism. Here the matter will be without any human considerations, but as God wills, for birthdays are in the hands of God.
saint

History and symbolism of the name day celebration

Like many other religious traditions, the celebration of name days was forgotten in Soviet times, moreover, in the 20-30s of the twentieth century it was subject to official persecution. True, it turned out to be difficult to eradicate age-old folk habits: they still congratulate the birthday boy on his birthday, and if the hero of the occasion is very young, they sing a song: “how on ... the name day we baked a loaf.” Meanwhile, name day is a special holiday, which could be called a day of spiritual birth, since it is associated primarily with the sacrament of Baptism and with the names that our heavenly patrons bear.

The tradition of celebrating name days has been known in Rus' since the 17th century. Usually on the eve of the holiday, the birthday boy’s family brewed beer and baked birthday rolls, pies and loaves. On the day of the holiday itself, the birthday boy and his family went to church for mass, ordered a prayer service for health, lit candles and venerated the icon with the face of his heavenly patron. During the day, birthday pies were distributed to friends and relatives, and often the filling and size of the pie had a special meaning, determined by the nature of the relationship between the birthday person and his loved ones. In the evening a festive dinner was held.

The royal name day (Name Day), which was considered a public holiday, was celebrated especially magnificently. On this day, boyars and courtiers came to the royal court to present gifts and take part in a festive feast, during which they sang for many years. Sometimes the king himself distributed the pies. Huge birthday rolls were distributed to the people. Later, other traditions appeared: military parades, fireworks, illuminations, shields with imperial monograms.

After the revolution, a serious and systematic ideological struggle began with name days: the rite of baptism was recognized as counter-revolutionary, and they tried to replace it with “Oktyabriny” and “Zvezdiny”. A ritual was developed in detail, in which the newborn was congratulated in strict sequence by an October child, a pioneer, a Komsomol member, a communist, “honorary parents”, sometimes the baby was symbolically enrolled in a trade union, etc. The fight against “remnants” reached anecdotal extremes: for example, in the 20s, censorship banned K. Chukovsky’s “Tsokotukha Fly” for “name day propaganda.”

Traditionally, name days are attributed to the day of remembrance of the named (namesake) saint, which immediately follows the birthday, although there is also a tradition of celebrating name days on the day of memory of the most famous named saint, for example, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Apostle Peter, St. Alexander Nevsky, etc. etc. In the past, name days were considered a more important holiday than the day of “physical” birth, in addition, in many cases these holidays practically coincided, since traditionally a child was baptized on the eighth day after birth: the eighth day is a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven , to which the baptized person joins, while the number seven is an ancient symbolic number denoting the created earthly world. Baptismal names were chosen according to the church calendar (saints). According to the old custom, the choice of name was limited to the names of the saints whose memory was celebrated on the day of baptism. Later (especially in urban society) they moved away from this strict custom and began to choose names based on personal taste and other considerations - in honor of relatives, for example.
Name days turn us to one of our hypostases - to our personal name.

Perhaps to the ancient motto “Know thyself” we should add: “Know thy name.” Of course, a name primarily serves to distinguish people. In the past, a name could be a social sign, indicating a place in society - now, perhaps, only monastic (monastic) names stand out sharply from the Russian name book. But there is also a now almost forgotten, mystical meaning of the name.
In ancient times, people attached much more importance to a name than it does now. The name was considered a significant part of a person. The content of the name was correlated with the inner meaning of a person; it was, as it were, put inside him. The name controlled fate (“a good name is a good sign”). A well-chosen name became a source of strength and prosperity. Naming was considered a high act of creation, guessing the human essence, invoking grace.
In primitive society, a name was treated as a part of the body, like eyes, teeth, etc. The unity of the soul and the name seemed undeniable; moreover, it was sometimes believed that as many names as there were, there were as many souls, so in some tribes before to kill an enemy, it was supposed to find out his name in order to use him in his native tribe. Often names were hidden to prevent weapons from being given to the enemy. Harm and trouble were expected from mistreatment of the name. In some tribes it was strictly forbidden to pronounce (taboo) the name of the leader. In others, the custom was practiced of assigning new names to elders, which gave new strength. It was believed that a sick child was given strength by the name of his father, who was shouted in his ear or even called by his father’s (mother’s) name, believing that part of the parents’ vital energy would help defeat the disease. If the child cried especially a lot, it means the name was chosen incorrectly. Different nationalities have long maintained the tradition of naming “deceptive”, false names: the true name was not pronounced in the hope that death and evil spirits, perhaps, would not find the baby. There was another version of protective names - unattractive, ugly, frightening names (for example, Nekras, Nelyuba and even Dead), which averted adversity and misfortune.

In Ancient Egypt, the personal name was carefully guarded. The Egyptians had a “small” name, known to everyone, and a “big” one, which was considered true: it was kept secret and pronounced only during important rituals. The names of the pharaohs were especially respected - in the texts they were highlighted with a special cartouche. The Egyptians treated the names of the dead with great respect - mishandling them caused irreparable harm to the otherworldly existence. The name and its bearer were one whole: an Egyptian myth is typical, according to which the god Ra hid his name, but the goddess Isis managed to find him out by opening his chest - the name literally turned out to be inside the body!

For a long time, a change in name corresponded to a change in human essence. New names were given to adolescents upon initiation, that is, upon joining adult members of the community. In China, there are still children's "milk" names, which are abandoned with maturity. In ancient Greece, newly-minted priests, renouncing their old names, carved them on metal tablets and drowned them in the sea. Echoes of these ideas can be seen in the Christian tradition of giving monastic names, when someone who has taken monastic vows leaves the world and his worldly name.

Among many peoples, the names of pagan gods and spirits were taboo. It was especially dangerous to call evil spirits (“cursing”): in this way one could call out the “evil force.” The ancient Jews did not dare to name the Name of God: Yahweh (in the Old Testament - this is the “unspeakable Name”, a sacred tetragram, which can be translated as “I am who am.” According to the Bible, the act of naming often becomes God’s work: the Lord gave names to Abraham, Sarah , Isaac, Ishmael, Solomon, renamed Jacob Israel.The special religious gift of the Jewish people was manifested in a variety of names that are called theophoric - they contain God’s “ineffable Name”: thus, through his personal name, a person connected with God.

Christianity, as the highest religious experience of mankind, takes personal names very seriously. A person’s name reflects the mystery of a unique, precious personality; it presupposes personal communication with God. During the sacrament of Baptism, the Christian Church, accepting a new soul into its bosom, binds it through a personal name with the name of God. As Fr. wrote. Sergius Bulgakov, “human naming and name-incarnation exists in the image and likeness of divine incarnation and naming... every person is an embodied word, a realized name, for the Lord himself is the incarnate Name and Word.”

The purpose of Christians is considered to be holiness. By naming a baby the name of a canonized saint, the Church tries to guide him on the true path: after all, this name has already been “realized” in life as a saint. The one who bears the holy name always keeps within himself the exalting image of his heavenly patron, “helper”, “prayer book”. On the other hand, the commonality of names unites Christians into one body of the Church, into one “chosen people.”

Reverence for the names of the Savior and the Mother of God has long been expressed in the fact that in the Orthodox tradition it is not customary to give names in memory of the Mother of God and Christ. Previously, the name of the Mother of God was even distinguished by a different emphasis - Mary, while other holy wives had the name Maria (Marya). The rare monastic (schema) name Jesus was assigned in memory not of Jesus Christ, but of the righteous Joshua.

The Russian Christian name book has evolved over centuries. The first extensive layer of Russian names arose in the pre-Christian era. The reasons for the emergence of a particular name could be very different: in addition to religious motives, the circumstances of birth, appearance, character, etc. played a role. Later, after the Baptism of Rus', these names, sometimes difficult to distinguish from nicknames, coexisted with Christian calendar names ( up to the 17th century). Even priests sometimes had nicknames. It happened that one person could have as many as three personal names: a “nickname” name and two baptismal names (one obvious, the other hidden, known only to the confessor). When the Christian name book completely replaced the pre-Christian “nickname” names, they did not leave us forever, moving into another class of names - in surnames (for example, Nekrasov, Zhdanov, Naydenov). Some pre-Christian names of canonized Russian saints subsequently became calendar ones (for example, Yaroslav, Vyacheslav, Vladimir).
With the adoption of Christianity, Rus' was enriched with the names of the entire human civilization: with the Byzantine calendar, Greek, Jewish, Roman and other names came to us. Sometimes images of more ancient religions and cultures were hidden under the Christian name. Over time, these names became Russified, so much so that the Hebrew names themselves became Russian - Ivan and Marya. At the same time, one should keep in mind the lofty thought of Fr. Pavel Florensky: “there are no names, neither Jewish, nor Greek, nor Latin, nor Russian - there are only universal names, the common heritage of mankind.”

The post-revolutionary history of Russian names developed dramatically: a massive campaign of “de-Christianization” of the name book was carried out. The revolutionary obscurantism of some sections of society, combined with tough government policies, was aimed at restructuring, and therefore at renaming the world. Along with the renaming of the country, its cities and streets, the people were renamed. “Red calendars” were compiled, new, “revolutionary” names were invented, many of which now sound simply like curiosities (for example, Malentro, i.e. Marx, Lenin, Trotsky; Dazdraperma, i.e. Long live May Day, etc. .). The process of revolutionary name-making, characteristic of ideological revolutions in general (it was known in France at the end of the 18th century, and in Republican Spain, and in the countries of the former “socialist camp”) did not last long in Soviet Russia, about a decade (20-30s ). Soon these names became part of history - here it is appropriate to recall another thought about. Pavel Florensky: “you can’t think of names,” in the sense that they are “the most stable fact of culture and the most important of its foundations.”

The change in the Russian name also went along the line of borrowing from other cultures - Western European (for example, Albert, Victoria, Zhanna) and common Slavic Christian names (for example, Stanislav, Bronislava), names from Greek and Roman mythology and history (for example, Aurelius, Aphrodite , Venus), etc. Over time, Russian society again returned to calendar names, but “de-Christianization” and a break in tradition led to an extraordinary impoverishment of the modern naming book, which now consists of only a few dozen names (the general property of “mass cultures” also played a role - the desire for averaging, standardization ).

Hieromonk Macarius (Markish):
Since ancient times, the custom has been established to give a newly accepted member of the Church the name of a saint. Thus, a special, new connection arises between earth and Heaven, between a person living in this world and one of those who have worthily walked their life’s path, whose holiness the Church has witnessed and glorified with its collective wisdom. Therefore, every Orthodox Christian must remember the saint in whose honor he is named, know the basic facts of his life, and, if possible, remember at least some elements of the service in his honor.
But the same name, especially the common ones (Peter, Nicholas, Mary, Helen), was borne by many saints of different times and peoples; therefore, we have to find out in honor of which saint who bore this name the baby will be named. This can be done using a detailed church calendar, which contains an alphabetical list of saints revered by our Church with the dates of celebration of their memory. The choice is made taking into account the date of birth or baptism of the child, the circumstances of the saints’ life feats, family traditions, and your personal sympathies.
In addition, many famous saints have several days of remembrance throughout the year: this could be the day of death, the day of the discovery or transfer of relics, the day of glorification - canonization. You have to choose which of these days will become the holiday (name day, name day) of your child. It is often called Angel Day. In fact, we ask the Lord to give the newly baptized his Guardian Angel; but this Angel must under no circumstances be confused with the saint after whom the child is named.
Sometimes some difficulties arise when naming a name. There are many Orthodox saints known in history, but not included in our calendars. Among them are the saints of Western Europe, who lived and were glorified even before the fall of Rome from Orthodoxy (until 1054, the Roman Church was not severed from Orthodoxy, and we also recognize the saints revered in it by that time as saints), whose names were acquired from us popularity in recent decades (Victoria, Edward, etc.), but are sometimes listed as “non-Orthodox”. There are also the opposite situations, when the usual Slavic name does not belong to any of the Orthodox saints (for example, Stanislav). Finally, there are also frequent formal misunderstandings related to the spelling of the name (Elena - Alena, Ksenia - Oksana, John - Ivan) or its sound in different languages ​​(in Slavic - Svetlana and Zlata, in Greek - Photinia and Chrysa).
If necessary, the child can be given a baptismal name different from the one recorded on the birth certificate, choosing it, for example, according to consonance (Stanislav - Stakhy, Carolina - Kaleria, Elina - Elena). There is nothing flawed in this: among the Serbs, for example, almost everyone has one name in everyday life and another in baptism. Let us note that in the Russian Church, unlike some other Orthodox Churches, the beloved name Maria is never given in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, but only in honor of other saints who bore this name. You should also know that since 2000, our Church has canonized many of our countrymen and fellow citizens - new martyrs and confessors

How to determine the name day- This is the question asked by every person who has at least once thought about the meaning of his name. Name day- this is not a holiday of a name - it is a day of remembrance of the saint in whose honor the person was named. As you know, in Rus' the child’s name was given according to the calendar - the church calendar - and the parents prayerfully hoped that the child would live his life worthy of the name of the saint who became the baby’s patron. Over the years of atheism in Russia, the meaning of tradition has been forgotten - now a person is first given a name, and then, growing up, he looks for the church calendar to find out when the day of his memory is, when to celebrate. The word name day comes from the word “namesake”, “namesake saint” - the modern “namesake” comes from the same word. That is, the feast of a saint bearing the same name.

Often parents choose a name for the child in advance, having a special love for one or another saint, then it is no longer associated with the birthday.

How to determine your name day if there are several saints with this name?

The name of the saint whose memory follows your birthday is determined according to the calendar, for example, according to the Orthodox calendar. As a rule, the name day is the day following the birthday of the saint whose name a Christian bears. For example, for Anna, born on November 20, Angel's Day will fall on December 3 - the day following her birthday, when St. Anna, and her saint will be St. mts. Anna of Persia.

You should remember this nuance: in 2000, at the Council of Bishops, the new martyrs and confessors of Russia were glorified: if you were baptized before 2000, then your saint is chosen from the saints glorified before 2000. For example, if your name is Catherine, and you were baptized before the glorification of the new martyrs, then your saint is St. Great Martyr Catherine, if you were baptized after the Council, then you can choose St. Catherine, whose memorial date is closer to your birthday.

If the name you were given is not in the calendar, then at baptism the name that is closest in sound is chosen. For example, Dina - Evdokia, Lilia - Leah, Angelica - Angelina, Zhanna - Ioanna, Milana - Militsa. According to tradition, Alice receives the name Alexandra in baptism, in honor of St. passion-bearer Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova, who before accepting Orthodoxy bore the name Alice. Some names in the church tradition have a different sound, for example, Svetlana is Photinia (from the Greek photos - light), and Victoria is Nike, both names mean “victory” in Latin and Greek.

How ? On Angel's Day, Orthodox Christians try to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. If the day of the angel falls on a day of fasting or fasting, then celebrations and feasts are usually transferred to non-fasting days. On non-fasting days, many invite guests to share the bright joy of the holiday with relatives and friends.

Male and female names

Please note: dates are given in old style. To get the date according to the new style, you need to add 13 to the date.

Celebrating name days is a long-standing tradition. Today it is almost forgotten. And even among Orthodox believers, not everyone will remember Angel Day. Where did this tradition come from? Why does it have this name? When and in whose honor are name days celebrated? Read on and find out everything.

The history of the emergence of the concept of “name day”

In Russia, name days began to be actively celebrated in the 17th century, but the history of the tradition goes back to the distant past. When Prince Vladimir Yasnoe Solnyshko baptized Rus', new traditions came to our country from Orthodox Byzantium. Christian Orthodox beliefs mixed with traditional cults, and a new picture of the world emerged. Along with the belief in saints, the belief took root in Rus' that every day passes under the auspices of a heavenly saint.

Initially, in Rus', a person was given two names. One was used in the world, in accordance with ancient traditions, the second was received by children and adults during baptism. The Orthodox name was not used to address a person, but pointed to his heavenly patron. Yaroslav the Wise received his second name during baptism - Yuri. The same thing happened to everyone with original Russian names: Svyatoslav, Svyatopolk, Izyaslav, Tihomir, Yaropolk.

Two hundred years later, a new tradition appeared: when a baby was born, his patron became a saint, on whose day the birth of a new person would occur. It was not necessary to observe this ritual, but people often named their children after the heavenly patron, hoping that he would become the guardian of man on earth. Over time, the tradition has changed. The child was given a name he liked, belonging to any saint, and the name day was celebrated separately from his birthday, which was not given much attention at that time.

If the name is not “holy”?

The names of the saints are listed in a special church book - the calendar. But today it is fashionable to name a child in an unconventional and creative way. With this approach, who looks at the church books? Sometimes a child receives a name according to family tradition. Some people come to Orthodoxy from other religions and at baptism acquire a new name.

On what basis does one receive a church name? There is no single rule. Usually they choose the option that is similar in sound. Angelica becomes Angelina, Oksana becomes Ksenia, Richard becomes Roman. But nothing prevents Diana from choosing Olga or Catherine as her patroness.

Some names have their own non-main traditions. Victoria is baptized Nika, using an analogy of meaning, Svetlana - Photinia.

What happens if a person is baptized using a name not indicated in the calendar? He will not have a heavenly patron. How correct this is and corresponds to Christian traditions - everyone decides for himself.

Who was it named after?

Children raised in Orthodox traditions know their patron saint from an early age, as well as their name day. But for a person who has spent most of his life outside of church traditions, recognizing Angel Day is not an easy task. Today, there are 5,008 saints in the Russian Orthodox calendar. Some of them have the same names: Alexander, John, Andrey, Catherine. Some have several days of memory.

A baptized person has the right to choose any saint who bears the same name as his patron. For example, Alexander may commemorate Alexander Nevsky, Alexander of Jerusalem or Alexander of Constantinople. Usually they choose the saint whose worship is widespread. The presence of icons and temples dedicated to the patron plays an important role.

But there is another tradition: the definition of Angel Day according to the church calendar. In this case, name days are celebrated on the first day of remembrance of the saint whose name was given to the person at baptism.

What saints exist in Orthodox culture?

• Prophets- saints, according to the Bible, who lived before the coming of Christ. They predicted the appearance of the messiah, his death and resurrection.
• Apostles– 12 disciples of Christ who spread his teaching throughout the world. Perth and Paul received the status of supreme apostles for their labors. There are also saints equal to the apostles. At different times they spread faith in Christ and one God. These include the Byzantine emperor Constantine and his wife Helen, the baptist of Rus' - Prince Vladimir, the enlighteners Cyril and Methodius.
• Martyrs- saints who underwent severe trials for the glory of Christ. Among them are confessors - saints who suffered torment, but died under other circumstances in peaceful life. Another category is the great martyrs. They suffered particularly severe suffering. These include Saint Catherine, St. George the Victorious.
• Saints- these are bishops pleasing to God, whose lives especially served the faith of Christ. The most famous and revered: Nicholas the Wonderworker, John Chrysostom.
• Reverends- righteous people who took the path of monasticism with a complete renunciation of worldly temptations: Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov.
• Righteous- these are saints who have become famous for their godly deeds in worldly life. The first righteous saints are considered to be Adam, Noah, and Abraham.
• Unmercenary– healers of diseases of body and spirit. They helped people without demanding anything in return, without any selfish intent.
• Fools (blessed)- people whose actions seemed crazy to others. But in the actions of these saints a special spiritual power and wisdom was hidden.

When is the name day celebrated?

To determine the name day, you need to look at the church calendar. The simplest option is the coincidence of the name day and birthday. Otherwise, the name day will be the nearest day on which a saint with your name is commemorated.

In 2000, a Council of Bishops was held, during which the lists of martyrs were replenished. Children born after 2000 celebrate their name days according to the new commemorative calendar. The rest are according to the old lists.

Separate rules apply to leap years. From March 29 to March 13, name days are celebrated a day earlier. The 365th day of the year is added according to Orthodox custom on Kasyanov's day on March 13th.

Is it possible to change the name?

In rare cases, the church allows a change in the Orthodox name, which occurs during the sacrament of communion. Typically, this ritual is used if a baptized person does not remember his church name. Changing the entry in the passport and other “worldly” documents does not affect the baptismal name.

The name received at baptism is changed at the request of the believer if it is not present on Christmastide. Another reason is receiving a church name that does not correspond to gender.

Traditions

An Orthodox person, knowing the name of his patron, must first touch his history and life path, get acquainted with the scriptures. On name day, a believer goes to church, takes communion, prays to his saint, and then invites friends and family to celebrate.

This tradition originated a couple of centuries after the baptism of Rus', when the new religion completely took root among the Russian people. The birthday boy went to church early in the morning to pray and receive communion. This was the whole point of the celebration: remembering the patron saint, reading a prayer and kissing the icon with the face of its guardian.

Over time, home celebrations with congratulations to the birthday person were added to the ritual. The first temple part of the ritual remained unchanged. But we prepared for the second one in advance in the evening. The closest relatives brewed beer and baked treats with the birthday boy. According to tradition, they became rolls and loaves. This is where the humorous children's song came from: “...we baked a loaf...”

While the birthday boy was performing his morning prayer and taking communion, relatives in the church ordered a prayer service for health. And then the ceremony of invitations began. Pies were used instead of invitations. They were carried to the homes of future guests. The larger the treat, the more important the invitee. Special respect was given to the godfather and godmother in the form of a large sweet pie.

In the evening the third part of the celebration began. Guests came to the birthday boy’s house, songs, dances and a feast began. The main treat was raisin pie. But eating it was immediately strictly forbidden. According to tradition, the treat was broken over the head of the birthday boy. The raisins that fell on the hero of the occasion were a symbol of wealth.

The royal and imperial family celebrated their name day on a special scale. The Angel Day of a member of the ruling family became a national holiday and was celebrated with noisy festivities. On behalf of the birthday boy, treats were served to the common people, and then magnificent parades were held.

Until 1917, birthdays were not celebrated in Russia. People celebrated name days. With the change of power, traditions changed. The fight against religion led to the emergence of a holiday similar, but different from name day. - these are name days in a new way. They removed the traditional trip to the temple and the commemoration of the patron saint, but left the festive part with festivities and gifts. With the collapse of the USSR, old traditions are returning to Russia. Now people do not choose one of two holidays, but celebrate both: name days separately, birthdays separately.

What to give for name day?

Traditionally, a birthday gift has a spiritual connotation:

Name icon. This gift will come in handy more than ever. Even if the birthday boy already has an icon depicting his saint, this option remains relevant. The gift will be especially valuable if the custodian is not among those widely revered. Icons with such saints are painted to order in workshops. According to the old custom, small children can be given a measured icon - an image of a saint the size of the baby himself on his birthday.

Crosses. Gold, silver, copper. It is both a precious and spiritual gift. An Orthodox person carries a cross with him 24 hours a day. Other decoration options are also possible: or.

Bible. This is the main holy book of Christianity. But how many believers have read it? For a gift, choose an elegant Bible with an easy-to-read font and design. An illustrated and simplified version of the holy book is suitable for children.

Spiritual publications. Similar books can be found in church shops. It’s good if there is a gift that tells about the path of the saint whose name the person was named. This way the birthday boy will get to know his guardian better and learn his story.

Toys for children. A toy in the shape of an angel would be a good gift for a baby. You can also present a toy book with voluminous sheets of pictures. Such a thing will be remembered by the baby and will remain with him for a long time.

On name days people do not give money, cell phones, laptops and other gifts from the consumer society. This is a spiritual holiday. A name day gift is a guide to development. Refuse sets for drinking alcoholic beverages, cigarette cases, and sets of gambling board games.

Celebrating name days is a fascinating tradition of the past. Today it looks different than two hundred or three hundred years ago, but its spiritual value is still high.