Loss of tradition
Probably, many of us were familiar with this picture: a birthday, a birthday cake with many candles is brought in and all the guests sing: “As for someone’s name day, we baked a loaf, this high, this wide... Loaf, loaf, whoever you want, choose..."
These simple words of a children's song, which can still be heard at birthday celebrations, remind us of the forgotten tradition of celebrating name days.
What kind of holiday is this?
Name days are often called a person’s birthday, considering that they are one and the same thing. In fact, this is not so, although in the old days (and often in our days), when choosing a name for a newborn, it was customary to name children after the saint whose veneration fell on the child’s birthday. Thus, it was believed that the child would be under the protection of this saint, and the birthday actually coincided with the name day.
A name day is a day of remembrance of a saint whose name was given to a person at baptism. In other words, this is Angel Day, the day of remembrance of our heavenly patron, the day of the saint whose name we bear.
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 sacred 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.
But it is at Baptism that we receive our church name, with which we approach the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, with which we depart into eternity.
This name may not always coincide with the name our parents gave us. For example, Angela is a “passport”, secular name that parents gave to the baby for sentimental reasons, and Angelina is a church name adopted at Baptism in honor of a reverend wife glorified by the Church - that is, a Serbian queen who became a nun.
But what if we bear a “decent” Orthodox name, but we were baptized a long time ago and in honor of no one knows? How do we identify our saint?
If it is not known which of the saints of the same name we bear the name of, then according to tradition, we should consider as “our own” the saint whose memory in the calendar falls on the birthday itself or follows the birthday. Therefore, despite the large number of name day dates for some names, each specific name bearer may have only one name day per year, which is determined by the date of his birthday. Although this does not prevent us from prayerfully celebrating other days of memory of our saint with the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and a splendid feast with our family.
Also in the Orthodox calendar there are several days a year when name days are universal. This is, for example, the Week of Remembrance of All Saints (the first Sunday after the Holy Trinity Day), and the Week of All Russian Saints (the second Sunday after the Holy Trinity Day), if we bear the names of Russian ascetics of piety.
But these days, children are rarely named after the saints whose name is celebrated on the day of Epiphany. Therefore, name days often become a separate holiday and they can be called a spiritual birthday, entry into the Orthodox Church under the special patronage of the saint whose name you bear.
This is a special Greek-Russian tradition, which, for example, the Georgian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches do not know. There, a person is called not by the name of a saint, but by traditional national names that have one or another specific positive meaning.
All the more so, we, the inhabitants of Great Russia, should appreciate this rare custom and the opportunity to have, in addition to our guardian angel, also a special prayer book for us in Heaven before the Throne of the Most High. It would be necessary to restore this family and spiritual holiday everywhere, as a thread of noble continuity connecting us with the pious customs of many generations of our illustrious predecessors.
We should, but we don’t appreciate it. It would seem that in a family, with the celebration of name day, a holiday appears additional to the birthday. There is a reason to gather for a festive meal with the whole family, invite relatives and friends, give and receive gifts, increase the cultural level of the family and prepare a program of celebrations - poems, songs, etc.
But... we have to admit with regret that even the eternal inclination of our compatriots to celebrate anything did not “work” in this case, and the true tradition of celebrating name days among unchurched Russians is almost lost.
Moreover, the very concept of name day has become overgrown with a whole heap of superstitions, prejudices and simply nonsense.
For example, they talk about the “magic of the name.” They say, how and after whom you are named is how you will live.
In people who have lost faith over the past decades, it is believed that if a person is named, for example, in honor of a great martyr, he will suffer all his life, etc., if he is a saint, the person will be poor, and so on. But if it’s in honor of a tsar or a grand duke, the baby’s fate simply must be brilliant, although don’t do anything for it! And the expectant mother feverishly leafs through the Orthodox calendar together with her “experienced” relatives, reads the short lives of the saints and sees with horror that the fate of her child is simply “catastrophic”! Because what we wish for ourselves and our children is sharply different from what the Church offers us and what numerous saints embodied in their life’s feats, whose names we, unworthy and lazy, bear.
As if there are saints in the Orthodox calendar whose lives are “not suitable” for us who dare to call ourselves Orthodox?! As if imitating the life of any saint, including your heavenly patron, does not lead to God?!
Although we call ourselves Orthodox, and together despise non-believers and sectarians, how different are our personal, own values from those of the Church!
What do most of us want? In words, yes, of course, the Kingdom of Heaven. But in reality?
We would like more money and happiness, and the “Kingdom of Heaven” will be added to us! We are unworthy of holiness, but, in our own opinion, we are completely worthy of earthly blessings.
So, the difference between the saints and us is not in the special structure of the body and the glow around the head, but in the fact that the saints thought primarily about how they could have “more God” in their lives!
We would like a quiet and peaceful death, and for this we are ready for eternal compromises with our conscience, and the saints were not afraid to go to death, just so as not to renounce God.
We fight for our truth by hook or by crook, but the saints fought for the Truth of God, and constantly left their needs and their truth “for later.”
Of course, a name has a certain influence on a person’s life and gives him some life guidelines. But this influence will never replace the gift of human free will, the ability to arrange one’s own life and to seek one’s own ways of communicating with God.
With all the variety of paths to holiness in Christianity, the feat of all saints is essentially the same - they loved God more than the vanity of this world. Not all of them completely abandoned “earthly blessings,” but they all had the correct hierarchy of values - first of all God, His Church, then the Fatherland, family, and only then personal needs.
Therefore, it is not so much our name that influences our righteousness or sinfulness, our love for God and our neighbors, but rather our personal aspiration.
Let us seek God—let us imitate the saints by whose names we were named, and thereby glorify our name not with vain human glory, but with the Glory of God, the Eternal Glory. If we seek only our own comforts and pleasures, all our “royal” names, including the great title of Christian, will only become our reproof and condemnation!
How is Angel Day celebrated by believers?
Church officials advise talking to your Guardian Angel during this celebration. It is worth thanking him for the work he does every day throughout his life. Believers believe that such prayers will definitely be heard and conveyed to the Almighty. You should periodically, even mentally, talk to your Guardian Angel. He will feel his need and understand that all his efforts are not in vain.
It is the Angel who is able to suggest the right decision at the right moment. You just have to listen to yourself. Inside the soul you can find the answer to your question. There have been cases when it was the Guardian Angels who saved a person from troubles at the right moment. The clergy believe that the more often you communicate with him, the stronger the connection will become.
This celebration is worth celebrating with close people. Essentially it's the same birthday. However, the holiday is dedicated not only to a person, but also to his Guardian Angel. It is necessary to take into account what church fast the celebration falls on. This is how the dishes on the table should be. The Guardian Angel loves when people adhere to church instructions. Words of congratulations and wishes for good health should be heard at the table. The angel needs to be thanked for his hard work every day.
About the meaning of a name in a person’s life
Of course, the name primarily serves to simply distinguish people. But there is also a deeper meaning in our names, which cannot be reduced to the simple functionality of distinction.
Indeed, a name is inseparable from a person. It is an indicator of our culture, our faith, our life values. The name is a companion that accompanies each of us on the long road of life.
In the past, a name could be a specific social sign and indicate a place in society. Now the situation has changed and, perhaps, only monastic (monastic) names stand out sharply from the Russian name book that is familiar to us. But there is also a now almost forgotten, mysterious meaning of the name.
In ancient times, people attached much more importance to a name than it does now. The name has always been a significant part of a person's identity. 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 name successfully chosen for a person or by the person himself became a source of strength and prosperity, an incentive for self-improvement. Naming was considered a high act of co-creation, that is, human participation in the mystery of creation, invoking the grace of God on a new person.
In primitive society, the 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 believed that as many names as there are, there are as many souls, so in some tribes, before killing an enemy, it was supposed to find out his name in order to use it in his own tribe. Often names were hidden to prevent weapons from being given to the enemy.
Pronunciation of the name was handled with care, otherwise expect trouble. In some tribes it was strictly forbidden to pronounce 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 the name of the father, which was shouted in the ear, imparted strength to a sick child. Sometimes they even named the child after the father (mother), believing that part of the parents’ vital energy would help defeat the disease. If the child cried too much, then this was also attributed to the incorrectly chosen name.
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 who do not know the name would be disoriented and would not be able to find the baby.
The pagans also had another option for protecting a child from evil spirits. At birth, parents deliberately gave the baby unattractive, frightening names, such as Nekras, Nelyuba and even Mertvoy, which, according to our pagan ancestors, averted adversity and misfortune. Hence many of our unusual, “ugly” surnames, for example Nekrasov. Hence the eternal habit of “being poor,” constantly complaining about life, hiding one’s true state of affairs, so as not to “court trouble.”
Prayer to the Guardian Angel
Holy Angel of Christ, falling to you I pray, my holy guardian, given to me for the protection of my sinful soul and body from holy baptism, but with my laziness and my evil custom I angered your most pure lordship and drove you away from me with all the cold deeds: lies, slander , envy, condemnation, contempt, disobedience, brotherly hatred, and resentment, love of money, adultery, rage, stinginess, gluttony without satiety and drunkenness, verbosity, evil thoughts and crafty ones, proud custom and lustful indignation, driven by self-will for all carnal lust.
Oh, my evil will, which even dumb animals cannot do! How can you look at me, or approach me like a stinking dog? Whose eyes, angel of Christ, look upon me, entangled in evil in vile deeds? How can I already ask for forgiveness with my bitter and evil and crafty deed, I fall into misery all day and night and at every hour? But I pray to you, falling down, my holy guardian, have mercy on me, a sinful and unworthy servant of yours (name), be me a helper and intercessor against the evil of my opponent, with your holy prayers, and make me a partaker of the Kingdom of God with all the saints, always, and now and ever and ever. Amen.
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Name of a person in the ancient world
Especially, a reverent attitude towards the name has been inherent in man since ancient times.
It is well known that 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 hieroglyphic texts they were highlighted with a special frame - a “cartouche”. The Egyptians treated the names of the dead with great respect - improper handling of which, according to the ancients, caused irreparable harm to the otherworldly existence of the deceased.
The name and its bearer were one. 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 as they grow older. In ancient Greece, when people became priests, they renounced their old names, carved them on metal tablets and drowned them in the sea.
Relatively speaking, distant echoes of these ideas can be seen in the Christian tradition of naming new monks monastic names, when someone who has taken monastic vows leaves the world and his former worldly name. This custom captures a person’s initial conviction about the need for a radical change in life when dedicating oneself to God, even to the point of changing such an important component of one’s personality as one’s name.
Many peoples were forbidden to pronounce the names of pagan gods and spirits, so as not to attract their attention and not allow their destructive influence into their lives. It was especially dangerous to call evil spirits, that is, “cursing,” and thus calling on “evil power.” Until now, the very use, especially oral, of the word “devil” and its derivatives is extremely indecent for an Orthodox Christian.
This makes some sense. If a corporeal being does not become closer to us from pronouncing its name, then ethereal forces, which do not have a clear limited stay and easily move in space, through invoking their name, quickly come into contact with us. And this contact, in the case of communication with demons, can be dangerous for us. And vice versa, the constant invocation of the Name of God in prayer introduces an element of sanctification into our lives. This is the basis, for example, of the practice of constantly reading the Jesus Prayer, which, when used correctly, allows a person to achieve great spiritual heights and communion with God.
By the way, not all cultures considered calling God by name acceptable. The ancient Jews, out of a sense of special reverence, did not dare to pronounce the Name of God: Yahweh (Jehovah) in the Old Testament is the “ineffable Name”, a sacred tetragram (that is, an abbreviation of four letters), which can be translated as “I am the One who truly exists and is the source of His existence."
According to the Bible, renaming becomes a sign of a special transformation, a change in the purpose of existence. So the Lord gave especially meaningful names to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Ishmael, Solomon, and renamed Jacob Israel. The special religious gift of the Jewish people was manifested in many names, which are called “theophoric,” that is, “God-bearing.” Thus, through his personal name, a person mysteriously joined God.
Name in Orthodoxy
In Orthodoxy, we dare to reverently call on the name of God, but we remember that it is unacceptable to do this in vain, that is, in empty conversations and oaths.
It is obvious that Christianity, as a manifestation of the highest religious experience of mankind, takes personal names very seriously. This is rooted in the confession of our God as a perfect Person, a thinking, rational Being. Therefore, with all the understanding of the absolute inapplicability of any human names to God, we respect the mystery of personality and the name, which is a reflection, a symbol of this mystery.
Moreover, the name of a Christian reflects the sacrament of the unique personality of a person who has entered the Church of Christ; it presupposes personal communication with God. It is in the sacrament of Baptism that the Christian Church accepts a new soul into its bosom, connects it through a personal name with the name of God, calling the new warrior of the Church a Christian.
“We call Your name...”, we sing in the Sunday hymn, that is, we are called by Your name. It was this name - “Christian” that bound together the Christians of the first centuries in the face of persecution by pagan Rome. At the same time, the martyrs even refused to tell the judges their former names, which were associated with the vain pagan life.
As Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov wrote, “human naming and name-incarnation exists in the image and likeness of divine incarnation and naming... every person is the incarnate word, the realized name, for the Lord himself is the incarnate Name and Word.”
It is noteworthy that for a long time Orthodox icons were consecrated not by a special prayer ritual, as now, but by the inscription of the name of Christ or a saint depicted on the board and the outline of a round halo, characteristic of our icons. For this purpose, there was even a special clergyman at the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople and paint with the addition of holy water.
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The ultimate goal of Christian achievement implies the desire for holiness, therefore all the names of Christians are holy.
Moreover, by naming a baby or another person entering the Church with the name of an already canonized saint, the Church tries to direct him to the true path of salvation and knowledge of God: after all, this name has already been “realized” in the life of another person, sanctified by his feat and prayers. Therefore, it is natural for one who bears the holy name to always preserve within himself the image of life of his heavenly patron, helper and prayer book and reverently venerate his icon and the day of his prayerful memory.
But not all names are used to call a baby. Reverence for the holy names of the Lord and the Mother of God explains the fact that in the Orthodox tradition it is not customary to give the names “Jesus” and “Mary” in honor of their divine bearers. All Orthodox "Maries" are still called in honor of St. Mary Magdalene, and the rare monastic name “Jesus” is assigned not in memory of our Lord Jesus Christ, but of the Old Testament righteous man Joshua.
To be fair, we note that many canonical names that naturally sound in Greek, for example, are also hardly desirable for modern Russian children due to their cacophony, even if they fall on a child’s birthday or baptism.
Such examples are numerous: male - Varadat, Gorazd, Euprobus, Exuperantius, Epaphroditus, Iakischol, Istucarius, Kazdoy, Kastrichiy, Kuksha, Mardarius, Medula, Melchizedek, Pausikakiy, Pamphalon, Parthagapa, Primitive, Sasonius, Sosipater, Sossius, Tyrannus, Usphasanus, Farmufiy, Khudion, Khuzdazat and others. Female - Andropelagia, Denegotia, Drosida, Exuperia, Kazdoya, Martyria, Mastridia, Proskudia, Sosipatra, Theopistia, Chrysoploka, Christodoula, Yazdundokta and others.
Parents should remember that for their child an exotic-sounding name can become a heavy burden, leading to excessive isolation or, on the contrary, a forced aggressive lifestyle. Therefore, when choosing an unexpectedly sounding name, you should show wisdom and prudence, and consult with your family and priest.
How to affectionately call a baby named, for example, Gordy? “Grief” or “Vile”?
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It would be unfair to remember the name of God not to mention one important point associated with this name.
We have already talked about the Jesus Prayer as a constant and grace-filled repetition of turning to the Lord. At the beginning of the 20th century, a characteristic movement arose in Orthodox monasticism - the name-glorists, who argued that in the Name of God is hidden the presence of God, the power and energy emanating from the Lord Himself. In brief form, this position was expressed in the words: “The name of God is God.” In name-glorification, the Name was thought of as a bridge connecting the heavenly and the earthly.
This teaching in its extreme forms was officially condemned by the Church, but, nevertheless, the imyaslavtsy managed to exert a strong influence on Russian philosophy at the beginning of the century. For example, A.F. Losev in the 20s wrote the work “Philosophy of the Name,” where he gave a deep analysis of “the world as a name.” Losev writes: “In love, we repeat the name and appeal to the beloved through the name. In hatred we blaspheme and humiliate the hated through its name. And we pray and curse through names, through pronouncing the name... The world was created and maintained by name and words. Every living creature bears a name. Nations live by name and words, millions of people move.”
The meaning of the holiday
Angel's Day is also called name day. The church claims that they do not tell strangers about the name of your heavenly patron - only your closest and dearest should know it. The “undisclosed”, “unclassified” heavenly intercessor will protect a person much stronger and more reliably.
The Guardian Angel constantly protects his earthly “ward”. You can turn to him for help in absolutely any situation. They ask him for help, resort to protection in difficult times. That is why the church calls for reading prayers to your guardian angel, but not only asking, but also thanking him for his help and protection.
By the way, a person is escorted to another world with exactly the name that was given to him at baptism.
Origin of the Russian Orthodox name book
The first extensive layer of Russian names arose in the pre-Christian era, that is, before the 10th century.
Just as in other cultures, 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.
Names with Slavic roots glorified the sun (Yaroslav - glorifying the sun, i.e. Yarila), the world (Vladimir - i.e. owning the world), light, strength and other dominants of the spiritual world of pre-Christian pagans.
Scandinavian names (Olga - Helga) also reminded their bearers of the formidable forces of nature that determine human life.
Later, after the Baptism of Rus', these names, sometimes difficult to distinguish from nicknames, coexisted with Christian calendar names (until the 17th century). For example, Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir took the name Vasily in Holy Baptism, but he is widely known precisely by his former name.
In addition to the main name, people often had nicknames, which even priests had. It happened that one person could have as many as three personal names: a “nickname” 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. 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.”
Each date of the month corresponds to the celebration of the memory of certain saints. The basis for choosing the date can be different: the day of death, canonization, discovery of relics, dedication of the temple, etc.
The formation of the monthly calendar, which began in the first centuries of Christianity, continues to this day through canonization acts of the Orthodox Church.
The canonical spelling of names was sometimes subject to correction. The most significant corrections occurred during the reform of Patriarch Nikon in the 1670s.
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The post-revolutionary history of Russian names developed dramatically: in accordance with the general campaign against religion in all its manifestations, 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 also 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 , “Vilen” i.e. V.I. Lenin, etc.).
In fairness, it should be noted that 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 of Father Pavel Florensky: “you can’t make up names,” in the sense that they are “the most stable fact of culture and the most important of its foundations.”
But, nevertheless, the Soviet desacralization of names did its job. And today, few of those bearing the names of even great saints know anything about their heavenly patrons or, to one degree or another, honor their memory.
The separation of the sound of the name, its superficial meaning and semantic content, that is, the reverent correlation of one’s life with the life of a saint, also led to the widespread borrowing of names 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 (eg Aurelius, Aphrodite, Venus), etc.
The name ceased to be deep, it began to have only the character of a tag. And although Russian society is again returning to calendar names, “de-Christianization” and a break in tradition have led to an extraordinary impoverishment of the modern name book, which now consists of only a few dozen names. Of course, this could not have happened without the natural desire of “mass cultures” for homogenization and standardization.
Old traditions of celebrating name days
As we have already said, in Rus' the custom of giving a second baptismal name dates back to the 10th century, to the time of the Baptism of Rus'.
Despite the fact that the day of remembrance of one’s saint has been celebrated since ancient times with prayer in church and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, which is reflected in various chronicles and even Catechisms, widespread celebration of name days began in Rus' around the 17th century.
According to custom, the family brewed beer and baked rolls and loaves for the birthday boy. In the morning, the birthday boy and his family went to church, took communion, lit candles, venerated the icon with the face of his heavenly patron and ordered a prayer service for health. 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. And in the evening guests came and a festive dinner was held with songs.
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.
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After the revolution, a serious and systematic ideological struggle began with name days: the rite of baptism was recognized as counter-revolutionary, moreover, in the 20-30s, the celebration of name days was subject to official persecution.
The devil is deprived of the gift of creativity, therefore, instead of creating something of their own, the Soviet government only perverted church customs. Ecumenical councils were parodied by congresses of the Communist Party, icons - by ubiquitous portraits of leaders, burial - by a civil memorial service. They also tried to replace Baptism with a special ritual - “Octobers” and “Stars”, in which the newborn was congratulated in strict sequence by an October child, a pioneer, a Komsomol member, a communist, and “honorary parents.” Sometimes the baby was symbolically enrolled in the 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.”
Like many other cultural traditions, it has fallen into oblivion in recent decades. However, it has proven 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.” .
But everything returns to normal, and we once again congratulate our relatives and friends on Angel Day (this name day reminds us that in the old days heavenly patrons were sometimes called Angels of their earthly namesakes; however, patron saints should not be confused with Guardian Angels, sent for the care and protection of people). Traditionally, Angel Day is attributed to the day of remembrance of the named (namesake) saint, which immediately follows his birthday, although there is also a tradition of celebrating name days on the day of remembrance of the most famous named saint, for example, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Apostle Peter, St. Alexander Nevsky and etc.
Is there a name day tradition abroad?
Angel Day exists in many Christian countries. However, the attitude towards the holiday differs greatly depending on the orientation of the denomination. For example, Protestants do not venerate saints. In their canons there is no culture of worshiping martyrs, but in Orthodoxy and Catholicism this is a common practice. In Italy, the birthday person is given cakes, and in France, gifts are given. Today the rituals are rarely observed, but in extremely religious countries they continue to live on. For example, in Greece, Poland, Russia and the countries of the former CIS, where Orthodoxy is practiced. The name day tradition is also common in South America. Angel Day here is not limited to honoring saints: Latin American believers also venerate various images of the Virgin Mary.
Today, name days are common in more conservative families, so holiday parties to mark the occasion are less common. To mark name days, practicing Catholics and Orthodox Christians usually visit the temple and have quiet family celebrations.
Responsibilities of godparents
During the sacrament of Baptism, the baby cannot independently promise to remain faithful to God throughout his entire life. Therefore, his godparents give baptismal vows for him. These people (usually an adult man and woman) must be fairly churched people, sincere and meaningful believers.
Their task is to raise the baby in faith and piety, love for the Temple of God. They must monitor the regular communion of the baby, give gifts on Angel Day, and otherwise participate in the life of the child’s family. In other words, in the person of godparents, the family receives new relatives in spirit. This kinship may be stronger than the bonds of carnal kinship.
This shows what high demands the Church offers for godparents. But are we always guided by these requirements when choosing godparents for our children? Don’t random, practically unbelieving people often become godparents, who are unable to raise either themselves or our children spiritually and with dignity?
Godparents constantly forget even that they need to give gifts on birthdays, Angel Day, and most importantly, they need to pray for their godchildren and give instructions in spiritual life.
Relatives, when choosing godparents, often think about material gain, completely not understanding that a godfather is a spiritual mentor who will pray for the child.
But today, when they come to baptize a child, few people are interested in what saint the child is named after, hence they don’t even know when it is his Angel’s Day, when to celebrate his name day, and how to do it.
How did the tradition of celebrating name days come about?
Name day is the day of remembrance of the saint.
Every day, millions of Christians venerate martyrs, venerable elders, and other religiously important figures. Each canonized hero has his own date in the monthly calendar. Some saints are so respected that they are honored several times a year. At the same time, saints with the same names are included in the calendar. Therefore, the Alexanders celebrate Angel Day 146 times a year. The calendar is mainly formed using the dates of deaths of cult figures for Orthodoxy. Martyrs, iconic church figures, and kings can be included in the caste of the revered. For example, in the “Saints” one of the dates is assigned to Nicholas II, who is considered a sufferer who died for his faith and fatherland.
Over the years, the Orthodox calendar became more voluminous. In the Middle Ages, they began to use it widely when choosing a name for a baby. The new parents believed that the saint, after whom the child was named, would always protect the baby. This is where the second name of the celebration came from - Angel's Day, which is celebrated in a similar way to birthdays. By the way, many Orthodox Christians prefer to celebrate name days instead of another anniversary. However, the dates of these events often differ.
