Daria, Dasha, Dashutka, Dashenka - what diminutive forms can not be found for this old, sweet female name! From time immemorial, it has come into our everyday life, and hardly anyone will remember now that the word comes from the ancient Persian language. 2 roots participated in its formation, the general meaning of which is “possessing a good gift”. Like most female names, it came from a male. Who knows history well, remembers the legendary Darius - I, II and III, the kings of the Persians. In Russia, Daria was mainly called girls from the common people, noblewomen rarely wore it. At the beginning of the Soviet era, the name lost its popularity and regained it by the end of the 70s of the last century. A real surge of enthusiasm for him was noted in 2009-2010. And now there are quite a lot of Dashutok in urban and especially rural areas.
Patron Saints
Calling the child like that, parents, of course, are interested: when is the day of his Angel? When the name Daria celebrates the name day, with whom exactly is it associated? Which saint Dasha should turn to in prayers and whose icon should be given to the girl at baptism? Let's tryfigure it out.
The legends of ancient times
Many names have not only a secular, so to speak, worldly history, but also a spiritual one. This also applies to ours. Daria's name day is celebrated both in the Orthodox and Catholic denominations. They are connected with several real women who endured great and unfair torments for Christ.
The first of them is Darius of Rome, who lived in the 3rd century. She had amazing beauty and charm, a lively mind and a sincere conviction in the correctness of paganism. However, having married a Christian, she believed in a new religion. Daria's name day, firstly, is associated with her conversion and baptism. Together with her husband Chrysanth, she preached the new norms of human society and the commandments of God. The authorities, led by Claudius, brutally persecuted the family, but they themselves witnessed no small miracles and soon shared the convictions of their prisoners. Punishment from the emperor was not long in coming. Companions of Daria and Chrysaphan were brutally executed. And the unfortunate Christian woman herself with her husband was given over to reproach and desecration: he was thrown into a pit with sewage, she was sent to a brothel. However, as ancient sources inform us, in the early years of the spread of Christianity, divine miracles often happened to the martyrs. And here, Daria's name day, secondly, marks her missionary work among harlots, corrupt women and those who used their services. When someone tried to encroach on the body of a beautiful saint, a huge lion appeared from nowhere near her and protected the girl, while notdepriving the life of the stalker. And Daria preached. And everyone who encountered this miracle was baptized and believed. Amazing events also happened to her husband: instead of stench and abominations, his pit turned out to be full of fragrance. Realizing that the holy family could not be de alt with just like that, Emperor Numerian gave both of them to the executioners for torture, and then ordered their execution.
They were martyred by being buried alive in the ground. Soon both were canonized as saints of the Christian Church. Daria's name day in Catholicism is celebrated on October 25. In Orthodoxy, her spiritual, moral exploits are reflected in such dates as August 17-18, April 1 and 4.
From Romulus to our time
The calendar mentions not only the Roman Daria. History remembers another, reverend martyr, who was elevated to the rank 10 years ago (in 2003).
This is Daria Zaitseva, a nun, warden of the Church of the Sign in a village near Moscow. On the denunciation of scoundrels currying favor with the Soviet government, the woman was arrested. She did not hide her views and beliefs, and therefore in 1938 (March 14) she was shot. So marks another Orthodox name day Daria. According to the church calendar, the day of her death is recorded as the day of the Angel. And Zaitseva herself was rehabilitated in 1989. The woman's good name was restored, her reputation restored.
This is such an unusual fate for this name and its bearers.
