Many are wondering what patron saints by name and date of birth they have. Our article is entirely devoted to the answer. You will learn the name of your patron saint, and information will also be provided on how best to celebrate name days. This day is incredibly important for every person. So, read the information below carefully.
In our time, after a long break, more and more people begin to revive interest in their heavenly patrons and name days. But many continue to confuse the concepts of “name day”, “birthday” and “guardian angel day”. Also, often people simply don’t think about why their name day is celebrated, say, today, and not tomorrow or some other day. Even more often, having learned that there are several saints with a certain name, people begin to wonder which of these saints is the heavenly patron for this or that person. Let's try to understand these questions and find answers to them. These concepts simply need to be distinguished.
Name day, guardian angel day and birthday
I think everyone knows about what a birthday is and loves to celebrate it, invite guests and receive gifts. Everything is simple here: birthday is the day on which a person was born. But let's think about it, why is it that quite often a person is called a “birthday man” on his birthday? This happens because, thanks to the long atheistic period throughout the post-Soviet space, people simply began to confuse the birthday and the day of their name day, sometimes combining them into one date. However, “birthday” and “name day” are different concepts. It is worth mentioning that before the revolution in Tsarist Russia, name days for the Orthodox were a much more important holiday than birthdays. Nowadays, they are celebrated much less often. This is due to the ignorance of people about the significance of the name day. But every year the situation changes and more and more people show interest in them and their heavenly patrons. So what is this day? Believers also designate it with the word "the namesake". Do you know the meanings of the words "namesake", "teza"? They denote a person who has the same name. So: a certain calendar day, on which one or another saint or several saints are remembered at once, is a namesake, festive for a person bearing the name of the saint who is remembered on this day. In the common people, especially in the western parts of Ukraine and Belarus, the name day is often referred to as "the day of the angel", "the day of the guardian angel (guardian angel)", which, of coursewell, that's also not entirely correct. The mistake occurs for the reason that believing people sometimes call their saints angels, guardian angels. But this is not a saint, this is precisely an angel, a good spirit, given by God to a person during baptism, so that he would instruct a person during his earthly life on the path of salvation. But a person cannot know his personal name, since he is invisible to a person. Therefore, for each guardian angel, a separate day is not assigned for his remembrance. But certain days are established, on which all heavenly angelic forces are honored.
How to find out the name of the patron saint
So how do you find out, and when the day of veneration of your saint is appointed? And what are the patron saints by name and date of birth for each of us? After all, who decides all this? So, in order: firstly, in order to find out which of the saints is our heavenly patron, we need to look into the Saints, or, as this church-folk calendar is also called, the Monthly Calendar. It is there that the names of all the saints and the dates for their memory are recorded. And these dates are set by the Church, which ranks this or that person as a saint. Secondly, patron saints are usually identified by name and date of birth. Well, this is understandable, because we know our name. However, what should we do if several saints with our name are mentioned in the Saints at once? In such a case, we must choose the saint whose memory is honored closest to our birthday. It should also be noted that the list with saints is constantlyis renewed as more and more saints are glorified. For example, at the Bishops' Council in 2000, the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia were glorified, and if a person was baptized before 2000, then the saints by name and date of birth are determined according to the publications of the Saints earlier than 2000. And if after, then the saint is determined from a wider list by date of birth, according to the publications of the Saints later than 2000. But what if we don’t find a saint with his own name in the Saints? For example, if a person has a non-Christian name? In this case, we must choose a patron saint close in name to ours. So, Dina becomes Evdokia, Angelica becomes Angelina, Zhanna Ioanna, and Svetlana becomes Photinia. But Yuri at baptism is called George. Does this mean that a person in ordinary worldly life is called by this new name? No. In worldly life, of course, he remains Yuri. And in church life, at, say, confession or communion, calling himself, he must give the church name: George. When submitting notes about he alth or repose, the church name of a person is also written. Previously, when they decided to name and baptize a newborn, they usually looked into the Saints and looked at the memory of which saints the Church honors on this day, and chose a patron saint for the baby by name from this list. It is on the day of the baptism of the child, and not on the day of his birth. Now this is a forgotten tradition, and in our time, few adhere to it. They now name them mainly in honor of their relatives or in honor of some favorite characters in books or films, but not in honor of saints. It happensalso because many do not know what patron saints by date of birth and name exist. Using the example of some names, let's see how many saints there are in one name.
Saint patron named Andrew
The name Andrew is of Greek origin. In translation, it means "courageous, brave." Since this name is very common - that was the name of one of the twelve apostles of Christ - then, accordingly, there should be a lot of saints with that name. Let's see, is that right? Let's take a look at Saints. Yes, indeed, there are many saints named Andrew. Here they are. Hieromartyr Andrei, Bishop of Ufa (January 8), Martyr Andrei of Lampsakia (May 31), Apostle Andrew the First-Called (July 3, July 13, December 13), Rev. Andrei Rublev, icon painter (July 17), Martyr Andrei of Crete (October 30).
So, as we can see, the choice is plentiful. This is far from a complete list. Remember that Andrew, to determine his heavenly patron, needs to choose a saint named Andrew from the list, which would be the closest to his birthday.
Vladimir
Which patron saint named Vladimir? It is Slavic. The first part of the name goes back to the Proto-Indo-European basis and means the word "strength, power." The second part of the name is borrowed from the Germanic languages \u200b\u200bwith the meaning "great, famous." However, this second part (-mers) among the Slavs, under the influence of the word "peace", took on a different meaning, corresponding to the specified word. It turns out that the name Vladimir means the combination "owning the world";at the same time the world in the meaning of "the Universe, the globe", and the world in the meaning of "peace, peace". The original name was pagan. But after the baptism of Russia, subsequently, the name Vladimir was canonized, since Russia was baptized by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich. There are much fewer saints with this name than in the case of Andrei. Let's take a look at Saints. Hieromartyr Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia (February 1), Martyr John Vladimir, Prince of Serbia (June 4), Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir (July 28), Martyr Priest Vladimir (August 29), Right-Believing Prince Vladimir Yaroslavich of Novgorod (October 17).
Name Dmitry
Now let's find out which patron saint named Dmitry. This Greek name means "dedicated to the goddess Demeter." The established church form of the name is Demetrius. There are also many saints with this name, since the name Dmitry is very common to this day. What kind of saints with the name Demetrius do the Saints mention? Rev. Demetrius Skevophylax (February 7), Righteous Demetrius of Yuryevsky, son of the Right-Believing Prince Svyatoslav (February 16), Passion-Bearer, Blessed Tsarevich Demetrius of Uglich and Moscow (May 28, June 5, June 16), Martyr Demetrius of Kazan (October 15), Martyr Demetrius (November 28), Righteous Demetrius (December 14).
Alexandra
Let's talk about which patron saint named after Alexander. This is the female form of the name Alexander; is of Greek origin and is translated as “protector of people”, “brave”. There are, frankly, few saints with this name, here they are: a martyrAlexandra of Pontus (April 2), Martyr Alexandra of Rome, Empress of Nicomedia (May 6), Martyr Alexandra of Corinth (May 31, November 19), Saint Alexandra of Diveevskaya (June 26), Holy Passion-bearer Empress Alexandra (July 17). In Russia, by far, the most popular saint bearing this name is the Russian empress, wife of Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor.
Anna
It is worth talking about what kind of patron saint named Anna. If all the previous names we are considering (with the exception of Vladimir) were of Greek origin, then this name is Hebrew, and translates as "grace, favor, mercy, dear." This name is biblical. Since the name is very common throughout the world, there are, of course, many saints with this name, unlike Alexandra: the prophetess Anna (February 16, December 22, martyr Anna Gotfskaya (April 8), the blessed Grand Duchess Anna Kashinskaya (25 June, August 3, October 15), St. Anna of Vifinskaya (June 26, November 11), Martyr Anna (July 18).
Elena
What are the patron saints of the name Elena? It is of Greek origin. Interestingly, its etymology is still unclear. There were suggestions that it is associated with the sun god Helios or indicates the self-name of the Greeks - the Hellenes. However, despite their popularity, there are very few saints with this name. Martyr Elena (January 28), Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Elena (June 3), Martyr Elena, daughter of the Apostle Alpheus (June 8), Rev. Elena Diveevskaya (June 10),Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga, Grand Duchess of Russia, in holy baptism Elena (July 24), Righteous Elena, Queen of Serbia (November 12).
A little about the icons of patron saints
There are many icons depicting saints. And it is very good if a person has at home or carries with him an image of his heavenly patron saint. You can turn to the saint with any request, our patron saints hear us and help. In order to choose the right icon with the image of our saint, we need to know about our patron, how he is depicted on the icons, go to the church shop and choose the right one. It will be good if the icon of the patron saint by name will always be next to you. In addition, let's say that it would be nice to know at least one prayer addressed to your saint.
How to celebrate the patron saint's day?
If you understand the difference between a name day and a birthday, you certainly understand the difference between celebrations. On the name day, we, first of all, remember our saints so that they also remember us. On the day of the name day, believers usually go to the temple, confess and take communion. But, of course, there are no obstacles for guests, a gala dinner and gifts. But it should not be noisy fun and a feast with alcoholic drinks. It is better if it is a sincere conversation filled with meaning and content. It is worth noting that if your name day falls during Lent, you need to cook only Lenten dishes. Follow this rule. If your name day falls onweekday in Lent, they must be moved to Sunday or Saturday.
Some people never celebrate their name day. This is extremely wrong, because, in addition to religious overtones, it is also just a good bright day filled with joy.
It is very important to teach children from an early age to celebrate name days, take them to church for communion, and also give them small gifts and arrange a quiet feast with the family. In the future, the child throughout his life will treat this day as a festive and special one.
And one more thing. Never forget to congratulate your relatives and friends on their birthday. Give them small gifts. Your attention on this day will be very pleasant to them. Visit them whenever possible. Knowing which patron saints your loved ones have by date of birth and name will help you choose a gift if you decide to present an icon.
We really hope that this article was useful to you. You know what patron saints are by name and date of birth, as well as how to identify them. That's not all. You found out which patron saint is named after you. We also hope that you will find interesting information on how to celebrate name days. For many people, this is another reason for a feast, which is not right. Now you will know what actions are best done on this wonderful day of his name day for every person. How to find out the name of the patron saint? It's not that hard. You just need to show a keen interest.
