The book "Saints", which lists all the days of commemoration of Orthodox saints and indicates religious holidays, is a church calendar, with the help of which in Russia they gave names to babies at baptism.
Church calendar as a list of Orthodox saints
The list of saints throughout the history of Orthodoxy has been constantly updated. So, the family of Nicholas II was recently ranked among the host of great martyrs. Therefore, in the calendar very often there are holidays of commemoration of several saints on one day (a vivid example is the name day in July), and there are practically no free days left. From the most ancient times in Russia, a name was given to a newborn only in the church, at baptism, by a priest, in honor of an Orthodox saint, whose holiday date fell on this day or nearby. Usually, church dates mark the arrival of the martyrdom of a saint (although not always).
Name day - purchase daypatron saint
One way or another, but the child received a name, and with it - his heavenly patron. Therefore, the synonymous expression "angel's day" also means name days. Another word that is close in lexical meaning is “namename”, which contains the particle “tezo”, that is, “similar” (hence the namesake). In ancient times, it also denoted the day of the angel, but later it was specified and began to be mentioned only in connection with members of the imperial family. So, the name day in July has 8 days, which include the days of commemoration of the saints Alexander - Nevsky, the Hieromartyr Minervin, Abbot Svirsky and others. The namesake of all Alexandrov Romanovs fell on these days. In the case of so many holidays in one month, and even in a year, the main day of the angel is the holiday of the saint in whose honor the name is given, and the rest are called “small name days”.
Number of church holidays falling in July
Name days in July are celebrated by a large number of people - men and women. In terms of the number of holidays, only March and December can be compared with this month - the months when several church holidays occur every day. So, July 6 is a record - 11 people celebrate the day of the angel, July 17 - 17 birthdays, 14 holidays fall on the 19th. In total, a total of 88 days of the angel falls on the name day in July - for 65 men and 23 women. It seems that not a single boy's name has been left uncovered. Simple and native Ivan and Stepan meet here, and rare for our placesGallaktion and Martin.
It is clear that the holidays in July are not only exclusive to Orthodox saints, the great martyrs and ascetics of the entire Christian religion are revered. An example is St. Cornelius the Centurion, whose commemoration day falls on July 22. This Catholic martyr is known for being converted to Christianity by the apostle Peter himself. In Russian onomastics, the name Cornelius is rare. But the name of Roots - often. This name was worn by athletes and football players, known not only in the sports environment. But Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky made him legendary. By the middle of the 19th century, secular moods in society were so strong that babies were named without looking into the Saints, as evidenced by artistic prose. But at baptism, even the most “original” name was chosen with a church name close in sound, since with it a person fell under the heavenly protection of his angel.
Choosing a name for a newborn is a reason to look into the "Saints"
Name days in July have the richest choice. Boys can be called any of the 65 names, because now they do not adhere to a strict date of baptism - the 40th day after birth. And the rite can be performed on the day of the saint bearing the desired name. Terenty, Innokenty, Heraclius, Thaddeus, Arkhip are included in this list along with the most popular Russian names - Vladimir, Dmitry, Peter, Sergey, Ivan and so on.
The list of female names is much more modest, but also gives room for choice. For example, nameTatyana, which has its own big and popular holiday on January 25 - Tatyana's day. Films of the same name were staged in his honor, songs were composed. But even in July, on the 17th, women bearing this name can celebrate their angel day. As well as Olga, Alexandra, Maria, Martha and Anastasia. An amazing day for celebrating a name day in July. From time immemorial, girls have been called by these names, they still do not lose their popularity, the only exception is Martha. But, as you know, the fashion for names, like everything else, comes and goes. Some popular hit appears (like the song "Marina"), a cartoon about the mysterious Anastasia Romanova appears on the screens - and thousands of girls are called by these names. Someday, Martha and Vasilisa will wait for their finest hour.
