Each of us knows very well the date of his birth, however, in addition to this holiday, any person also has the so-called name day. Not every person is interested in their name days and simply does not attach any importance to this celebration. Let's take a closer look at this event.
What is name day?
First of all, you need to understand what exactly this holiday means. Even in infancy, the sacrament of baptism is performed on a child, which means that from that moment on, each person has a kind of patron, or, as it is also commonly called, a guardian angel. In Orthodoxy, a saint becomes such a patron, whose name a person now bears. It is believed that it is he who now prays for us before God, protects and helps us in every possible way. In turn, we must also honor the memory of the saint who is now our patron, know his history and what exactly he distinguished himself during his lifetime. It doesn’t matter at all whether you celebrate your name day in August or any other month, after all, you can even do it several times a year,the main thing at the same time is to pray diligently and honor the memory of the saint whose name you bear.
Name days in August
As a rule, future parents think in advance about what name to give their baby, but very often it depends on what day the child is born, what name his parents will choose. Such a decision is truly Christianly correct, but it is not mandatory when choosing a name. So, for those who are wondering whose name day will be in August, we tell.
Already on August 1, Grigory, Roman, Dmitry, Tikhon and Stepan can celebrate their name days. The name Gregory means sleepless, vigilant, it is believed that a person endowed with this name will have just such character traits. The name day of the 1st day is also celebrated by those who were given the name Mitrofan at baptism.
In general, there are name days several times a year, so you should pay attention to the Orthodox calendar and mark these memorable days for yourself. For example, Elijah's name day can be met many times during the year, perhaps this is due to the martyr's life of this saint.
Name days in August, or rather the 2nd, can be celebrated by Alexei, Alexander, Ilya. On August 3, Eugene, Semyon, Peter can praise their holy guardian angel.
It must be remembered that name days in August, however, as in any other month, must be celebrated no less diligently than your birthday. It should only be taken into account that on this day you should not pour yourself a glass of alcohol, but it is better to go to church for a service,put a candle to your saint and just pray in front of the icons. Such behavior will please our patrons and prayer books for our sinful soul. They, in turn, constantly pray for us and come to the rescue when we ask them for it in our prayers.
Male names
If you pay attention to the name day in August for boys, then among the male names there are such names as Pavel, Vasily, Anton, Makar, Maxim, Leonid, Ivan and more than three dozen different names. In order to know for sure the day of your name day, it is better to pay attention to the Orthodox calendar, where each day corresponds to a very specific day of veneration of one or another saint.
Female names
Almost in the first days of August, namely the 4th, Christians honor the day of memory of the myrrh-bearing Mary Magdalene. According to Scripture, this woman led a dissolute and sinful life before meeting Christ, and after seven demons were cast out of her, it was Mary who became a faithful disciple and follower of Christ. Until the end of her life, she remained a faithful servant of the Lord and carried along with the apostles the teaching that Jesus bequeathed.
By the way, girls' name days in August also include a huge variety of names. These are Anastasia, Elena, Anna, Anfisa, Susanna and others.
