What is a name day, why is this holiday interesting? First, don't confuse them with birthdays. These dates are completely different. Birthday is the date, month and year the person was born. Name day is the day of church commemoration of this or that saint, the day of his memory. A list of them is presented in the Saints (in other words Months), and the alphabetical listing is in the Name Book. According to religious traditions, a newborn baby is named after the saint on whose feast day he was born, or on whose feast a person was baptized. This is the name day, and the Christian on this day is called the birthday man. In a figurative sense, this word has become synonymous with the combination "hero of the occasion." Let's see who should be honored in the first week of the New Year and beyond.
January 1st
Name days in January are celebrated by people whose guardian angels are recorded for this month in the Saints. First of all, these are men bearing the name Ilya (Elijah). It is given in honor of the Monk Ilya Pechersky, who, among other things, was the prototypethe same Ilya Muromets, who is immortalized in ancient Russian epics and epics. He lived in the 12th century, was known as an extraordinary strongman. According to legend, this hero was motionless for more than 30 years. And he was healed not just by “calicas of visitors”, but by Jesus himself with two apostles. After many feats of arms, Ilya, whose name day in January is celebrated on the 1st day, accepted monasticism in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. He was canonized in the 17th century (1643). On the same day they celebrate the memory of their saints Boniface, Timothy and Gregory.
January 2nd
Those whose names are Ignat, Ivan, Danila, Anton continue to celebrate name days in January. What saints are they associated with? The first is Ignat the God-bearer, who is especially revered in Bulgaria. He was a disciple of John the Theologian himself, a bishop of Antioch, a holy martyr. The saint earned his nickname - the God-bearer - by the fact that Jesus held him in his arms as a child. And he is a holy martyr because he died a terrible death in the name of the Lord. Being captured by order of the emperor Troyan, he underwent severe torture and was thrown to the lions to be torn to pieces. Also, Danila's name day in January is celebrated on the 2nd. The saints point to the prophet Daniel as the main clergyman, whose memory is especially revered at this time. John of Kronstadt the Wonderworker continues men's name days in January. They pray to him, asking him to heal from drunkenness, madness, various diseases, because it was precisely with his endless patience, philanthropy and healing in the name of faith that the saint became famous.
January 3
Continue onstudy Names. What men's name day in January falls on the 3rd? These are Leonty, Peter, Nikita, Procopius. Peter of Moscow, who is also the Wonderworker of All Russia, is a person known from ancient times. He was the first Metropolitan of Kyiv and Moscow, he lived in the XIII century. He painted icons, including the first miraculous in Russia - "Peter's". He was distinguished by special virtues, advised Ivan Kalita to build the first stone church in Moscow in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He himself made a stone coffin for himself in one of the walls of the church, where he was buried. Since then, for many centuries, not a single serious state business has been complete without prayers at the tomb of St. Peter. It is impossible not to recall Procopius Vyatsky, listing who else has a name day in January. Male names - Prokop, Prokofiy, Prokopiy - are consecrated by the high Christian feat of this holy fool, who left home in his early youth and devoted himself to serving the Lord. He was a seer, predicted many events in the life of his city, healed the sick. Everything that people gave him - money, food, clothes - the saint distributed to the poor, himself being content with only the necessary. Was canonized for his righteous life.
Righteous women and martyrs
Ulyana, Anastasia, Antonina, Matryona, Tatiana also celebrate their name day in January. Women's names remind us of those heroines of the past who suffered a lot for their faith, experienced cruel torments, but remained firm and unshakable in their love for Christ. So, January 3 is the day of memory of Ulyana Vyazemskaya (XV century). Resisting becomingthe concubine of the murderer of her lawful spouse, she preferred a cruel death to a shameful life. A wonderful example of disinterestedness, spiritual and bodily purity, fidelity to the precepts of Christianity was shown by her life the Great Martyr Anastasia, nicknamed the Destroyer of Patterns. She visited prisons, encouraged the prisoners, among whom there were many Christians, because the saint lived in those days when the teachings of Jesus were only spreading through cities and villages. In addition to the gift of a living compassionate word, the Lord endowed her with the gift of healing. They commemorate Anastasia the Patterner on January 4, and on January 9 - the holy New Martyr Antonina of Bryansk, who was shot in the terrible year 1937 on charges of a church conspiracy and participation in activities against the Soviet regime. January 11 is the name day of Matrona, who was called by the people none other than mother. The 25th is Tatyana's Day, a merry holiday for students. And it is named so in honor of the virgin Tatyana, an early Christian martyr, torn to pieces by the pagans of Rome because she did not want to participate in their rituals.
Baptism and Epiphany
Church name days in January are associated with such important events for every Christian as Baptism and Epiphany. It comes on January 19, the people call it simply - "Ivan", or "Jordan". The holiday is dedicated to the memory of the baptism of Jesus in the waters of the Jordan by John the Baptist. Then the Lord revealed to everyone His triple nature: in the form of His Son, the Holy Spirit, who appeared as a dove, and God the Father, speaking from heaven and announcing about Jesus. To Christ himself, sinless by nature, water baptismwas not required. But he taught people the lesson of true humility and obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father. Water on the eve of the celebration is consecrated by the ministers of the church. Believers stock up on it for the whole year in order to save themselves from illnesses, sprinkle homes, etc. The miraculous property of baptismal water has long been noticed: it does not deteriorate at all for many years.
Conclusion
Of course, the names and dates listed in this article are far from a complete list of January birthdays. There is practically no day in the month that does not fall on a church holiday. And to know exactly when your name day is, take a look at the Saints! Or buy a church calendar - all the saints revered in Orthodoxy are listed there.
