What is Angel Day?
Happy Angel Day is usually congratulated on the day the Sacrament of Baptism is performed on a person. It is then that a Guardian Angel is sent from Heaven to the new child of the Church, whose name is known only to God.
Thus, a Christian has two heavenly patrons: first, the saint in whose honor he was baptized. Secondly, an Angel appointed by God for our protection. Previously, it was customary to call the saints who pray to the Lord for us Angels.
We can say that a believer has two birthdays: the first, which we celebrate directly as the day of physical birth. The second spiritual day is the day of receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. On this day the grace of the Holy Spirit descends on everyone. From this moment on, the Guardian Angel remains inseparably with us and we become full-fledged children of the Church.
Guardian Angel sent to every person in the Sacrament of Baptism
Festive table
The festive meal on the occasion of Angel Day did not imply a rich feast and surprise the guests with delicacies, since the main purpose of gathering at a common table was spiritual unity. The central treat of any such celebration was the loaf, which was even glorified in a song previously sung at name days, and nowadays often heard at birthdays: “How on [someone’s] name day we baked a loaf...”. In addition to the loaf, the table had to have dishes with filling - meat, fish, mushroom or vegetable pies, pies, dumplings, pancakes with cottage cheese. The royal name days were celebrated on a special scale, but even on them the central dish was the loaf.
Alexander Polovinkin in his book “Orthodox Spiritual Culture” writes that if a name day falls during fasting, then the entire meal should consist of Lenten treats. However, if Angel Day falls during Lent, then the clergy advises postponing the celebration either to the next weekend, that is, Saturday or Sunday, or to celebrate this important event after Easter, when Bright Week begins.
What is the difference between Angel's Day and Name Day?
There is no clearly established naming tradition. The names “name day” and “Angel Day” are interchangeable. But usually Angel Day is the day of baptism, when we honor our Guardian Angel, appointed by God to help in the salvation of the soul.
Name day is the day of remembrance of the saint whose name was given to us at baptism. There may be several such days a year. But the main one is chosen, which is closer to the birthday or the most important in the life of the saint.
General Angel Day can be celebrated on November 21 - the Council of the Archangel Michael and other ethereal Heavenly Powers.
We cannot choose an angel, unlike a saint, as our heavenly patron; the Lord sends him to us.
Orthodox Life
Priest Andrei Chizhenko discusses.
One priest celebrated his birthday, which also coincided with his name day. At the end of the Divine Liturgy that day, he went out to the solea, where fellow priests and parishioners gathered to congratulate him on his personal triumph. Father, with a face shining with joy, exclaimed in the Easter stichera: “This day, which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad on it”...
Indeed, a person’s birthday and name day are his personal little Easter, his personal resurrection. And all those around him, those close to him, those who love him rejoice with him. After all, the whole universe was born, God created, out of ineffable love, a whole microcosm in His image and likeness.
Sometimes the question is asked: “Why did the Creator create sinners if He knew that they would still face hellish torment?” The answer, it seems to me, is this: hellish torment is still better than non-existence. What can compare with the fact that the human soul realizes itself as a person, individuality and enjoys being?
Therefore, of course, a birthday is a special day when the world has become better, more beautiful, kinder, because another unique personality has appeared in it - YOU.
Why is suicide the most serious sin? Because human life is a miracle. This is a huge miracle of God! And to feel disgust for it, hatred, a desire for destruction and a return to oblivion is the same, for example, as feeling disgust for a moth, for a beautiful crimson sunset or a soft pink dawn. To God himself. To love.
A person's birthday is like the birth of a supernova of a shining star!
It expresses enormous Divine love, which created from nothingness a completely unique organism, which has no analogue.
And, of course, the main feeling that we should experience on our birthday is a feeling of gratitude to God, our Creator, to our parents and to life.
And the best way to express this gratitude to God is by confessing and partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at the Liturgy. Serve a thanksgiving prayer service. Its culmination: when the priest in front of the throne of God raises his hands up (this is always one of the most reverent and at the same time most intense moments of any divine service) and solemnly proclaims: “Glory to Thee, God, our Benefactor, forever and ever.” And in this festive exclamation, filled with reverent love, there is something infinitely childish and tender, addressed to the beloved Heavenly Father. It is akin to the exclamation at matins: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light.” And indeed, God showed us the light.
You can read a special prayer called “Birthday Prayer.” The prayer ends with beautiful and necessary words, in which the birthday boy asks: “Lord Himself, bless the year I am beginning and all the days of my life. Amen". And if we sincerely ask for God’s help in our lives, then, of course, the Lord will send us His grace.
In a similar way, you can celebrate your namesake day, or name day, that is, the day of remembrance of the saint in whose honor you were named before the Sacrament of Baptism.
Church Slavonicism “tezoimenitstvo” (“tezitsa” - equal, equally) denotes the same names, or called by the same name. This saint is your heavenly patron, and he eternally intercedes and prays at the throne of God for the salvation of your soul. And also guides and helps you in earthly life. That is why the Church recommends that every morning, after completing the prayer rule, you also pray to your saint, at least briefly: “Pray to God for me, holy servant of God (name), as I diligently resort to you, a quick helper and prayer book for my soul.” On name day, it seems to me that it is useful to also read an akathist to your heavenly patron saint. Name days are often called Angel Day. In the church liturgical year there are two days when all Orthodox Christians celebrate their name day and the day of the Angel - this is the Week of All Saints, celebrated on the next Sunday after the Day of the Holy Trinity and November 21 (NS) on the Day of the Council of the Archangel Michael and other Heavenly Powers ethereal. There is also another positive aspect about name days - we remember the day of our spiritual birth - the day when the Sacrament of Baptism was performed on us. After all, the prayer for naming a name (in the Trebnik “Prayer, in the name of a youth ...”) is read precisely in front of him.
Ultimately, we need to understand that every day of our lives the Lord carries us in his arms. He takes care of the atmosphere, our daily bread, our safety and protection from evil spirits, and much more that we don’t even understand yet.
And happy is the person whose life becomes a hymn, a psalm of praise and praise to God - our loving Father. Such a person, in fact, asks the Lord for only one thing: not to voluntarily break out and fall from His warm palms, but to remain in them, completely surrendering to the will of God. After all, the Lord carries us to even greater bliss - to the new mountain city of Jerusalem, where there will be no pain, no tears, no despair, but “a pure river of the water of life, bright as crystal, emanating from the throne of God and the Lamb” (see Rev. 22:1).
Therefore, created from nothingness for eternal life, let us inscribe in our hearts, with God’s help, these great and beautiful words: “This day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad on it.”
And may this truly Easter joy be kindled in the heart of every birthday person!
Priest Andrey Chizhenko
Celebration traditions
On the eve of Angel Day, Christians took part in evening worship, confessed and prepared for communion.
On the day of the holiday after the Sacrament of the Eucharist, you need to preserve the joy of unity with God for as long as possible and protect yourself from sinful thoughts and actions. You can gather your family and loved ones at the festive table. Let us all thank God together for the gift of the messenger and for all the good things in life.
Angel Day may fall on a fast day in the middle of the week or fall on a multi-day fast. This means that the treat must comply with the church charter. Or the feast is postponed to a date when there are no food restrictions.
The Guardian Angel can and should be remembered not only on the day of baptism. They also turn to him during daily prayers: “Holy Angel of God, my guardian, pray to God for me.”
You can also find an appeal to the Angel in morning and evening prayers. In the morning we ask our heavenly protector to protect us from temptations throughout the day. So that he would pray to the Lord for us for confirmation in faith and salvation of the soul. In the evening we ask our Angel to pray with us for forgiveness of sins committed during the day, for help to be worthy of God’s mercy.
Invitation
Publicist Nikolai Kostomarov in his work “Image of Home Life. Family morals. The order of house management. Home Rituals” states that the invitation to celebrate Angel Day was birthday cakes. Particularly respected guests received a more substantial pie, while the rest were given standard-sized pastries.
Sometimes commoners were awarded birthday cakes, which were given to them by the reigning persons celebrating their own Angel Day upon leaving the church. In this case, there was no need to attend the appointment.
Prayer to the Guardian Angel
Holy Angel of Christ, falling to you I pray, my holy guardian, given to me for the protection of my sinful soul and body from holy baptism, but with my laziness and my evil custom I angered your most pure lordship and drove you away from me with all the cold deeds: lies, slander , envy, condemnation, contempt, disobedience, brotherly hatred, and resentment, love of money, adultery, rage, stinginess, gluttony without satiety and drunkenness, verbosity, evil thoughts and crafty ones, proud custom and lustful indignation, driven by self-will for all carnal lust.
Oh, my evil will, which even dumb animals cannot do! How can you look at me, or approach me like a stinking dog? Whose eyes, angel of Christ, look upon me, entangled in evil in vile deeds? How can I already ask for forgiveness with my bitter and evil and crafty deed, I fall into misery all day and night and at every hour? But I pray to you, falling down, my holy guardian, have mercy on me, a sinful and unworthy servant of yours (name), be me a helper and intercessor against the evil of my opponent, with your holy prayers, and make me a partaker of the Kingdom of God with all the saints, always, and now and ever and ever. Amen.
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Present
On Angel's Day, it is customary to present the hero of the occasion with gifts, which, according to tradition, should contain religious affiliation, be it a beautiful candle, a shelf for icons or a vessel for holy water. Archpriest Andrei Ustyuzhanin advises, as a gift in this case, to consider a variety of spiritual video or audio recordings, church literature, the Gospel, which contribute to the inner growth of a person.
It would be appropriate to present the birthday person with an icon depicting a saint who is his heavenly patron. If one cannot be found, due to the fact that the person is given a rare name, it is recommended to bring him as a gift the icon of All Saints, on which all the saints glorified by the Orthodox Church are symbolically represented.
Nowadays, in churches you can purchase special greeting cards dedicated to Angel Day, which already contain a solemn text with similar content: “Please accept congratulations on your Angel Day. I wish you and pray to the Lord for your long life, the peaceful course of your life in happiness, peace of mind, in good health through the prayers of your holy heavenly patron.”
In the old days, wildflowers were an indispensable attribute of honoring the birthday person. Those who celebrated the holiday in the cold months were given dried bouquets and armfuls of spikelets.
Historian Nikolai Kostomarov noted that even kings were given gifts on Angel Day. Each merchant was obliged to send his gift to the sovereign, which ended up in the government yard, where after some time a sale of gifts was held. It happened that merchants could redeem their offering and send it back to the ruler the next year.
The meaning of the name in Christianity
The Christian Church attaches great importance to the choice of a person’s name, seeing in this a special meaning and sacredness. It is believed that the name is the key and bridge through which a person communicates with God. When performing the sacrament of baptism, the Orthodox Church gives a person a name that will become a guide in contact with God.
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In past times, every Christian name was considered holy and required respect. The Church Fathers teach: the universe was created in name and word, and it is maintained by them.
The commonality of Orthodox names unites all believers into one whole - the people chosen by God.
Naming a baby after a saint meant guiding him on the true and pious path. This was due to the belief that the name of a canonized saint, which was realized in a blessed path, would lead a new person to holiness. It is believed that with the power of his name the saint fills his fellow-name with grace. That is, it has a formative beginning.
The Orthodox name book has evolved over centuries. The meaning of the name in the Orthodox tradition is so strong that even the iconographic face must be confirmed by the holy name. Therefore, the names of the depicted saints and angels are always written on icons.
Since ancient times, in Rus' there has been a tradition of naming several names, so the baptismal name was taken for granted. In past times, a person could have a name from birth, a nickname and two baptismal names - one for everyone, and the second was known only to the clergy.
However, nicknames did not sink into oblivion, but organically turned into surnames. This can be judged by modern surnames - Naydenov, Nekrasov, Zhdanov. These are all former nicknames of a person. In Orthodoxy, some pre-Christian names were also preserved and even canonized - Vladimir, Yaroslav, Vsevolod, Svyatoslav.
With the adoption of Christianity, the name book was enriched with the names of other peoples - Jewish, Greek, Byzantine, Roman. For example, the common Russian names Marya and Ivan actually have Jewish roots. The church fathers believe that there is no need to separate names by nationality, since they are a universal property.
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Vukol Memorial Day – history
Vukol was the bishop of the Smyrna church and lived in the 1st–2nd centuries. Little is known about his life. According to legend, he was ordained bishop of the city of Smyrna by the Apostle Paul himself. Some believe that Vukol studied with John the Theologian.
There is another belief that a tree grew on Vukol’s grave, which healed people who came to him from illnesses.
A necessary holiday
On name day, communication with your Angel, mentally turning to him with gratitude, is considered especially effective. Although, of course, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just one day a year, Angels should feel needed and in demand. And the more often we turn to our Guardian Angel, the closer the connection between us will be. For example, when leaving home, you can always call your Angel with you: “My angel, come with me, you go ahead, I’ll follow you.”
Nowadays, name days are celebrated infrequently, but in the old days this holiday was celebrated with all pomp. But if the name day fell on a fast day, then the festive treat was also fast. During Lent, name days that happen on a weekday are moved to the next Saturday or Sunday, or even to Bright Week. Angel's Day, the name day, was celebrated not only with a friendly feast. Orthodox people visit church on their name days and, having prepared in advance, confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
On this day, pies were baked and tables were set. The pies were always sent to relatives and friends so that they would eat them for the health of the birthday boy. The biggest sweet pie was baked for the godmother and father as a sign of sincere respect.
Guests who came to celebrate the angel's day brought gifts and souvenirs with them. The priest blessed with images, and the children presented the birthday boy with angels made with their own hands.
A special role was prepared for the personalized pie at the holiday; it was broken over the birthday boy’s head, all the filling fell on it, and the guests at that moment said: “As raisins fall, so let gold and silver shower you all your life.”
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Name day celebration
Previously, in Rus', name days were revered above the physical birthday; this day was celebrated on a grand scale. On the eve of the holiday, birthday rolls and loaves were baked and beer was brewed. On the holiday itself, the family of the birthday boy attended mass, ordered a prayer service for health, and honored the patron saint. Then they distributed pies and treats to relatives and friends, and in the evening they had a festive meal.
Tsar's name days in Rus' were considered a national holiday and were celebrated with special pomp. Subjects brought gifts to the king and took part in a festive meal, during which many years were always sung. In some cases, the king himself distributed pies to his subjects. The people were given birthday rolls, which they were looking forward to. Later, the royal name days began to be celebrated with special pomp - fireworks, military parades and various performances.
In the Soviet years, especially immediately after the revolution, there was an active struggle against name days. People were systematically weaned off ancient customs, trying to replace them with new ones. For example, a baby might be symbolically enrolled in a union as a mock baptism, and godparents would be replaced by so-called “honorary parents.” It got to the point that in the 20s they banned Chukovsky’s fairy tale “The Tsokotukha Fly” only because it mentioned name days.
How to determine the name day?
To determine the day of your name day, you need to open the calendar and choose the day when the Orthodox Church venerates the saint after whom you are named. For example, if a man’s name is Andrew and he was born on December 12, then his patron saint is the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, who is remembered on December 13.
If your name is not included in the calendar, you need to choose the personal name that sounds closest to you.
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Examples:
- Alice - Alexandra;
- Zhanna - Joanna;
- Lily - Leah;
- Milana - Milica.
Sometimes secular names in the church tradition do not sound quite similar, and this must be taken into account. So, Svetlana is an analogue of Photinia, since in Greek photos means “light”. Victoria is an analogue of Nika, the meaning of both names (the first translated from Latin, and the second from Greek) is “victory”.
