Name days should not be confused with Angel's Day. These may be two different days of the year. Angels are holy, disembodied spirits created by the Lord before the visible world, who fulfill the will of God. At baptism, each person is sent a Guardian Angel, who from that moment will always be nearby, guide and help. Therefore, the day of the Angel is the day on which a person received the Sacrament of Baptism.
Varvara: Orthodox name day
Every baptized person has a heavenly patron saint. Saints are people who have pleased God in their earthly life and are canonized by the Church as saints. The day of remembrance of the saint after whom a person is named is a name day. The church name day calendar will remind you of what day it falls on for a particular person. Barbara is a name that appears in the calendar several times a year.
Previously, in Rus', when a person was baptized, they gave him the name of the saint whose memory fell on that day. Accordingly, the day of Baptism became for him both the day of the Angel and the name day at the same time.
Characteristics of the birthday girl Varvara:
From the ancient Greek language - foreigner, savage, barbarian. The original meaning of the word “barbaros” is close to our “gibberish”, balabolka - chattering incomprehensible things, i.e. speaking non-Greek. There was also a masculine form of this name - Barbarian, which is rarely used, but is found in literature.
Two main features characterize Varvara, and their combination determines the originality of this name. One trait is passionate inflexibility, the other is dreaminess. Like the martyr, every Varvara cuts herself off from the life around her and, although she sees it, does not see it. She does not take life soberly, because she has no real contact with it, looking at it from some window from a tower height, admiring it like a stranger and does not want to delve into life as it really is. Varvara instead dreams of life and has the will to pursue this dream.
Name day of Varvara according to the church calendar
Name day in Orthodoxy is the day on which the Church celebrates the memory of the holy heavenly patron of man. Every day the memory of a saint is celebrated. One name can have several days of remembrance in a year, since it can be borne by several different saints. According to the church calendar, Varvara’s name day falls on the following dates:
- January 11 - martyr Varvara Derevyagina.
- March 6 – Martyr Varvara Loseva.
- April 5 – Venerable Martyr Varvara Konkina.
- July 18 – Venerable Martyr Varvara (Yakovleva) Alapaevskaya.
- December 17 - Great Martyr Varvara of Iliopol.
All these holy wives were glorified by the Orthodox Church as saints. The day of remembrance of St. Barbara (from those listed above), the closest after her birthday, is Barbara’s name day.
There is an opinion among people that if the patron saint (or saint) is a martyr, then the person’s life should be marked by martyrdom. This is not only prejudice, but also a sin. Some go so far as to want to change their name, choosing a patron for themselves - not a martyr. By this action they refuse the patronage of their saint.
In Orthodoxy there is no belief in fate, predetermination, fate. There is a person’s free will in choosing the path to salvation or destruction, and there is God’s Providence, which directs us to salvation, but does not interfere with our free will. The holy martyrs, by their feat, earned God’s mercy, and now they have the boldness to pray for us before Him.
Martyr Varvara Derevyagina (1912–1942)
Varvara Derevyagina was born near Ryazan, into a family of deeply religious peasants. She studied at a parochial school. Her parents married her off. The husband was an atheist, which is why the marriage was unsuccessful. Varvara returned home and devoted her life to fasting and prayer. In 1937, the church in the village of Burminka, where the saint lived, was closed. Varvara and other believing fellow villagers did not stop their church and prayer life.
The Soviet government accused the residents of the village of Burminka of anti-Soviet church activities. A trial took place at which Varvara and her father were sentenced to long terms. In the Karaganda correctional labor camp, where she was punished, she was accused of sabotage, arrested and shot. Buried in obscurity, in a common burial.
Martyr Varvara Derevyagina
Life of the Great Martyr Varvara of Iliopol
The Great Martyr Barbara, the daughter of a noble man named Dioscorus, lived in the city of Iliopolis (Phoenician, now Syria). The father, wanting to protect his daughter from prying eyes and Christian communication, did not allow her to leave the palace. When the time came to marry Varvara, the father received a decisive refusal from his daughter to carry out his will.
Wanting to persuade Barbara to marry, Dioscorus allowed her to leave the palace, assuming that communication with her friends would change her decision. At this time, the saint met Christians who told her about faith in Jesus Christ and the One God. Since childhood, Varvara thought that the gods in which her father and everyone around her believed could not create the world and could not be the truth. Having heard the Gospel message about Christ, she accepted the Sacrament of Baptism.
The father, having learned about his daughter’s baptism, tried to force her to renounce the Christian faith. Seeing the saint’s inflexibility, he took her to the ruler, handing her over to torture. Ruler Martian also persuaded Barbara to renounce Christ and worship pagan idols. Saint Barbara did not renounce her faith, but endured great torment before she was executed (beheaded) by her father Dioscorus.
According to legend, the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara were buried by pious people, and many miracles and healings occurred from them.
Saint Barbara: prayer for marriage
Holy glorious and all-praised Great Martyr Varvaro! Gathered today in your Divine temple, people who worship the race of your relics and kiss with love, your suffering as a martyr, and in them the Passionate Christ Himself, who gave you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, with pleasing praises, we pray to you, the well-known desire of our intercessor: pray with us and for us, beseeching God from His mercy, that He may mercifully hear us asking for His goodness, and not leave us with all the necessary petitions for salvation and life, and grant a Christian death to our belly - painless, shameless, peace, I will partake of the Divine Mysteries, and to all, in every place, in every sorrow and situation, who require His love for mankind and help, He will give His great mercy, so that by the grace of God and your warm intercession, always abiding health in soul and body, we glorify God, wondrous in our saints Israel, who does not remove His help from us always, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.
Relics of the Great Martyr Barbara of Iliopol
Later, the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara were transferred from Greece to Kyiv; this happened in the 12th century. At that time, newly baptized Rus' was in close friendship with Byzantium. Russian princes took as wives the sisters and daughters of Greek rulers. The Grand Duke of Kiev Mikhail Izyaslavovich married the Greek princess Varvara, who brought with her to Kyiv her father’s gift - the relics of the Great Martyr Varvara.
The holy relics are still in the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv.
Patron Saint Barbara
They ask Saint Barbara to be protected from serious illnesses and sudden, imminent death. Those who wish to die pray to Saint Barbara, only by communion of the Body and Blood of Christ; she is an ambulance.
She made and continues to make everyone wise with her prayer, like Catherine, who put many scientists to shame with her God-given wisdom. Many saw how Varvara gave communion to the soldiers on the battlefield. “And today, having this great treasure, our Orthodox Church has that greatest gift, where people have bowed and bowed their heads for many centuries before this fateful source of eternal life - the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. People come up with a request and receive what they ask for,” Bishop Pavel assured.
And he added: “Let the Great Martyr Barbara help people who are lost in schism to see the true light of the unity of the Church, the unity of the people and the shepherd - and in due time come to the Quiet Harbor of the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, I congratulate the birthday girls on the great and joyful holiday of Angel Day. We have a temple in Kyiv on the street. Baggovutovskaya, 1-a, dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, which was built by the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. And we invite everyone there to worship.”
Let us remind you that on December 17 at 08.30 the consecration of the temple will begin by the Primate of the UOC, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.
How to properly celebrate Varvara’s name day
Since name day is a holiday of the heavenly patron, first of all you need to spend it piously. Come to church and pray to your Saint Barbara, thank, ask for help, light a candle, order a prayer service.
Our ancestors honored their name days more than their birthdays. Because this is a holy holiday, a saint's holiday. It was obligatory to be at the service and receive communion on this day.
Today, it often turns out that Varvara’s name day and Angel’s day are two different days of the year, but this does not prevent us from giving thanks to our Guardian Angel on name day.
Martyr Varvara Loseva (1894–1938)
The future saint was born into a peasant family. By the time she was born, the family had moved to Moscow. They didn’t live well; their father got a job as a shoemaker. But the parents managed to give the girl a good education for those times. Varvara's life worked out in the best possible way. She devoted herself to work as a teacher, and in 1915 she married a good man. Her husband Sergei Aleksandrovich Losev soon after the wedding became a deacon and then a priest. He served in the church in the village of Kapotnya, which is now part of the city of Moscow.
Martyr Varvara Loseva
The revolution and the events that followed radically changed the lives of Varvara and her husband. Sergei made every effort to keep the temple open. This did not escape the attention of the authorities, and in 1937 he was accused of anti-Soviet activities and sentenced to 10 years of forced labor. He died here in 1942. Varvara was also arrested along with her husband. Someone reported that she threatened the authorities who imprisoned her husband with all punishments, earthly and heavenly. In March 1938, Varvara Loseva was shot and buried in a mass grave in Butovo, near Moscow.
Video on the topic: Akathist and prayer to Barbara the Great Martyr
We also recommend reading: Alexander’s Name Day.
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Name analysis in numerology
The female name Varvara consists of 7 letters, but its number in numerology is 9. According to interpretation, it is the highest prime number, promising a person extraordinary character traits and abilities.
Nine symbolizes success, luck, perfection and development. Therefore, people with this symbol achieve significant heights in their careers and happiness in their personal lives.
Bright charisma, resourcefulness, enterprise, a wonderful sense of humor, and activity indicate that a person has creative potential. To be fair, it must be said that it is not revealed in everyone.
The name Varvara itself means originality, romance and amorousness. And in combination with nine, you get a truly unique personality.
Origin of the name Varvara and its meaning for children
How important can the origin of the name Varvara be and its meaning for children? This harmonious and sonorous name comes from ancient times; references to its first owners can be found in ancient Latin books. Most often, powerful warriors, noble ladies, and skilled healers bore this name with pride. One can hope that, one way or another, this will affect Varya’s life, and she will certainly choose the right path and not disgrace the memory of these women.
Does any role matter in a child's life? Native babies are unlikely to notice any peculiarities after the baby’s baptism. She will not stand out with any special differences, and her health will not please her either - the child will have colds quite often. You shouldn’t be upset in advance - your health will certainly improve with age, especially if adults make sure that Varya plays sports intensively. Often, training helps to choose a specialty - a girl can become a coach, a physical education teacher, even a famous athlete.
As a child, the baby will be quite inquisitive, will enjoy listening to fairy tales and stories, drawing, and will be interested in needlework. Relatives should only encourage these hobbies. Varya is quite lazy when it comes to household chores, but if she starts cleaning, she won’t be able to find even a speck of dust afterward.
