According to the calendar - spiritual books listing the names of all saints - on January 25, Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of the holy Martyr Tatiana or Tatiana of Rome.
Saint Tatiana, the day of remembrance which Christians have celebrated for nineteen centuries, lived in Rome at the beginning of the second century AD. Like her father, she was a secret follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ. In those years, the pagans ruled in the Roman Empire, so adherents of other beliefs had to hide their beliefs. Tatiana Rimskaya, despite the rich dowry, did not marry: she decided to devote her life to God. The girl became a deaconess (this dignity corresponds to the deacon's for men), served in the church and helped the sick and the poor.
The life of Tatiana says that in 222 she was captured by belligerent pagans who were trying to eradicate Christianity in Rome and its environs. When Tatyana refused to disown her faith, they began to torture her right in the church: they gouged out her eyes, cut her naked body with razors. According to legend, the blood of the great martyr turned into milk, and her tormentors immediately died in terrible agony. As a result, the recalcitrant was beheaded. The name of Tatiana was included in the list of those who suffered for the faith, and the name day of the saintly girl became a national holiday for everyone who bears the same name.
In the twentieth century in Russia, another Tatiana was named a great martyr: the Grand Duchess, who was shot in Yekaterinburg in 1918 together with her father, Emperor Nicholas II, mother, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, three sisters and a brother. Since 2000, Tatiana Romanova has been glorified as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. Her name day is July 17, in memory of the date of the execution of the royal family by the Bolsheviks.
There are several more Tatyans in the calendar, whom the Russian Orthodox Church venerates as martyrs and monastic martyrs. Basically, these are those who died, glorifying Christ, during the years of wars and revolutions in the late nineteenth - early twentieth century. Their name days fall on September 14 and 23, October 3, 11, 21, December 3 and 23.
And yet, the most famous and widely celebrated name day of Tatiana is January 25. All Russian students celebrate their holiday on this day. The tradition dates back several centuries: in 1755, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree on the opening of Moscow University. The date was chosen at the request of the favorite of Elizabeth, the founder of the university, Ivan Shuvalov, in honor of the birthday of his mother Tatyana.
