According to the Orthodox calendar, every day of the year, the church honors the memory of saints - individuals whose deeds and actions during their lifetime served as an example of virtue and piety. It is believed that even after death they continue to help people and pray for them before God. Therefore, after the rite of baptism, each person has his own guardian angel, after whom he was named. Then, in addition to his birthday, the Christian gets the opportunity to celebrate another important holiday - the name day. Whom can you congratulate in June?
Name days in the Orthodox religion
The tradition of celebrating name days returned to us not so long ago after many years of oblivion. At the same time, many young parents who observe the canons of the Orthodox faith name their children, focusing on those saints whom the church honors on the child's birthday. The name given at baptism will in the future be repeatedly used in the religious life of a person: when mentioned in prayers, for confession, communion, the sacrament of a wedding, and at the end of a life's journey - a funeral service.
Full information about the name days and days of veneration of this or that saint is presented in the calendar - the church calendar that determines the sequence of all Orthodox holidays. Since in Christianity there are a number of rolling holidays that are not tied to a specific calendar date, many people think that name days also undergo annual changes. In fact, this is not the case. If you remember, the same Tatyana's day - the holiday of veneration of the martyr Tatyana of Rome - is always celebrated on January 25th. Therefore, the name day in June 2019 will not differ from the same month of the previous or subsequent years.
Currently, Orthodox saints have about a thousand male and female names, which excludes the problem of limited choice. If the church calendar does not find the option you like, at baptism they usually select something similar in sound: for example, for the girl Arina, Saint Irene is chosen as the heavenly patroness. In addition, only men's name days may be celebrated on certain days. In this case, they usually try to choose a female version that is consonant with a male name, or pay attention to other days close to the date of birth.
It is easy to see that some names are repeated especially often in the calendar. In fact, in this case, not one and the same saint who is repeatedly venerated by the church is mentioned, but different people. They just bore the same names during their lifetime. Therefore, when naming a child in accordance with the church calendar, it is worth paying attention to who exactly will become his heavenly patron. For example, among the saints revered in Orthodoxy, one can find: Nicholas of Magnesia, Nicholas of Mirlikisky, Nicholas of Mechev, Nicholas of Bulgaria, Nicholas Ornatskiy, Nicholas Dinariev and many other righteous men with this name.
Name days for men and women in June
Every day in June, the Orthodox Church recalls the deeds and life paths of several saints at once. It is worth noting that in the calendar, male names significantly prevail over female names.
If we consider the name days for each sex separately, then it is easy to trace that on some days the number of venerated male saints exceeds 20. For example, in June most of these name days fall on the 1st, 5th and 20th. There are also days this month when the choice is much more modest. For example, on June 12, 15, 24, from 1 to 3 saints are mentioned. Among the most popular names of the month are: Alexander, Andrey, Ivan, Vasily, Alexey, Nikolay, Mikhail. The rarest are: Karp, Ignatius, Clement, Gordey, Taras, Nazar, Matvey, Oleg.
As for women's name days in June, they do not fall on all days. In particular, the church calendar missed: June 2, 12, 16, 18, 21, 27 and 29. Most often in the June calendar you can find the names: Elena, Maria, Victoria, Anna. The largest selection of female names falls on June 20, 22 and 26.
Incidentally, some parents choose church names for their children that are very different from the worldly version. In this matter, they are guided by the superstition that a secret Orthodox name will better protect and protect the child from the evil eye, damage and other negative influences. However, the church has a negative attitude towards such actions. Therefore, any questions and doubts about choosing a name, baptism or celebrating a name day are best discussed in a personal conversation with a clergyman.
