Name day, the day of the angel, the day of remembrance of his saint - all these are the names of the same Orthodox holiday. Each has his own, and pays tribute to the memory of the saint, in whose honor the man was named.
Our name is a part of ourselves. It sounds to us from birth, has a certain meaning and even magic. At baptism, an Orthodox person is given a name in honor of a saint. Subsequently, it will be he who will be your patron and intercessor throughout his life. This Guardian Angel can be addressed in difficult periods of life with a request, a prayer. When everything goes well, you need to remember to thank him for the help provided.
The name is selected in accordance with the Orthodox Church calendar. If you open it, you will see that every day is dedicated to a particular saint, and sometimes there are several. In this case, a person can choose the patron who is closest to him - after all, this is your Angel day! In Svyattsy there is only one recommendation in this regard: the name of the celebrated saint should be written on the next page of the calendar for your birthday, and go after it (not earlier). For example, Natalia celebrates her day on September 8th.
Your angels
The Church teaches that each of the Christians has as many as two Angels. One, the Keeper, guides us on the true path, protects us from rash acts, and gives patience to survive temporary difficulties. And the second is God's saint, it is his name that we bear. He tirelessly prays for us, intercedes before God. Despite all the sinful deeds that we all commit in life, both of these Angels love us more than anyone else in the world.
Baptism and the name of your saintIf a person grew up in an Orthodox family, he was baptized in early childhood, so his angel day has long been known to him. However, it happens that even baptized people who never attended church live a conscious life without knowing in honor of which holy martyr they were named. It even happens that the name is known, but here's the problem: on the pages of the calendar, different saints can bear the same name. John, for example, occurs around eighty, and Saint Alexander more than thirty times. Or the opposite situation - the same patron can be honored several times. How then to correctly determine the day of the angel?
It's simple: if there are not one, but several days of memory in a year, then choose the closest, but only after your birthday. This will be the feast of the namesake saint, or the day of your Angel, or your name day. All other days according to the established church tradition are considered small birthday.
True, these recommendations are very variable. The Church allows the Orthodox to choose any namesake saint of their own accord, regardless of the calendar location. And, accordingly, on this day later and celebrate their name day.
Congratulations on Angel's Day is also an optional thing. But what is recommended to do is to remember your saint, to turn to him with a prayer, to thank for the invisible presence nearby. The Church advises necessarily to celebrate name day with communion and confession. If this day is Lenten, then the feast and congratulations of relatives is better to postpone.