How We Celebrate Name Days
Last week we celebrated the feast day of St Elizabeth the New Martyr (July 5th/18th), who is my oldest daughter’s patron saint. If you’re unfamiliar with this practice of celebrating name days, as Orthodox Christians we are either given a patron saint upon entering into the Orthodox Church, or in the case of an adult convert, we choose a patron saint. This then becomes your Christian name, and the one you use for all the sacraments. This practice of choosing a Christian name, or changing your name is something Christians have practices for centuries. We see examples of this even in the Scriptures when Saul becomes Paul, or Simon Peter becomes Peter, etc. So since you are named after this Saint- you have a “name day”!
I thought I’d share how our family celebrates name days:
😇 We have a tradition in our home of decorating the family table the night before the feast and placing the icon of their saint in a prominent place on the table. So when my children wake up, they are greeted with a decorated festive table commemorating their patron Saint!
😇 Go to the Service of the Day - The main way we participate in the life of the church is by connecting ourselves with the body of Christ, which naturally includes the great cloud of witnesses, the saints! If a service is offered, we make it our priority to attend!
😇 Recite the story of their patron saint - This is something we started last year, now that my kids are a little older. We read the life of St Elizabeth and later Elizabeth recites the story to the whole family! If we have a gathering with friends, which we didn’t this year, but last year she told her story to her friends! I reminded her that her friends likely didn’t know about St Elizabeth the New Martyr and she was astounded by that fact!
😇 If you have an icon, display it in a prominent place in you prayer corner (I like to put it on the table during our meals that day). If I have a paper copy, I frame it and display it. Connecting the person to their image, and story is important, and we can honor their memory this way too!
😇 During family prayers, we say a prayer and ask for their intercession for our family! There are also special songs dedicated to most saints, so we try to look those up and sing them as well! 🎶🙏🏻 for St Elizabeth the New Martyr, it’s said she was singing “O Lord save thy people…” as she was being martyred. So we sing that song!
😇 Read the story of their life! I want my children to grow up knowing the stories of the saints, especially the saints they are named after. You can hear the life of the saint read during Orthros service on their feast day, or vespers the night before- or you can print it and read it at home too! I try to find children’s books to read as a family! Either works!
😇 I’d encourage you to make your own family traditions!
So there’s a few ideas to get you started! There’s no “right” way to do this! Sometimes just a simple prayer is all we can muster for the day and that’s just fine and dandy! May God grant all those who share this feast day!
Here are 6 guidelines that may help to establish a “liturgy” in your home for celebrating this beautiful day. Honoring your patron saint on your Name’s Day is a rich practice that draws you closer to your patron. A Name Day as an Orthodox Christian is comparable the joy of a birthday celebration. At birthdays we celebrate ourselves, but a Name Day we honor, reflect, pray, and strive to emulate a saint. All saints are worthy of emulating, but your Patron Saint is unique.