Angel Day Love: history, date and congratulations

Once again I want to recall that name day is the day when an Orthodox Christian saint is worshiped, whose name can be called any baptized person. There is another identical name - the day of the angel. On this day, it is necessary to come to the church and pray at the Liturgy or at the prayer service to your heavenly patron. Congratulations on the day of the angel Love takes in the autumn. What to give a girl, a woman on this day? These can be theological books or the lives of saints, icons or souvenirs from holy places. The meal on this day should not break the fast, if it fell for this time, but there may be some relief. It is such congratulations on the day of the angel Love will appreciate first. At the table, it is more proper to lead decent pious conversations and not abuse alcohol.

Angel Day: Love

The name "Love" goes back to the times of ancient Russia. It was copied from the ancient Greek name Agape (early Christian saint). In Orthodoxy, the day of the memory of this saint is especially venerated along with her sisters and mother. If to call in another way - name day, or the day of the angel. Love, Faith, Hope and Sophia - these names appeared in the name simultaneously. And on the same day, they congratulate the bearers of these seemingly Russian names.

When does Angel Day celebrate Love? The date is the end of September. And here is a brief background. Christian holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love (in Greek Pistis, Elpis and Agape) lived in Rome in the II century in the time of Emperor Andrian, the cruel persecutor of Christians. A widow from Milan, Sofia came with her girls to Rome and stopped at her friend's wealthy lady, who was called Thesssnam.

Pious family

Sophia was a deeply Christian believer. She raised her daughters, who bore the names of the main Christian virtues, piously and in love to the Lord. As a mother she always urged them to appreciate the blessings of heaven more than earthly ones. The rumor about Sofia's commitment to faith reached the emperor himself, and he wanted to see the believing family firsthand. All four came to him and fearlessly began to confess the faith in Christ, who rose from the dead. Hearing such bold speeches from very young people, the evil emperor was indignant and sent them to one pagan woman, so that she could persuade them to renounce Christ. But her eloquent speeches did not shatter the sisters' fiery faith for a moment. Then they were brought back to Andrian, and he demanded sacrifice to the pagan gods. But pious girls refused to do this and answered that they spit on his gods and are not afraid of threats at all, but for the name of the dear Lord they are ready to die.

Wrath of the Emperor

Then, enraged by the rage, Andrian gave the poor children to the executioners. First, Faith in front of her mother and sisters were beaten and torn off body parts. On this her torment did not end, and she was burnt on a red-hot lattice, but thanks to the power of God, the fire did her no harm. Then the emperor ordered the executioners to throw it into the cauldron with boiling tar, but at the same moment the resin cooled and again did not damage it. Vera said she would gladly accept death and go to her beloved Lord Jesus Christ. Then they simply cut off her head with her sword, and she betrayed her spirit to her God.

Saving faith in the Lord

Her younger sisters also courageously endured all the tortures, and they were tormented by fire, but, like Vera, they did not get any injuries from him. But then their heads were cut off.

Sufferer Sofia during this time experienced the most terrible agony. The poor mother was not tortured, but she had to bury the bodies of her girls, then she could not depart from their graves for two days, on the third day, seeing her such torments, the Lord took care and sent her a quiet death. Finally, her long-suffering soul was reunited with her daughters in the heavenly abode of the Lord. At the time of death, Vera was 12 years old, Hope - 10, Lubov - 9. Sofia, along with her daughters, was ranked as saint.

The history of the name of Love

Many are interested in the question, when do Orthodox people mark this day of the angel? Love, as we know, in Greek sounds like "Agape." But if the Greek names of daughters were translated into Russian, the name of their mother Sophia preserved its original sound. In translation, it means "wisdom."

Returning to the theme "The Day of the Angel: Love," you can pay attention to another very surprising data concerning the fact that Love as a proper name arose in the 9th century, when liturgical books were translated from the Greek language into the Church Slavonic. And unlike most Christian names of saints, the names of the holy martyrs of Hope, Faith and Love were translated into Russian.

For a long time, almost until the 18th century, these names were not used, even though they were mentioned in the saints. At the baptism of Faith, Hope and Love was not accepted as they were very different from the names of holy saints because of the connection with the common sense.

Popularizing a name

In the Russian society, during the reign of Empress Elizabeth, a great interest in these names arose. With her, who loved Russia with all her heart, national self-consciousness began to grow. And so three names were in demand, and first of all - in a noble milieu. According to some reports, in the second half of the 18th century noblemen named approximately 15% of newborn girls, Moscow merchants - about 2%. In the peasant environment, this name was almost never met.

At the beginning of the XIX century interest in the name among aristocrats increased to 26%, in the merchant environment - already 14%, among peasants near Moscow - up to 1%. In the XX century, the peak of popularity fell on the 50-60-ies. Name Love took 9th place among fashionable and popular names. Later interest in this name began to fall.

Day of the angel named Lubov, her sisters of Faith, Hope and their mother Sophia in the Orthodox Church is celebrated on September 17 in the old calendar and September 30 - in a new way.