[Idorsearogele]

I thought it is appropriate to create a thread to wish other friends here for their name-day (on the day we celebrate the Saints we are named after).

Since the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is approaching I thought to wish all friends here Mary, Marie, Maria and all the other friends that have similar names and celebrate on the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos.

Many God pleasing years!

[crazuMovies]

I thought it is appropriate to create a thread to wish other friends here for their name-day (on the day we celebrate the Saints we are named after).

Since the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is approaching I thought to wish all friends here Mary, Marie, Maria and all the other friends that have similar names and celebrate on the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos.

Many God pleasing years!

For those of the Greek persuasion Peter, Panayiota, and Panayiotis.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

[Flirigor]

Happy nameday to those named John, Joanna etc. who celebrate tomorrow.

[resegooredo]

For those of the Greek persuasion Peter, Panayiota, and Panayiotis.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Father, why Peter? I had the impression that Peters and Petroulas had their nameday on St. Petros Day June 29th.

On 15th of August the name Despoina is also celebrated.

Effie

[Xewksghy]

Happy New Year everyone! (I am not sure if the OC celebrates the new ecclesiastical year tomorrow... but if not 'Happy New Year in 13 days!')

And a special 'Xronia Pola!' to our dearest Effie who celebrates with Saint Euterpe tomorrow and her 39 sisters in martyrdom! Have a blessed, bright, beautiful nameday and many God pleasing years, dear Effie!

'Many God pleasing years!' to all who celebrate on 1st of September and especially to those who celebrate with Saint Symeon the Stylite one of the pillars of Orthodoxy, who ascended and lived on a pillar, and who -as called by a church historian and a contemporary of the Saint- was "the great wonder of the world".

[Falik]

Happy New Year everyone! (I am not sure if the OC celebrates the new ecclesiastical year tomorrow... but if not 'Happy New Year in 13 days!')

And a special 'Xronia Pola!' to our dearest Effie who celebrates with Saint Euterpe tomorrow and her 39 sisters in martyrdom! Have a blessed, bright, beautiful nameday and many God pleasing years, dear Effie!

'Many God pleasing years!' to all who celebrate on 1st of September and especially to those who celebrate with Saint Symeon the Stylite one of the pillars of Orthodoxy, who ascended and lived on a pillar, and who -as called by a church historian and a contemporary of the Saint- was "the great wonder of the world".

Thank you Nina, and I return your blessing a thousand times.

Today as you know is also the start of our religious year. The church bells started ringing very early in the morning.

Effie

[HootSnori]

Happy New Year everyone! (I am not sure if the OC celebrates the new ecclesiastical year tomorrow... but if not 'Happy New Year in 13 days!')

All Orthodox Christians celebrate the Ecclesiastical New Year on Sept 1, however, for those on the "Old Calendar" Sept 1 on the Church calendar does not fall until Sept 14 on the civil calendar

Fr David Moser

[avaissema]

Also -the official Church year this year is 7515 calculated from the creation of the earth, at least from what I can tell.

I write "from what I can tell" because even though Russian Orthodox church calendars have the habit of clearly writing the year of creation along with the civil year I am never sure whether the year of creation is meant to correspond to the part of the civil year before Sept 1st or the part afterwards.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Caunnysup]

Thank you Fathers for your explanation. I do not get the issue of the calendar and often get confused because we celebrate the Easter at the same time and I somehow hope we celebrate more feasts at the same time.
Because I am not glad with what has happened in the past, it is a subject that my brain refuses to understand. I wish we would all be with the Julian... and please forgive me that I refer to my calendar for these days and the Saints.

How blessed are you Effie to start the day of your Saint with the sound of the church bells!

[TSVIDeo]

To muddy the waters still further, I have read somewhere that the church year originally started later in September, around Holy Cross time, and that 1st September was a Byzantine civic date, used for calculating (I think) military service. (Hence the importance of Holy Cross in many matters to do with, for example, the lectionary.) Does anybody know if this or something like it is correct, and if so, how exactly the original church new year was calculated? (I am merely curious...)

I agree with Nina that I would be very happy if the jurisdiction I belong to would revert to the Julian calendar, pending some decision of the whole Orthodox Church together.

[Ayyfjicg]

We first have to keep in mind that we are talking about the Church Calendar; ie the Church's way of commemorating Her feasts and sense of time. The Church calendar is not a civil calendar along which we celebrate religious feasts. Quite literally the Church Calendar is meant to be the presence of sacred time within our Orthododx lives.

As relates to this there are two main liturgical cycles; the Paschal which is based on lunar time and begins with Pascha. And the Menaion which begins with September 1st and is based on solar time (ie days, months, years).

We all still follow the same Paschal calendar which is why we all celebrate Pascha on the same day. But the new Calendar revised the Menaion calendar 13 days to put it more in sync with the equinox on March 21st. So that is why we now have two calendars.

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[AntonayPina]

Paschal Calendar
New calendar
Old calendar
Menaion calendar
civil calendar
church calendar
school calendar
lunar calendar
solar calendar
liturgical calendar
Byzantine Calendar
Julian calendar
Gregorian calendar
military calendar


It's no wonder I am late for work every day. Now was that my birthday, or St. Paul's birthday or the day he died or my death that I am supposed to celebrate? Oh good grief, where is my FranklinCovey day planner? My mother was right! I am going to be late for my own funeral. ;0)

Paul

[gundorana]

Paschal Calendar
New calendar
Old calendar
Menaion calendar
civil calendar
church calendar
school calendar
lunar calendar
solar calendar
liturgical calendar
Byzantine Calendar
Julian calendar
Gregorian calendar
military calendar


It's no wonder I am late for work every day. Now was that my birthday, or St. Paul's birthday or the day he died or my death that I am supposed to celebrate? Oh good grief, where is my FranklinCovey day planner? My mother was right! I am going to be late for my own funeral. ;0)

Paul

LOL! That was absolutely hilarious!!

My mother-in-law, knows how to use the Chinese Calendar. I think it's lunar. But, from year to year, we never know when her birthday is going to be, because it could be anywhere between July and September. Some years, she has two birthdays!! =)

Mary

[Clunlippibe]

Father, why Peter? I had the impression that Peters and Petroulas had their nameday on St. Petros Day June 29th.

Hello Effie

Peter is a common substitute for Panaghiotis/Panayiotis in English-speaking countries, perhaps because both names start with P. It was certainly very prevalent in times past where having an "ethnic" name could be a bit of a hassle, though I have noticed in recent years that there is much less anglicising or substitution than a generation ago.

This happens quite often for many names for which there is no direct English equivalent, and not just for Greek names. For instance, a common substitute for Vladimir was Wally or Walter, Dimitri (for both Slavs and Greeks) was often rendered as Jim.

[Pharmaciest2007]

Father, why Peter? I had the impression that Peters and Petroulas had their nameday on St. Petros Day June 29th.

On 15th of August the name Despoina is also celebrated.

Effie

Dear Effie,

I am sorry for not replying sooner, but Olga seems to have answered the question adequately. I had been away and also busy that I forgot about this thread.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

[ReneCM]

Dear Kornelius,

Happy Nameday! Many God-pleasing years!

[jokiruss]

Dear Kornelius,

Happy Nameday! Many God-pleasing years!

Thank you dear Nina.

Kornelius

[topcasinobonua]

To Dimitrios, Dimitri and all who are named after Saint Dimitrios:

Happy Nameday! Many God pleasing years!

[new-nickname-zanovo]

To Dimitrios, Dimitri and all who are named after Saint Dimitrios:

Happy Nameday! Many God pleasing years!

Chronia Polla - Χρονια Πολλα Many Years. Nina wrote Many God pleasing years which is so much more appropriate than our usual Many Years.

My husband is also celebrating his name day today.


Effie

[mv37afnr]

Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος της Θεσσαλονίκης) was a Christian martyr who is said to have lived in Thessaloniki in the early 4th century. Three centuries had then already elapsed, and Roman paganism, -- spiritually shattered and defeated by the multitude of martyrs and confessors of the Crucified Saviour, -- intensified its persecutions. Both the father and mother of saint Demetrios were clandestine Christians. In a secret house-church at the home of the proconsul, the child was baptised and raised in the Christian faith. When the father died, and the child had reached the age of maturity, the emperor Galerius Maximian -- having ascended the throne in the year 305 -- summoned him, and confident in his education and military-administrative abilities, appointed him to the position of his father as proconsul of the Thessalonika district. The chief task expected of this young commander consisted in the defence of the city from barbarians, and in the extermination of Christianity. In regard to Christians the will of the emperor was expressed simply: "Put to death anyone who calls on the name of the Crucified".

Accepting the appointment, Demetrios returned to Thessalonika and in front of everyone immediately confessed and glorified our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of persecuting and executing Christians, he openly began to teach the inhabitants of the city the Christian faith and to extirpate pagan customs and idol-worship. The compiler of his life, Metaphrastes, says that in his teaching zeal he became for Thessalonika "a second Apostle Paul", particularly since "the Apostle to the Gentiles" once founded at this city the first community of believers (1 Thes., 2 Thes.). The Lord also destined Saint Demetrios to follow the holy Apostle Paul to a death by martyrdom.

When Maximian learned, that the proconsul newly appointed by him -- was a Christian, and that he had converted to Christianity many Roman subjects who were influenced by his example -- the rage of the emperor know no bounds. Returning from a campaign in the Black Sea region, the emperor decided to lead his army through Thessalonika, filled with the desire to make a massacre of the christians in Thessaloniki.

Learning of this, Saint Demetrios opportunely ordered his faithful servant Luppos to distribute his wealth to the poor with the words: "Give away the earthly riches amongst them, for we shalt seek for ourselves heavenly riches". And he gave himself over to prayer and fasting, preparing himself for the accepting of a martyr's crown.

When the emperor came into the city, he summoned Demetrios, who boldly confessed himself a Christian and denounced the falsehood and futility of Roman polytheism. Maximian gave orders to lock up the confessor in prison, and an Angel came to him in confinement, comforting and encouraging him for the act. The emperor meanwhile concerned himself with a foul gladiators spectacle, esteeming as his beloved champion a German by the name of Leo, who made a challenge for a Christian to struggle with him on the platform over the spears of the victorious soldiers. A brave christian youth, Nestor by name, went to the prison to his advisor Demetrios and requested to be given the blessing for single-combat with the barbarian. With the blessing of Demetrios and through his prayers, Nestor prevailed over the fierce German and hurled him from the dais-platform onto the spears of the soldiers, just as the murderous pagan would have done with the Christian. The enraged commander gave orders to immediately execute the holy Martyr Nestor (Comm. 27 October) and dispatched a guard to the prison -- to run through with spears the one who had blessed this deed, Saint Demetrios.

At dawn on 26 October he was speared to death. His faithful servant, Saint Luppos, gathered up on a towel the blood of Saint Demetrios, and he took from his finger the imperial ring, -- a symbol of his high status, and likewise dipped it also in the blood. With the ring and other holy things sanctified by the blood of Saint Demetrios, Saint Luppos began to heal the infirm. The emperor gave orders to arrest and kill him.

The body of the holy Great Martyr Demetrios was cast out to be devoured by wild animals, but the Christians took it and secretly committed it to earth. During the reign of St. Constantine (306-337), a church was erected over the grave of Saint Demetrios. An hundred years later, during the construction of a majestic new church on the old spot, the incorrupt relics of the holy martyr were uncovered. From the time of the VII Century beneath the crypt of the Great Martyr Demetrios was found a miraculous flowing of fragrant myrrh, in regard to which the Great Martyr Demetrios receives the church title "Myrrh-flowing". Several times those venerating the wonderworker of Thessaloniki made attempts at a transfer of his holy relics, or part of them, to Constantinople. But invariably Saint Demetrios secretly made apparent his will to remain the protector and defender of the people of Thessalonika.

Advancing towards the city, pagan Slavs were repeatedly turned by the apparition of a threatening radiant youth, going the round of the walls and inspiring terror in the enemy soldiers. It is therefore perhaps why the name of Saint Demetrios is particularly venerated among the Slavic nations after their enlightenment by the light of the Gospel truth.