Text by reader Thomas:
Few people know the origin of the name day, and over the centuries its original meaning has been forgotten, so much so that even communists were eager to celebrate this custom lavishly.
The tradition of celebrating name days derives from Catholicism. In the teachings of the Church, the celebration of name days is inextricably linked with the cult of the saints and the blessed (or the dead). On days when we honor our patron saints, the Church also commends to God those who bear the name of their patron. Therefore, the name days we celebrate are always, for a Catholic, first and foremost a remembrance and commemoration of the Sacrament of Baptism and the incorporation of each of us into the community of the Church. They are also a remembrance of the patron saint whose name we bear and the message he has left us.
The main source of knowledge about the patron saints of the day were the annals of the yearbook. Primarily, name days were intended to commemorate the martyrdom of a saint or blessed. Over time, people began to honor the person of the saint "assigned" to a particular day. Then the third reason why people liked name days came into play, and they took their place in their lives - the person bearing the patron saint's name also celebrated his "holiday" on the same day. As can be seen from the examples cited above, this type of holiday was strongly associated with the worship of saints - that is, the dead.
The custom of celebrating name days prevails mainly in Catholic countries, such as Sweden, the Czech Republic and Poland. Birthdays are mostly celebrated in Protestant countries, where there is no cult of saints.
And can we attend naming parties hosted by our friends or family who have not yet converted?
Ml 2:11-12 (EIB translation): "For Judah has defiled the holiness of the LORD (YHWH)...whom He loves, and marry the daughter of a strange god. May the Lord cut off (removes from the community, deprives of life) from the tents of Jacob a man who does this - actively or passively - a man who in the process offers a sacrifice to the LORD (YHWH) Hosts!"
From the above quotation it is clear that the concept of marrying the daughter of a foreign god is, among other things, preserving pagan customs ("Christmas", Easter, name days, etc.). ACTIVE - organizing such "events", passive - taking part in those organized by someone else. Someone else might say that he is not going to his family to celebrate these pagan holidays, but only taking advantage of a free day at that time, he goes to visit his family. But someone else, observing such a situation from the side, especially if they know us, may consider the teaching we preach as empty words, because we say that we do not celebrate, and yet we come to "holidays", so in fact we do celebrate.
I recently learned the hard way that it is difficult to tell my parents that I am not coming to their birthday party, not because I will be working that day, but because the Bible forbids me from attending such "celebrations.
Thank you for the text in the name of Jesus Christ
Well, it's a good thing that at my house they are not celebrated and it's usually limited to wishing each other well. By the way, I wouldn't call the Czech Republic and Sweden Catholic countries. Sweden was Protestant for a long time, now it is atheistic and Czech Republic is already atheistic.
How good it is that I don't have a "patron saint"...my name is free of their "holiness" 😀
Oooo, I didn't know that, or at least not that much....
Neh13:30 It is good to cleanse ourselves of "foreign impurities."
I haven't celebrated a name day in a long time. And for a few years I haven't celebrated my birthday either. It is hard to live among heathens who see nothing wrong with it. I especially feel the rejection of my family. It's all sad. Loneliness and isolation are awful. I hope to one day live among worshippers of the true God.