"Irina" Day---which is it?

[Raspberry]

I see, on the holiday list for the FSU, that "Irina" day is showing for BOTH 29 April and 14 May........which one is it? Or are there two days celebrated?

[Admin]

I see, on the holiday list for the FSU, that "Irina" day is showing for BOTH 29 April and 14 May........which one is it? Or are there two days celebrated?

I found references to "Irina Day" being on both dates - and that is one of several namedays that are celebrated more than once through the year.

If you find anything to definitively let us know that only one, or the other, is applicable - please advise - but for now, I am pretty sure there are two separate days for Irina.

- Dan

[mendeleyev]

I am confident that I can make it even more confusing. 

The Orthodox saint at this time (I believe) is Irene of Greece (her name would be Irina in Russian).

I'm assuming by the way that you both understand that Russian babies are given a saint name (first name/given name) for their baptism. Svetlana, Nataliya, Ekaterina, Irina, Iraida, Evegeniya, etc....all (and many more) are saint names. Of course Russian Muslims don't follow this practice and that is why their names are so different.

When a baby is born the parents consult a priest or a calendar and name the baby after the saint who died on the nearest date to the baby's birth. Sometimes both events happened on different days: Baby boy was born on July 3. Parents look on calendar and see that Saint Yakov died on say, July 1, and that is the closest. So the baby boy is named Yakov. His natural birthday is 3 July. His saint name is Yakov and his "name day" is 1 July.

This is a cultural as well as religious tradition so practicing Orthodox and very often non-practicing follow the tradition. Non practicing Russians may not follow the calendar guidelines, but most overwhelmingly follow the cultural tradition of giving the baby a saint name.

Why does it appear that some have more than one date? Some possibilities...

- The two calendars. The Eastern church uses primarily the OLD (Julian) calendar. Western churches use the NEW (Gregorian) calendar. That's why both parts of the world celebrate Christmas on 25 December. It's just that in the East the 25th of December happens to fall on the day we call 7 January in the West. If those two dates you listed are between 13-15 days apart, that could be the answer. Some parts of the worldwide Orthodox church will celebrate on the first date, the others commemorate it on the second date.

- More than one saint by the same name. There is Saint Irene (Irina) of Greece, Saint Irina the Martyr (from the area now knows as the Balkans), and Saint Irina/Irene of Egypt. Usually after a couple of the same name and Orthodox churches start grouping them together. Kind of like the idea of "President's Day" instead of 50 separate holidays.

- Then of course there is the old Russian tendency to throw a curveball into the works. In Orthodoxy a saint day is usually the date of the saint's death. We call that their "heavenly birthday." But over the generations Russians have also enjoyed celebrating the day the saint was born. My wife for example knows her saint's natural birthday and the "heavenly birthday."

Me, I am Orthodox but for the life of me can't even remember my own birthday.

Hope that helps.

[Tamara]

I see, on the holiday list for the FSU, that "Irina" day is showing for BOTH 29 April and 14 May........which one is it? Or are there two days celebrated?

There are actually more than two dates celebrating "Irina" day.  When we talk about this, it is important to distinguish between the terms Birthday and Name-day, which is also called Saint's Day.  So Irina's Name-day is celebrated more than twice a year.  However, each particular Irina will only have one of these days as her Saint's Day.

It is not that confusing at all.  Menologion includes a number of Saints, bearing the same name hence a number of dates to celebrate. So how does one decide which day would be his/her name-day/saint's day? When baptized, Priest indicates what one's name-day will be. Usually the day of the Saint which is closest to the actual birthday of the person baptized is chosen as this person's name-day. The same rule is applied in case somebody is baptized, but does not the Saint in whose honor he/she was baptized.

[OlgaH]

Irene (Irina) Days according to the Orthodox Calender:

The holy martyr Irene from Aquileia - 16 April (O.S.)/ 29 April (N.S.)

The holy great martyr Irene from Macedonia - 5 May (O.S.)/ 18 May (O.S.)

The holy martyr Irene from Egypt - 18 September(O.S.) / 1 October (N.S.)

The holy martyr Irene from Constantinople - 13 May (O.S)/ 26 May (N.S.)

The holy martyr Irene from Corinth - 16 April (O.S.)/ 29 April (N.S.)

Saint Irene from Cappadocia - 28 July (O.S.)/ 10 August (N.S.)

The new holy martyr Irene (Florova) - 26 Janury (O.S.)/ 8 February (N.S.) and 17 September (O.S.)/ 30 September (N.S.)

The new holy martyr Irene (Khvostova) - 26 Janury (O.S.)/ 8 February (N.S.) and 13 February (O.S.)/ 26 February (N.S.)

The new holy martyr Irene (Smirnova) - 26 Janury (O.S.)/ 8 February (N.S.) and 22 February (O.S.)/ 7 March (N.S.)

The new holy martyr Irene (Gumentuk) - 26 Janury (O.S.)/ 8 February (N.S.)

The Holy Tsarina Irene - 9 August (O.S.)/ 22 August (N.S.)

The holy martyrs with name Irene:
20 October (O.S.)/ 2 November (N.S.)
30 December (O.S.)/ 12 January (N.S.)
4 August (O.S.)/ 17 August (N.S.)
3 January (O.S.)/ 16 January (N.S.)

[SANDRO43]

When baptized, Priest indicates what one's name-day will be. Usually the day of the Saint which is closest to the actual birthday of the person baptized is chosen as this person's name-day.

Poor, destitute Orthodox . Catholics have 3,000+ saints, about 8+ per day, so the hard choice is which of those 8 . I can choose from 20+ for my name day (Alessandro): http://www.santiebeati.it/santi_search.php?query=alessandro&Cerca=Cerca&mh=25&type=keyword&bool=and.

And that's excluding 5,000+ lower-ranking Beati.

BTW, Irene derives from the Greek εἰρήνη (eiréne, peace).

[OlgaH]

My name should be Seraphima or Feodotia according to O.S., and according to N.S. my name should be Alevtina or Hionia or Iulia (Julia). But I'm glad that my grandmother named me Olga 

[SANDRO43]

Hionia

Is that name used at all? If yes, do those poor girls look like full columns or just capitals ?

[OlgaH]

Is that name used at all? If yes, do those poor girls look like full columns or just capitals ?

I guess so    but can not say nothing about a girl's look, I have not met a girl with such name personally.
http://names.whitepages.com/Hionia/Ivanov

[Tamara]

Is that name used at all? If yes, do those poor girls look like full columns or just capitals ?

LOL  I have never heard this name until now. Interesting...