Orthodox saints and name days on January 1

Name days on January 1

Vasilis, Vasileios, Vassilis, Vasile, Basil, Bill, Vasilios, Vassilios, Vasos, Vasily, Vasil, Billy, Vasiliki, Vassiliki, Vasilia, Vaso, Vasso, Vasia, Theodotos, Theodotus, Telemachos, Tilemachos, Telemachus

Saints and feasts of January 1

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  Basil the Great

  Great Feast, Βασίλειος

  St. Basil the Great was born in Caesarea of Cappadocia in the fourth century, to a family of saints. Educated in Athens alongside his friend St. Gregory the Theologian, he set aside a brilliant secular career for the monastic life, and later served as Archbishop of Caesarea. He defended the divinity of Christ against Arianism, gave the Church the Divine Liturgy that bears his name, and organized one of the first great centers of Christian charity for the poor and the sick.

  Name days: Vasilis, Vasileios, Vassilis, Vasile, Basil, Bill, Vasilios, Vassilios, Vasos, Vasily, Vasil, Billy, Vasiliki, Vassiliki, Vasilia, Vaso, Vasso, Vasia

• Circumcision of the Lord

  Great Feast, Περιτομή του Κυρίου

  On the eighth day after His birth the Lord Jesus Christ was circumcised according to the Law of Moses and received the name Jesus, as the angel had announced to the Virgin Mary. The Church keeps this feast of the Lord on January 1, together with the memory of St. Basil the Great.

• Gregory of Nazianzus the Elder

  Hierarch, Γρηγόριος Ναζιανζού

  St. Gregory the Elder was Bishop of Nazianzus in Cappadocia in the fourth century and the father of St. Gregory the Theologian. Tradition relates that he was converted to the Christian faith through the prayers of his wife, St. Nonna, and was later made bishop of his native city.

• Theodotos the Martyr

  Martyr, Θεόδοτος

  The Holy Martyr Theodotos is commemorated on January 1. The synaxaria record that he confessed Christ before the pagan authorities and was beheaded for the faith; the details of his time and place have not been preserved.

  Name days: Theodotos, Theodotus

• Peter the Peloponnesian

  Martyr, Πέτρος ο Πελοποννήσιος

  St. Peter the Peloponnesian, a New Martyr, came from Tripolitsa in the Peloponnese. Tradition relates that after being pressed to deny his faith, he confessed Christ openly before the Turkish authorities and was put to death in the eighteenth century, in Temesvar according to the synaxaria.

• Telemachos the Monk-Martyr

  Martyr, Τηλέμαχος

  St. Telemachos was a monk from the East who, according to the Church historians, came to Rome at the beginning of the fifth century. Entering the amphitheater during the gladiatorial games, he stepped between the combatants to stop the bloodshed and was killed by the crowd.

  Name days: Telemachos, Tilemachos, Telemachus