When is Marika’s name day?

Marika can be celebrated on 4 feasts in the Orthodox calendar. People keep the feast of the saint they were named for, or the one their family has always kept.

Every feast on which Marika is celebrated

The saints behind the name

• 

  Mary of Egypt

  April 1, Holy Woman, Μαρία η Αιγυπτία

  St. Mary of Egypt is the great example of repentance. Living in Alexandria in the fifth and sixth centuries, she spent her youth in sin; traveling to Jerusalem, she was held back from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by an unseen power, and, praying before the icon of the Theotokos, she was converted. Crossing the Jordan, she lived some forty-seven years alone in the desert in fasting and prayer.

  Name days: Maria, Mary, Maro, Marianna, Marika, Mariam, Marie

• 

  Marina the Great Martyr

  July 17, Martyr, Μαρίνα η Μεγαλομάρτυς

  St. Marina the Great Martyr was born in Antioch of Pisidia in the third century. Losing her mother as a child and raised in the countryside, she embraced Christ in her youth; when her faith became known she was seized during the persecutions, and though only about fifteen years of age she withstood interrogation, torture, and, according to tradition, the assaults of the evil one, whom she overcame by prayer, before being beheaded.

  Name days: Marina, Marika, Marinka

• 

  Dormition of the Theotokos

  August 15, Great Feast, Κοίμηση της Θεοτόκου

  The Great Feast of the Dormition commemorates the falling asleep of the Most Holy Theotokos. According to tradition, the Apostles were gathered from the ends of the earth to her bedside in Jerusalem, where she gave her soul into the hands of her Son; her body was laid in a tomb in Gethsemane and was found to have been taken up, for the Mother of Life was translated to life.

  Name days: Panagiotis, Panayiotis, Panos, Marios, Mario, Maria, Mary, Maro, Marika, Marianna, Mariam, Marie, Panagiota, Giota, Despina, Despoina, Panayiota, Yiota, Maroula, Marietta, Mairi, Despo

The other feasts are listed in the table above, each with a link to the saint’s life.

Also celebrating with Marika

These names share the feast, many of them other forms of the same name:

Maria, Mary, Maro, Marianna, Mariam, Marie, Marina, Marinka, Panagiotis, Panayiotis, Panos, Marios, Mario, Panagiota, Giota, Despina, Despoina, Panayiota, Yiota, Maroula, Marietta, Mairi, Despo

What to say on a name day

The Greek wish is Χρόνια Πολλά (Chronia Polla), “many years.” A call or a short message on the day is what people remember. See name day wishes you can send and what a name day is.