When is Matrona’s name day?

Matrona can be celebrated on 3 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 Matrona is celebrated

The saints behind the name

• Matrona of Thessaloniki

  March 27, Martyr, Ματρώνα

  St. Matrona was a servant in Thessaloniki in the early centuries of the Church, a Christian in the household of a pagan-hearted mistress who hated her faith. Slipping away in secret to pray with the Church, she was discovered, beaten, and confined, yet she would not abandon Christ, and she died of the cruel treatment she received, a true martyr.

  Name days: Matrona

• Matrona of Moscow

  May 2, Holy Woman, Ματρώνα η Μοσχοβίτισσα

  Matrona Nikonova was born blind in a village of the Tula region in the 1880s. From childhood she showed unusual spiritual insight, and people came to her for prayer and counsel. Later she lost the use of her legs and lived in Moscow, moving from house to house through the years of persecution.

  Name days: Matrona

• Matrona of Chios

  October 20, Holy Woman, Ματρώνα η Χιοπολίτις

  Matrona was born Mary in the village of Volissos on Chios to wealthy parents. Refusing marriage, she fled to a small convent near the town of Chios, where she was tonsured and later became abbess, enlarging the community by her own labors.

  Name days: Matrona

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.