Why do Old Believers celebrate name days instead of birthdays? #

Indeed, secular people typically celebrate their birthdays by gathering guests for feasting, often with alcohol, music, dancing, and other inevitable attributes of worldly parties. Such people are entirely unfamiliar with the concept of name days or the day of their angel. It is worth noting that about a hundred years ago or more, things were different. Even secular individuals, including members of royalty, celebrated their name days instead, as evidenced by greeting cards they exchanged, which are now abundantly found among collectors and in museum collections.

Christians, unlike non-believers and secular people, celebrate not their birthdays but their name days, also known as the day of their angel. This is a feast in honor of the saint after whom the Christian was named at Holy Baptism. This saint is the person’s heavenly patron, to whom they pray daily and in whose honor they hold a celebration called a name day.

A birthday, on the other hand, is a celebration of oneself. St. John Chrysostom observes that Scripture offers no examples of anyone celebrating their own birthday, except for the impious kings Nebuchadnezzar and Herod Antipas. The first celebration incurred God’s wrath upon Nebuchadnezzar: a mysterious hand wrote the words “Mene, Tekel, Peres” on the wall, and that very night, Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom fell to an invasion by the Persian army, and the king himself was killed (Daniel 5). The second celebration, during which the daughter of Herod’s unlawful wife danced to please him, led to the murder of the greatest of the prophets—St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord (Mark 6:21–29).

Thus, the day of one’s angel is a celebration in honor of a saint. When observed piously, without drunkenness, dancing, or excess, it is a celebration pleasing to God. In contrast, a birthday is a celebration in honor of oneself, an expression of pride, which is the mother of all vices. For this reason, it is unbecoming for Christians to hold celebrations in honor of their own birth.

— Archpriest Vadim Korovin