Name day
Alexandra: Name Day and Patron Saint
Alexandra keeps the name day on 17 July on both calendars: the feast of St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer.
By Greek custom the name day is 30 August: St Alexander of Constantinople.
- Patron saint
- St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer
- New Calendar
- 17 July
- Old Calendar
- 17 July
- Next name day
- 17 July 2027
- Greek custom
- 30 August: St Alexander of Constantinople
- In the feast calendar
- The feasts of July
The patron saint: St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer
Kept on 17 July · Martyrdom with the Royal Family
Princess Alix of Hesse was born in 1872 and lost her mother as a child. She married Tsar Nicholas II in 1894. After long and sincere searching she embraced Orthodoxy with her whole heart and received the name Alexandra. She was a devoted wife and the mother of four daughters and a long-awaited son, Alexei, who suffered from a grave hereditary illness. Her hidden sorrow as the mother of a suffering child drove her to constant prayer. During the First World War she trained as a sister of mercy and, with her elder daughters, nursed wounded soldiers with her own hands. In captivity she remained the heart of the family’s prayer, reading Scripture and the Fathers and forgiving their persecutors. She was martyred with her husband and children at Yekaterinburg on the night of 16-17 July 1918. The Church glorifies her as a passion-bearer.
What the faithful pray for
- a loving, faithful marriage
- the health of sick children
- strength for mothers caring for a chronically ill child
- raising children in the faith
- a convert’s deepening love for Orthodoxy
- patience and faith in suffering
Protection
- the family hearth
- mothers in sorrow
- sick children
Miracles
- Her long-prayed-for son Alexei was born as ‘the fruit of the prayers of the Wonderworker of Sarov’, whose glorification she and the Tsar had attended. (source)
Other saints named Alexandra
St Alexander of Constantinople
Kept on 30 August, or 12 September on the Old Calendar · Sts Alexander, John and Paul the New, Patriarchs of Constantinople
The Patriarch of Constantinople at the time of the First Council, whose prayer stopped the heretic Arius.
the Royal Passion-Bearers
Kept on 17 July · Martyrdom at Yekaterinburg (1918)
The last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas, his wife Alexandra and their five children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei, lived as one household of the Church of Christ, bound together by love. The Church’s hymns praise how they built their home on love, kept their marriage honorable, and raised their daughters as wise virgins for Christ. Their son Alexei bore a grave illness from infancy as a cross from the Lord, without complaint. During the war the Empress and her elder daughters served the wounded as sisters of mercy. After the Tsar’s abdication in 1917 the family was held in captivity. They bore humiliation with Christian meekness, prayed together, and forgave their persecutors. In the night of 16-17 July 1918 they were killed together at Yekaterinburg. The Russian Church Abroad glorified them in 1981, and the Moscow Patriarchate glorified them in 2000 as passion-bearers, those who imitate Christ by meekly accepting suffering and death.
What the faithful pray for
- love and unity in the family
- a faithful and honorable marriage
- raising children in the faith
- healing of sick children
- comfort for parents grieving over children in sickness or sin
- patience and meekness in suffering
- forgiveness of enemies
- the spiritual welfare of Russia and her people
Protection
- the family hearth
- children from sickness and the passions of this age
- the persecuted
- Orthodox families from division
Miracles
- Tsarevich Alexei was born, after long prayer, as ‘the fruit of the prayers of the Wonderworker of Sarov’, the longed-for heir of his royal parents. (source)
- Collections of testimonies record many healings and answered prayers through the intercession of the Royal Passion-bearers since their glorification. (source)
Virgin Martyrs Alexandria
Kept on 20 March, or 2 April on the Old Calendar
Alexandra in other languages
| Language | The name | Short forms |
|---|---|---|
| English | Alexandra, Alessandra, Alejandra, Alexandria | Alex, Alexa, Lexi, Lexie, Sandra, Sandy, Sasha, Zandra, Alexis, Alexia |
| Greek | Αλεξάνδρα, Alexandra, Aleksandra | Αλέκα, Σάντρα, Aleka |
| Russian | Александра, Aleksandra | Саша, Шура, Сашенька, Sasha, Shura, Sashenka |
| Ukrainian | Олександра, Oleksandra | Леся, Lesya |
| Bulgarian | Александра | |
| Serbian | Александра, Aleksandra | Saša, Sanja |
| Romanian | Alexandra | Sandra |
| Georgian | Aleksandra | |
| Arabic | Alexandra | |
| Polish | Aleksandra |
Icons of St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer
Folding diptychSt Alexandra (passion-bearer Empress) & Guardian Angel
$99$69
Folding diptychSts Nicholas II & Alexandra (Royal Passion-Bearers)
$99$69
Folding diptychRoyal Passion-Bearers (Romanov family) & Feodorovskaya Mother of God
$99$69
Folding diptychRoyal Passion-Bearers (Romanov family) & Guardian Angel
$99$69
Have it consecrated by our priest before it reaches you: Consecration, $49.
A name-day gift for Alexandra
Name-Day Gift Set $213$149
A patron saint's folding diptych chosen by first name, a stainless steel crucifix and a prayer rope, in a gift box with a card giving the saint's life and feast day.
St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer's diptych is chosen and the name is filled in.
Questions
When is Alexandra’s name day?
Alexandra keeps the name day on 17 July on both calendars, the feast of St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer. By Greek custom it is kept on 30 August: St Alexander of Constantinople.
Who is the patron saint of Alexandra?
St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer. Princess Alix of Hesse was born in 1872 and lost her mother as a child.
How is Alexandra written in other languages?
Greek: Αλεξάνδρα (Alexandra), Russian: Александра (Aleksandra), Ukrainian: Олександра (Oleksandra), Bulgarian: Александра, Serbian: Александра (Aleksandra) and Romanian: Alexandra. Every form of the name keeps the same saint.
What is a good name-day gift for Alexandra?
An icon of St Alexandra the Passion-Bearer, the saint Alexandra bears: the St Alexandra (passion-bearer Empress) & Guardian Angel Folding Diptych ($69), or the Name-Day Gift Set ($149) with that diptych, a crucifix and a prayer rope in a gift box.
More about name days
- Name Days Explained: What They Are, How Families Keep Them, and Gifts
A name day is the feast of the saint whose name you carry. Here is how to find yours on either calendar, how Greek and Russian families keep it, and what to give.
- Orthodox Patron Saint: How to Find Yours (by Name, Day or Choice)
Your Orthodox patron saint is the saint whose name you were given at baptism. Here is how to find yours by name, by the day of your birth or baptism, or by choice, and how to keep the name day.
- Find another name
Sources
- Страстотерпица Александра Романова (Азбука веры)
- Молитва мученице Александре, царице Римской (Азбука веры)
- Мученица Валерия Римская, царица (Азбука веры)
- Акафист святым царственным страстотерпцам (Азбука веры)
- Акафист святому страстотерпцу царевичу Алексию (Азбука веры)
- OCA Lives of the Saints, 17 July
- Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints
- eortologio.net, Greek name-day calendar (Εορτολόγιο)
- azbyka.ru, Месяцеслов (the Russian Church's calendar of saints by name)