The name Alla is depicted in the Orthodox church calendar. Therefore, it is quite acceptable to name the girls at the baptism of this holy name in memory of the great ascetic of piety - the martyr Alla of Gotfsky.
All Orthodox Allas celebrate their name day on the same day: namely, on the date of the celebration of the great twelfth holy day of the Annunciation, which falls on the next day of the celebration - on April 8th. This date is not accidental, because it is on this day that the Church recalls the life and feat of the holy martyr Alla of Gotfsky.
The very naming of Saint Gotfsky indicates the place of life of the ascetic. The pleaser of God lived in the ancient Gotf land in the fourth century after the Incarnation. The life of the holy martyr has been preserved to this day in a short form. So, it is known that the saint suffered at the end of the 4th century (approximately in 375) during the reign of King Ungerich in Gottia.
Saint Alla lived a strict ascetic life. Despite the authorities' dislike of Christians, she openly attended church services in the temple, offering her prayers to God. By her personal example, she was a model of Christian virtue and humble wisdom, which encouraged many around to accept the gospel faith. Such a pious life of Christians could not suit the king. The ruler decided to burn the temple, in which several hundred Christians prayed.
Of the three hundred and eight burnt people alive, the names of only twenty-six martyrs have survived to our time, including St. Alla.
There is another version of the martyr’s suffering set forth by Metropolitan Demetrius of Rostov in his Lives of the Saints. In the book, the archpastor writes that Alla was one of those who collected the remains of the martyrs. For such a pious attitude to the relics of the saints of All, according to the version of Metropolitan Demetrius, she was stoned to death.
