Slava

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For other uses, see Slava (disambiguation).

Church prepared for the celebration of a Slava, Trebinje, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Slava (Cyrillic: Слава) is the Orthodox Christian custom of celebrating a family patron saint. In recent times, the custom has mostly come to be associated with Serbs, who consider it one of the specific traits of their culture, although it is also encountered in the Republic of Macedonia,^[1] parts of Bulgaria,^[2] as well as among some Croats and the Gorani people.

1 History
2 Heritage
3 Celebration
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

It is believed that the South Slavs adopted the tradition at the time of their Christianization, some time in the late 9th century. Some believe that the day of the mass baptism itself was taken as the saint protector, others claim that each clan adopted its collective protector, while others still claim that the slava is simply the saint which replaced a pre-existing pagan god-protector. At times, a new slava would be adopted, should a saint be believed to have interceded for some sort of deliverance (i.e., from illness or affliction). The new saint would be adopted in lieu of the old, whose day would still be marked by a lighting of a candle, with much less fanfare.

Some also believe the slava to be a remnant from Slavic paganism which had a myriad of gods before adopting Christianity. The Serbs in particular held strongly onto their old Slavic religion; the last pagan temple in Serbia, in Svetovid, was destroyed by Tsar Dušan in the 14th century. That the slava often varies according to geographical regions is claimed as evidence of the above. But even this notion need not contradict the traditional explanation that the slava is celebrated on the day of christening of the first-baptized ancestor, and in fact, it may very well underscore it.

The slava was cannonically introduced for the first time by Archbishop Saint Sava of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

[edit] Heritage

Unlike most customs that are common for an entire people, each family separately celebrates its own saint; of course, there is quite a bit of overlap. It is inherited from the head of the household—normally the father—to sons. Daughters inherit the slava only if they stay in the home, while married women normally celebrate their husbands' saint.

Each household has one or two celebrations per year (depending on the saint in question, for some have two days devoted to them). Yet, only one is the main day of the patron saint feast (and not necessarily the same of the two days for all families); the second celebration is referred to as "little slava" or preslava.

Some families may also celebrate yet another saint to a lesser extent (for example, when the wife is the only descendant of her kinship so the tradition of her slava would otherwise be lost).

Should a particular household move far away, with the father's permission, a son might celebrate the slava in his own home; usually, however, for as long as a family patriarch is alive, his sons should celebrate under his roof.^{[verification needed]}

[edit] Celebration

Koljivo

The occasion brings all of the family together, and a feast is normally prepared, including traditional foods: "slavski kolač" (славски колач) and "koljivo" (кољиво). "Slavski kolač" literally means "the slava cake", although it is actually more similar to bread. Depending on whether the celebration falls during fasting, slavski kolač is made with or without eggs, butter and milk.

The top of the kolač is adorned with the sign of the Cross, the "Dove of Peace", and other symbols that relate to the family. "Koljivo" (also called "žito") is made of boiled wheat. It can be prepared in a variety of ways but most usually includes walnuts, nutmegs and/or cloves, and honey.

The wheat is a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ and deceased family members. Depending on whether the celebration falls in a period of fasting, the rest of the feast consists of animal-free (posni) meals or not (mrsni); thus, colloquially, slavas can be referred to as mrsne or posne.

On the day of the slava, the family attends church services and partakes in Holy Communion. Following the service, the parish priest is received in the family's home. He performs a small service which entails venerating the Saint's memory, blessing the slavski kolač and koljivo, as well as lighting the "slava candle". Though not necessary, it is common for the priest to bless the house and perform a small memorial service for dead relatives.

The most common feast days are St. Nicholas (falling on December 19), St. George (May 6, see Đurđevdan), St. John the Baptist (January 20), Saint Demetrius (November 8) and St. Michael (November 21).

Many Serbian communities (villages, cities, organizations, political parties, institutions, companies, professions) also celebrate their patron saint. For example, the city of Belgrade celebrates the Ascension as its slava.