Slava

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Slava (Serbian Cyrillic: Слава) is a Serb custom of celebrating a family saint.

Of all Slavs and Orthodox Christians, only Serbs have the custom of slava. The custom could also be found among some Croats and Russians, as well as Albanians of Serbian origin, although it has generally been lost in the last century.

The word slava could be translated as "the praise".

Slava is the celebration of a patron saint; unlike most customs that are common for entire people, each family separately celebrates its own saint (of course, there is a lot of overlap) who is considered its protector. A slava is inherited from father to son and each household may only have one celebration per year which means that the occasion brings all of the family together. However, some families also celebrate 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 die); such celebrations are referred to as "little slava" or preslava. Should a particular household move far away, with father's permission a son might celebrate the same day in his own home, but usually, for as long as a family patriarch is alive his sons should celebrate under his roof.

To prepare for the slava the family fasts for a week to receive Holy Communion on the day of the slava. In addition a large feast is prepared. Included are the traditional foods: slavski kolač and koljivo. Translated directly, slavski kolač; means "slava cake" (although it is actually a bread). The kolač itself is embedded with the sign of the Cross and the "Dove of Peace" [see picture]. Also added are symbols that relate to the family. Koljivo (also called žito) is made of boiled wheat. It can be prepared in a variety of ways and often includes walnuts with addition of spices and honey. The wheat is symbol of the Resurrection of Christ and dead 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 a 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.

During a slava a Serbian home is open to any and all who might wish to drop by. It is considered untraditional (but nevertheless often takes place in modern society) to invite anyone to a slava; guests should come of their own will and no one is to be turned back from a Serb home as this would be considered a sacrilege and a disgrace to the household.

The most common feast days are St. Nicholas, December 19th (Свети Никола, Никољдан), St. George, May 6th (Свети Георгије, Ђурђевдан), St. John the Baptist, January 20th (Свети Јован Крститељ, Јовањдан), Saint Demetrius of Salonica, November 8th (Свети Димитрије Солунски, Митровдан).

It is believed that Serbs 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 Serb tribe adopted its collective protector, while others still that slava is simply the saint which replaced a pre-existing pagan god-protector (see below). The latter theory seems closest to the truth as the slava varies according to geographical regions. At times, a new slava would be adopted, should a saint be believed to have interceded for some sort of deliverance (i.e. from an affliction). The new saint would be adopted in lieu of the old whose day would still be marked but simply by a lighting of a candle and much less fanfare.

Some also believe the slava to be a remnant from Slavic paganism which had a myriad of Gods before adopting Christianity. Serbs have held strongly onto their old Slavic religion; the last pagan temple in Serbia (the one of Svetovid) was destroyed by Tsar Dusan in the 14th century.

Various Serb communities: villages, cities, organisations, political parties, institutions, companies, professions... also celebrate their protector saint. As an example, of Belgrade - Ascension, of Project Rastko - Saint Simeon, of Democratic Party - Saint George etc.

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