Slava

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Slava (disambiguation).

Slava (Cyrillic: Слава) is the Orthodox Christian custom of celebrating a family patron saint. The custom is mostly associated with Serbs, who consider it one of 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, Orthodox Albanians, Romanians, Greeks and Russians, although it has generally been lost in the last century. The word slava could be translated as "glory" or "praise".

1 History
2 Heritage
3 Celebration
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

It is believed that the 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 clan adopted its collective protector, while others still that slava is simply the saint which replaced a pre-existing pagan god-protector (see below). 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 held strongly onto their old Slavic religion; the last pagan temple in Serbia (the one in Svetovid) was destroyed by Tsar Dusan 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.

[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; married women normally celebrate the 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 are the traditional foods: slavski kolač (славски колач) and koljivo (кољиво). Literally, "slavski kolač"; means "the slava cake" (although it is actually a bread). The top of the kolač is adored 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 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 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, December 19th (Свети Никола, Никољдан), St. George, May 6 (Свети Георгије, Ђурђевдан), St. John the Baptist, January 20th (Свети Јован Крститељ, Јовањдан), Saint Demetrius, November 8th (Свети Димитрије Солунски, Митровдан) and St. Michael, November 21st (Apaнђел Mихajлo).

Various Serbian communities (villages, cities, organisations, political parties, institutions, companies, professions) also celebrate their patron saint: for example, Belgrade celebrates the Ascension as its slava.