The Cultural Aspect of Serbian Slava
Serbian Slava is a unique phenomenon in Orthodox Christianity, or rather, it does not exist in this form in other Orthodox (or Catholic) Christian cultures. Due to its uniqueness, the Serbian Slava was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014, which was the first inclusion of a cultural property from Serbia on this list.
The most commonly used English translation for this custom is “the family saint patron’s day”, and it is believed to be a mixture of customs that existed when Serbs were a polytheistic people before adopting Christianity and Christian customs that followed. The supreme deity of all Slavs was the god Perun, but each house had something like its own household deity. When Christianity began to spread and knock on the doors of the Serbian people, it was not easy for the Serbs to turn away from the local pagan deities, as there was a strong attachment to local customs and traditions. The church tackled this problem in a practical way: it succeeded in winning people over to Christianity by, among other things, replacing the local deities with great Christian saints, who became the patron saints of Serbian homes, so that today every family has its own patron saint, and the family Slava is actually the feast of the patron saint.
Most families celebrate St. Nicholas on December 19 (according to the Julian calendar), followed by St. John the Baptist on January 20, St. George on May 6, St. Michael the Archangel on November 21, St. Stephen on January 9 and many others. The family Slava is hereditary and is passed on from father to son, while the wife adopts her husband's Slava upon marriage. In addition to its immeasurable religious and cultural value, Slava also has extraordinary social significance. In times when global interaction between family and friends is difficult due to the pace and fragmentation of modern life, the Slava is one of the rare opportunities in Serbian society to socialize and visit relatives and friends that is not missed, even if the hosts of the Slava and the guests have not had the opportunity to see each other and socialize since the last Slava a year ago. When we hear the sentence: “They weren't at the Slava this year" – then we know that something serious has happened between the two families!
I hope you enjoyed the story about the Serbian custom of Slava. I am here for all your questions!
Serbian Slava is a unique phenomenon in Orthodox Christianity, or rather, it does not exist in this form in other Orthodox (or Catholic) Christian cultures. Due to its uniqueness, the Serbian Slava was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014, which was the first inclusion of a cultural property from Serbia on this list.
The most commonly used English translation for this custom is “the family saint patron’s day”, and it is believed to be a mixture of customs that existed when Serbs were a polytheistic people before adopting Christianity and Christian customs that followed. The supreme deity of all Slavs was the god Perun, but each house had something like its own household deity. When Christianity began to spread and knock on the doors of the Serbian people, it was not easy for the Serbs to turn away from the local pagan deities, as there was a strong attachment to local customs and traditions. The church tackled this problem in a practical way: it succeeded in winning people over to Christianity by, among other things, replacing the local deities with great Christian saints, who became the patron saints of Serbian homes, so that today every family has its own patron saint, and the family Slava is actually the feast of the patron saint.
Most families celebrate St. Nicholas on December 19 (according to the Julian calendar), followed by St. John the Baptist on January 20, St. George on May 6, St. Michael the Archangel on November 21, St. Stephen on January 9 and many others. The family Slava is hereditary and is passed on from father to son, while the wife adopts her husband's Slava upon marriage. In addition to its immeasurable religious and cultural value, Slava also has extraordinary social significance. In times when global interaction between family and friends is difficult due to the pace and fragmentation of modern life, the Slava is one of the rare opportunities in Serbian society to socialize and visit relatives and friends that is not missed, even if the hosts of the Slava and the guests have not had the opportunity to see each other and socialize since the last Slava a year ago. When we hear the sentence: “They weren't at the Slava this year" – then we know that something serious has happened between the two families!
I hope you enjoyed the story about the Serbian custom of Slava. I am here for all your questions!