L ate autumn sees the most beautiful attire donned in Serbia, while housewives demon- strate their culinary prowess and everyone rush- es to avoid being late. They are heading out as guests... of Slava celebrations. That’s because Slava season gets underway in late October and runs all the way to early May – representing a season marked by the beautiful customs of celebrating family patron saints that the people of Serbia have cherished for centuries. It is known with certainty that Saint Sava – a medi- eval Serbian prince, monk, the country’s first archbish- op, writer and diplomat – first canonised and officially introduced the celebration of Slava prior to the 13 th cen- tury, given that by then this rite was already sufficiently present and important among the people as both a so- cial and religious custom. Slava is also connected to the agrarian cult, which is why 6 th May’s Đurđevdan, one of the biggest Serbian festivals, is commemorated not on- ly as a celebration of St George, but also as a holiday that marks the departure of winter and the arrival of summer. Slava is a custom that connects people religiously and socially, as one day in the year when almost every fam- ily of the Christian Orthodox faith celebrates the saint that they believe protects them and ensures their well- being. A festive atmosphere prevails in the family home on the day of Slava. The host lights a special Slava can- dle, cuts the slave cake into four parts, in the shape of a cross, pours wine over it or takes it to the church, togeth- er with wheat, early in the morning. The wheat prepared in the home, together with the cake and wine, symbol- ise the body and blood of Christ, representing the sac- rifice that the family’s patron saint is offered in return for protection and wellbeing. It was recorded as far back as the 11 th century that
an uninvited Slava guest shouldn’t be turned away, but rather welcomed into the house, as that was viewed as the symbolic appearance of ancestors according to the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade, which launched the initiative that resulted in the 2014 inscribing of Slava on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cul- tural Heritage of Humanity. There is thus no doubt that this is the right time of year for a wandering foreigner to warm themselves in the Slava atmosphere. Hosts cer- tainly won’t reject such a guest even if he is uninvited, and he will subsequently always be expected and wel- come to attend. LEADER OF THE HEAVENLY ARMIES Slava season begins with Mitrovdan, St Demetri- us’s Day, and ends with Đurđevdan, St George’s Day. There are major Slava celebrations beyond that period, though they are celebrated by far fewer believers. The largest number of Slava holidays are celebrated dur- ing the autumn period, and November is undoubted- ly dominated by Aranđelovdan (21 st November), which is the second most widely celebrated Slava after that of Saint Nicholas. The Archangel Michael is the “leader of the heaven- ly armies”, who has always appeared in places where the Holy Mother of God has also appeared, so he represents heavenly power and protection on earth. He is believed to visit all sick people at this time, and to wander the world dressed as a beggar, in order to berate unbeliev- ers and help those in need... Next, in December (19 th ), Saint Nicholas arrives, with his Slava celebrated by the largest number of people, such that this day is almost a national holiday, while another great Slava follows in January – that of Saint John (20 th January).
Mirisna sarma od kiselog kupusa je u Srbiji kralljica svake slavske trpeze Fragrant stuffed cabbage Sarma is the queen of every Slava spread in Serbia
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