THE SERBIAN SLAVA

by Lev Puhalo

Most non-Orthodox Christians, with very few exceptions, celebrate the day of
their birth in a non-religions, non-liturgical manner, usually placing it second in importance to their Christmas and, often, higher than their Easter. Orthodox Christians seldom give their birth date more than a passing notice. For the Orthodox, everything centres on Christ and His Holy Church. The "personal feast day" of the year is not the date of birth, but rather the feast of God's Saint after which one is named. This day is called the "name day", the Imeneny of the Russians, and it is kept in one form or another throughout the Holy Orthodox Christian Church as a feast of deep spiritual meaning. In addition to the name day, the Serbs have a very special variation of this wonderful tradition. With them, the name day is not an individual event, but rather a family affair. The feast is called, in Serbian, Slava (Thanksgiving or Glory-giving) and is kept on the feast day of the patron Saint of the entire family. The special spiritual depth of the Slava can only be understood when one realizes that the family celebrates it on the feast day of the Saint which has been the special patron of that family for centuries - ever since the family became Christian. For generations, the patron Saint's day has been a special uniting force in the family, bringing it together to give glory and thanks to God the Creator and Saviour. On the day of the Slava, the home becomes "a church in miniature and the family becomes the congregation, reminding us that the Church is a family magnified". It is the tradition for all members of the family to gather, usually at the home of the eldest living member of the family, to commemorate the patron Saint, to glorify God and to pray for all members of the family, both the living and the reposed. This is perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the Slava: that it celebrates the unity of Christ's Church both on earth and in heaven. The Slava is a sort of spiritual family reunion. Those who are not present in fact are present in spirit; not only living family members who are unable to he present, but also the forefathers of the family who have fallen asleep in Christ, faithful to His Holy Church. The grave does not separate Orthodox Christians one from another. The Slava is a purely religious celebration and this is epitomized by the slavsky kolach (slava cake) - a special version of the Paschal Kolach (Kulich in

Russian) which is baked for the occasion and which bears the family's prosphora seal with the sign of the Cross and the anagram for "Jesus Christ is our victory". The kolachalso bears representations of the dove of peace and of the first-fruits of the harvest. When the slavsky kolach is placed on the table, a bowl of kolyivo is placed next to it. Kolyivo (kutiya) is made of boiled wheat mixed with honey and spices. The wheat, of course, symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ and, by that, the hope of resurrection vouchsafed to all who dwell within His Holy Church. The kolyivo, consisting of wheat gathered up and set apart for the feast, also symbolizes the oneness of all true Orthodox Christians everywhere, gathered together and set apart from the rest of the world. Often, an ikon of the family patron is placed on the table next to the kolach and the kolyivo. The local priest is called to come and bless the home and all those present, offering prayers for the health and well-being of those unable to be present and for the peaceful repose of the forefathers of the family. The highlight of the feast is the service of the Thanksgiving Prayer (molieben) which is served by the priest before the ikon of the family patron saint. There is a very interesting true story concerning the family ikon left to us by the late archpriest David Popovich who served for many years as the priest at the Serbian church in Youngstown, Ohio. The following article contains this story .

History of the Serbs

Origins The Serbs are believed to be a purely Slavic people who originated in Ukraine. Some scholars now argue that the original Serbs and Croats were Central Asian Sarmatian nomads who entered Europe with the Huns in the fourth century C.E. The theory proposes that the Sarmatian Serbs settled in a land designated as White Serbia, in what is now Saxony and western Poland. The Sarmatian Serbs, it is argued, intermarried with the indigenous Slavs of the region, adopted their language and transferred their name to the Slavs. Arrival to the Balkans Byzantine sources report that some Serbs migrated southward in the seventh century C.E. and eventually settled in the lands that now make up southern Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Rival chiefs, or "zupani," vied to control the Serbs for five centuries after the migration. Zupan Vlastimir formed a Serbian principality under the Byzantines around 850, and the Serbs soon converted to Eastern Christianity. The Serbs had two political centers in the 11th

century: Zeta, in the mountains of present-day Montenegro, and Raska, located in modern southwestern Serbia. First Serbian State The zupan of Raska, Stefan I Nemanja (1159-96), threw off Byzantine domination and laid the foundation for medieval Serbia by conquering Zeta and part of southern Dalmatia. His son and successor, Stefan II Nemanja (1196-1228), transformed Serbia into a stable state, friendly with Rome but with religious loyalty to Constantinople. In 1218, Pope Honorius III recognized Serbian political independence and crowned Stefan II king. The writings of Stefan II and his brother (canonized as St. Sava) were the first works of Serbian literature. Later kings in the Nemanja line overcame internal rivalries and pressure from Bulgaria and Constantinople. They also rejected papal invitations to link the Serbian Orthodox Church with Rome, and they ruled their country through a golden age. Serbia expanded its economy, and Dalmatian merchants sold Serbian goods throughout Europe and the Levant. The Nemanje dynasty left to Serbia masterpieces of religious art combining Western, Byzantine and local styles. Serbia dominated the Balkans under Stefan Dusan (1331-55), who conquered lands extending from Belgrade to present-day southern Greece. He proclaimed himself emperor, elevated the archbishop of Pec to the level of patriarch, and wrote a new legal code combining Byzantine law with Serbian customs. Dusan had ambitions toward a weakened Byzantine Empire, but the Byzantine emperor suspected his intentions and summoned the Turks to restrain him. Dusan repelled assaults in 1345 and 1349, but was defeated in 1352. He then offered to lead an alliance against the Turks and recognize the pope, but those gambits also were rejected. Rival nobles divided Serbia after the death of Dusan in 1355, and many switched loyalty to the sultan after the last Nemanja died in 1371. The most powerful Serbian prince, Lazar Hrebeljanovic, raised a multinational force to engage the Turks in the Battle of Kosovo Polje on St. Vitus Day in 1389. The Turks barely defeated Lazar, and both he and the sultan were killed. The defeat did not bring immediate Turkish occupation of Serbia, but during the centuries of Turkish domination that followed, the Serbs endowed the battle with myths of honor and heroism that helped them preserve their dignity and sense of nationhood. Serbs still recite epic poems and sing songs about the nobles who fell at Kosovo Polje. The anniversary of the battle is the Serbian national holiday, Vidovdan (St. Vituss Day), June 28.