FEASTS
It has become a custom in our people, which is by its nature very hospitable, to prepare a festive food offering for relatives and friends, which would come to enlarge the celebration of the christened name with their presence.
Later, during the centuries’ slavery, the only way for people to meet, have a conversation or consolation and even to make some decisions were these assemblies gathered and held on slavas, weddings and vigils, especially on church slavas and councils. For the Turks, cruel as they were in persecuting the Serbian folk, still left the people some liberty to meet on their religious holidays and such feasts without the presence of the Turks. And on the slava gatherings people would heal each others, find the way to escape the Turkish power, strengthen their faith and mend the hope for liberation. On one such gathering held in Orasac in 1804 a decision was made to raise the First Serbian Uprising to free the Serbian people. Therefore these festive meals have survived up to this day, thanking to the importance they had in the past, and are very unlikely omitted especially in the country.
Our country people are often reproached that they celebrate their slavas for more than one day spending too much money during that feast. It is very reasonable remark, but it must not be forgotten that in the country family slavas, weddings and church or village slavas are precisely those rare occasions in the year when one can meet their relatives, friends and companions from distant locations, have a conversation, have fun and enjoy. To tell the truth, this is not to approve squandering and overly spending in such occasions, nor in any other. Our people should confine the slava celebration to one day, to a festive and praying act of the cutting of the slava cake. They should always be advised to spend less, because they earn every dinar (old Serbian money) in hard labor; constantly be advised to take good care that their sacred tradition – their christened name does not develop into infamy of drinking and excessive eating! But this does not only go to people in the country, but also for people living in towns. [3] This making sure that we celebrate in a good and dignified manner should reflect the alert of those who truly believe, who respect their Serbian name and who wish to keep it clean.
The slava should always be celebrated, no matter the circumstances – in good luck and bad luck, in joy and sorrow, but one should separate the important and not important; separate the saint’s feast day from the feast food, the slava from joy. And while the feast food can be prepared by the one who has plenty, and only the one who is not mourning can be joyful, one only needs to prepare a slava candle, a slava cake, some read wine, frankincense and some oil during a year to say thank you to his saint through a prayer.
