SLAVA - CELEBRATING THE SAINT'S GLORY

Slava (celebrating saint's glory) is a Macedonian Orthodox Christian tradition of the ritual glorification of one's family's patron saint. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the saint's feast day. Besides Slava, one can also celebrate a name day (imenden) when a family member has the same name as the name of the saint and village slava when the whole village celebrates the day of the saint.


The rituals and actions associated with slava are rich and point to the preserved mythological characteristics of the elements of the ancient, pagan faith of the Slavs, and above all, the respect of the cult to the ancestors.

The Slava is the family's annual ceremony and a social event in which the family gathers at the house of the patriarch. The Slava also brings close friends to the house. The family saint is inherited from the patriarch (head of the household) – from father to son, while women do inherit the patron saint of their husbands after getting married. Some families may celebrate another patron saint in the case when the wife is the only left of her kin, in respect to her family.

History

The first data for this type of custom have been noticed since the 11th century. There are several research approaches that link glory with the time of acceptance of Christianity, but also retains a part of the ancient Slavic faith in their own pantheon and a mild equation of the characters and deeds of the Christian saints with ancient deities and supernatural beings, as well as marking the cult of ancestors, but also celebrating the family and its values ​​and paying tribute to the supernatural. Transferring slava  from knee to knee in turn, points to the care for the preservation of traditional values ​​and memory of origin.

It is believed that the slava protects the family and the home. Slava can be changed only on special occasions, but even then, there remained the obligation to light a candle and to go to church.

Food 
 
The ritual foods that are prepared for the feast are pogacha, kifli, salads, appetizers, sweets etc.
The rest of the feast consists of a meal and the contents depends on whether or not the celebration falls in a period of fasting. During a fast (posno), the meal would not contain any meat other than fish or other seafood, and would be highly unlikely to contain eggs or dairy products. Outside of a fasting period, these restrictions would not apply (mrsno). Thus, colloquially, slavas can be referred to as posna or mrsna.