Saint Sava’s Day is always a very festive day for Serbs in North America. Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church parish of St. Steven of Dečani in Chicago attended a Saint Sava celebration. In addition to Slava cake cutting, there were children reciting poems, singing, and the local folklore ensemble Avala performing.

‘After the liturgy, everyone goes to the hall, after the hall, the cutting of the Slava cake begins, and later a piece of the cake is presented to the new godfather for the next year,’ says Peđa Simić. ‘People help, the Circle of Serbian Sisters has helped a lot,’ says Jelena Vuković, godmother of the Slava.

Since Saint Sava is celebrated in all parishes of the Serbian Orthodox Church throughout the US and Canada, there are still many to be held. They will take place in late January and early February, partly because they are most often held on weekends when more people can attend.

The Cultural and Artistic Society Branko Radičević from Vienna celebrated the school Slava of Saint Sava with a special program. Every year, according to established tradition, the club celebrates Saint Sava with special recitations, drawings and a musical program. This year, the youngest club members also prepared recitations dedicated to Saint Sava, which they delivered in front of their parents and members of the society. Some of the children transferred their imaginings of what Saint Sava had looked like to drawings that were exhibited in the premises of the Association of Serbian Clubs in Vienna. At the beginning of the ceremony, the president of the Branko Radičević Cultural and Artistic Society Radmila Maksimović greeted those present. ‘Saint Sava teaches us unity, knowledge, well-being and respect, values that we still pass on to our children today,’ she said. ‘Let this day be a reminder of how important it is to preserve the tradition, culture and values that Saint Sava bequeathed us,’ she said.

She also took the opportunity to announce the activities awaiting children in the coming period, primarily the concert Evening with Friends on 14 March, when folklore ensembles from the Republic of Srpska and all of Austria will be guests of the Branko Radičević Cultural and Artistic Society. She added that this year, in addition to the performing and preparatory ensembles, the children’s ensemble would also travel to the Ohrid folklore festival in June.

Source: Radio Television of Serbia – VESTI online

Photo: Sanja Jankovic photography