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Question:
I am very curious
about why the children in a Serbian Orthodox home are not named
after their Mother and Father. We have the parents names as
Steve and Sophia while the children were named Djoko, Kosta,
Angelina, Ivanka and Vlada. This took place in the late 1800's.
Kosta, Ivanka and Vlada appear in future generations but Steve (Gedja)
and Sophia (Sasa) were never used unless they had named their
unborn or short lived babies Steve and Sophia. Perhaps you can
help me with the naming practices of Serbian Orthodox families
in the 1800's.
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Answer:
Dr. Alexander Roman
alex@unicorne.org
The Serbian Orthodox tradition in this
regard is quite unique.
The main reason for this is that historically the Serbs were baptized
not as a nation, nor as individuals, as occurred in other Christian
countries.
Instead, owing to the circumstances of the day, the Serbs were baptized
as families.
The result of this is that the patron saint of the father or founder of
a family came to be celebrated by that family as its collective
Namesake, and this across generations. This became the famous Serbian "Krsna
Slava" with all its uniqueness. One Serbian friend once told me that the
Slava is what "differentiates me from the rest of the world."
So the immediate parents of a child are less important in terms of
naming than are those considered to be the founders of the particular
family or who are deemed to be. Even if the founders of a family aren't
so feted, it is usually the case that one would go back some generations
for names.
The key here is the Serbian Slava tradition. I have attended a number of
these. An old friend at work used to celebrate the Slava of St. Simeon
the God-Receiver on February 16th (Old Calendar). Simeon was the name of
the founding father of his family that went back to the 19th century.
He would invited his immediate family for a celebration of the Slava on
the day of the Feast. He would invite friends from work on the next day
and very often the celebrations would go on until the end of the week!
A special Kollyva or boiled wheat mixture, sweetened with nuts and
chocolate and decorated with a Cross would be taken to church to be
blessed by the Priest in honour of St Simeon. Then guests would receive
a spoonful of this Kollyva at the door as they entered for the
celebration of the Slava.
Traditional Serbian dishes, including roast suckling pig, would be
served, together with wonderful fellowship and discussions about Serbian
traditions!
My friend had a large family tree drawn up in the shape of an actual,
painted tree that covered an entire wall of his home to proudly show
everyone how far back his family went until it reached the founder,
Simeon.
He also always had a blessed "baniak" on his wall, or a piece of oak
branch, decorated for Christmas. This, rather than the Christmas tree,
is central to the Serbian celebration of the Feast of the Nativity and,
like the Kollyva at the Slava, is brought to church for the Priest's
blessing by the family.
We may all certainly adopt the tradition of the Slava and so honour an
esteemed ancient ancestor. That ancestor becomes, in fact, a kind of
"family patron saint" in heaven, interceding for his descendants.
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