2024Slava - Celebration of Family Saint Patron’s Day - First Day Cover

Patron Saint’s Day (Slava) is a holiday dedicated to a Christian saint whom the family takes as its patron and protector. The celebration of the Patron Saint among Serbs dates back to the time of Saint Sava. Today, the majority of Orthodox Christians in the territory of Serbia celebrate the Patron Saint’s Day as a significant holiday in which individual families and their guests – members of the extended family, spiritual relatives, neighbours and friends– participate. As bearers of a unique Orthodox tradition, Serbs perceive Patron Saint’s Day as a way of expressing their Christian and national identity.