Seventh letter – celebration of Djurdjevdan on Kosovo and Metohija

Tuesday, 6 May 2008

My dear, I wish you happy Djurdjevdan (1) and I would like to congratulate to all the hosts of the families that celebrate St. George as a patron saint, may they celebrate him peacefully and quietly as long as they live.
I’ve decided to write a few words about the celebration of Djurdjevdan in Kosovo and Metohija, to describe how this holiday is celebrated here.
The holiday begins by men, women and even small babies going out for a walk a day before Djurdjevdan. They take along some food as well as barbecue. After the walk people gather in a meadow and they prepare barbecue. This is when we children have best time since we’re safe with our parents. We play different social games. After the barbecue everybody picks flowers with which the wreaths for girls are made. The girls put the wreaths on their heads or around their waists. They put it on their heads so their hair would be beautiful and long and around their waists so they would be thin, tall and pretty. Girls and boys also adorn their heads with the asp so that they would get married sooner. With flowers then everybody decorates their entrance doors.
Then our boys, twin brothers Milan and Marko start playing Kosovo songs and the Serbian kolo (traditional dance). The host from Orahovac bring wine and plum brandy from their homes, because Orahovac, my home town, is best known by those products. People are happy and just for a moment, they forget all that they have gone through. Everybody dances and sings, even small children. After the festivity everybody goes home.
Next day, on Djurdjevdan, church bells invite people to church. Before this, everybody washes their faces with spring water in which the Easter egg “cuvarkuca”(2), a wild rose leaf and cornel are dipped. After this everyone goes to church. Those who celebrate St. George as a patron saint bring the kolac(3) to the church and kolac is being cut in half. When the service is finished, people greet each other with “Merry Djurdjevdan”. On that day everybody is happy. In the evening mothers bathe their children with water in which the red egg and cornel were dipped, so they would be as ruby as the egg and as healthy as a cornel.

So this is how the Djurdjevdan, the holiday famous for St. George who killed the beast, is celebrated in Kosovo and Metohija.

1. In Serbia St. George's Day is called Djurdjevdan and is celebrated on 23 April according to the Julian calendar or on 6 May according to the Georgian calendar. St. George is one of the most important and celebrated saints in the Orthodox Church.

2. The first Easter coloured egg. It means “housekeeper” and this egg is kept by the icon throughout the whole year.

3.“Slava cake” – it’s the offering which is brought by the host of the family to the church on his saint patron’s day. The cake is sanctified in the church and then usually taken home, where is shared among family members and guests. In the Serbian Orthodox Church slava represents a holiday when a family celebrates its patron saint.

Превод: Хришћанска Заједница Св. Ђакон Авакум - Видиковац, Београд