christmas
Serbian Christmas begins on 6 January, which is the Orthodox Christmas Eve. In the morning, the father of the family cuts a Yule log from a tree or buys one in the city to set on fire. Family and friends gather, exchange good wishes, and eat dinner. Christmas Day begins with welcoming the first person who enters the house.
lazarus SAturday
Orthodox Christians celebrate this holiday on the Saturday eight days before Easter. It commemorates what the Serbian Orthodox Church considers the greatest of Christ's miracles, the resurrection of Lazarus from the grave. Parents dress children in their newest clothes and go to church, where a priest blesses willow branches. Children wear the branches as crowns on their heads and wear bells around their necks in processions in church courtyards.
Zadušnice
Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Serbians all celebrate holidays that honor the dead. Four times throughout the year, Orthodox Serbians mark Zadušnice, which is a day to honor the dead. On these days, people go in large numbers to graveyards. They bring flowers and candles to honor the graves of their closest deceased relatives. They also have a sort of picnic next to the grave.
slava
Families in the Serbian Orthodox Church each have a patron saint and celebrate a Slava holiday on the saint's feast day. The celebratory traditions are led by the head of the family and pass down from father to son. For some families, it is the most important holiday of the year. The celebrations last for two or three days. The family typically begins the day by going to church. After returning home, the family lights a candle to honor the saint, and a priest reads a prayer, blesses the household, and uses a knife to cut a cross into a round, sweet and salty cake decorated with Orthodox symbols called a Slava cake. The family then prepares large amounts of food for visitors.