“May the old customs be observed” : canons on custom and their significance for the contemporary life of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Milovanović, Sava (author)

This paper represents an analysis of a custom from the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church, connected to the celebration of the feast of Saint Archangel Michael as a family patron saint day (Slava), commonly known as “Aranđelovdan” (Archangel’s Day). In some Serbian regions, hosts refuse to prepare boiled wheat or koljivo for the feast of Saint Archangel Michael, claiming that koljivo is prepared exclusively for saints who have died. At the same time, maintenance of this custom is often justified by the argument that it is inherited from ancestors and, in that sense, represents part of family heritage or a certain kind of pledge. After an analysis of the Holy Canons, it is concluded that the criterion by which the canons accept a custom as legitimate is compatibility of that custom with apostolic tradi-tion. From that perspective, we will seek to show why that is not the case with the aforementioned custom observed on Saint Archangel Michael’s day.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Slava, saint Basil the Great, saint archangel Michael, koljivo, John Zonaras, Theodore Balsamon
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 359-369
• Numbering: Letn. 85, [št.] 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177645
• UDC: 271.222(497.11)-43
• ISSN on article: 0006-5722
• DOI: 10.34291/BV2025/02/Milovanovic
• COBISS.SI-ID: 262083331
• Publication date in RUL: 30.12.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bogoslovni vestnik : glasilo Teološke fakultete v Ljubljani
• Shortened title: Bogosl. vestn.
• Publisher: Teološka fakulteta
• ISSN: 0006-5722
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8745472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: »Naj se spoštujejo stare navade« : kanoni o navadah in njihov pomen za sodobno življenje Srbske pravo-slavne Cerkve

Abstract

Prispevek analizira običaj v Srbski pravoslavni Cerkvi, povezan s praznovanjem praznika svetega nadangela Mihaela kot družinskega zavetnika (slava), ki je splošno znan kot »Aranđelovdan« (dan nadangela). Pri tem v nekaterih srbskih regijah gostitelji pripravo kuhane pšenice ali koljiva ob prazniku svetega nadangela Mihaela zavračajo, saj menijo, da se koljivo lahko pripravlja izključno za umrle svetnike. Ohranjanje tega običaja pogosto utemeljujejo z argumentom, da je podedovan od prednikov in tako predstavlja del družinske tradicije ali neke vrste zavezo. Analiza kanonov je pokazala, da je merilo za sprejem običaja kot legitimnega njegova združljivost z apostolsko tradicijo. S tega vidika bomo poskušali pokazati, zakaj to za omenjeni običaj ob praznovanju dne svetega nadangela Mihaela ne velja.

• Keywords: Slava, sveti Bazilij Veliki, sveti nadangel Mihael, koljivo, Joanes Zonaras, Teodor Balsamon