Eastern Orthodox Religion is a major part of Serbian culture, and the second largest Christian Church worldwide. This summer, I had the pleasure of attending services in Kosjeric, Serbia with a Serbian family.
I grew up in a Lutheran Christian family, where services are relatively casual, with a focus on community wellness and connection over strict tradition. With that background, this church service was eye opening for me. The only requirement for attending, according to my host, was that I had been baptized.
To begin the service, the priest began some incantations in Serbian, and walked around with a Censer to spread incense through the congregation. The service was 1.5 hours long, and it was standing room only. There were no pews like the churches I am familiar with. I had been warned that is was a long time to stand, so I was prepared - but I was not prepared for the heat. The old church on a hot summer day had sweat running down my back during the incantations. Further, my most conservative outfit still had exposed shoulders, and ten minutes into the service a woman asked that my host give me a scarf to cover up. We moved closer to the door when I felt I might pass out halfway through, and that helped.
The church was beautiful, with hand painted frescos on every wall and the ceiling. Traditional portraits of Jesus, Mary, and Saints covered the walls. Women stood on the left side of the church and men stood on the right, except for a small choir of women that stood up front on the men’s side. Children moved around (understandably), and I was impressed with how well behaved they were for the entire service. About half of the women covered their heads with a scarf while inside he church, but it was not required.
After my host explained why I couldn’t sing along to the songs (I cannot read Cyrillic well enough to sing it) we approached the end of the service. A man came around to collect donations on a framed picture of Jesus, and people put money to donate on the photo. At the end of the service, people went to the front of the altar to accept bread and wine. Unfortunately, I was on my period, and my host explained that they still followed a tradition that I was unable to accept bread and wine if that was the case. After the service, everyone gathered in the yard of the church for coffee, tea, and socializing. Everyone was friendly and happy to welcome me - I am so glad I had the chance to experience this!
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