Holy
Saturday Celebrations in Porabje As every year, the
Slovenes from the Raba Region celebrated this
year’s Holy Saturday with the traditional sanctification of the ham and
of other edibles that are typical for Easter by the local priest, by sparking
great fires and by firing “cannon balls”. Števanovci / Gornji Senik, 2006/04/15 The solemn
sanctification of the ham We begin our coverage in Števanovci,
where we attend the traditional ham sanctification. Already in the early
afternoon the inhabitants of Porabje start preparing for the sanctification of the ham,
of the very savoury horseradish and of eggs and bread by the priest. They wrap
the foodstuff destined for sanctification in white cloths and place them carefully
in wicker baskets. Holy Saturday means the ending of fasting, and the edibles
that are being sanctified today will be eaten on Easter Sunday. At 6.30 pm the villagers
meet at the church of Števanovci where the
priest and a group of acolytes await them already. The cleric and the
adolescents who are dressed in white stand in the church aisle. Most believers
sit inside the church in silent devotion. Their wicker baskets containing ham
and other edibles stand on the floor, right next to the pews. Neatly arranged, one after the other. Also during the
process of sanctification villagers walk to the church. Very often men take the
baskets to sanctification. However, we also come across several families who
appeared in order to take part in this holy procession. Those who came late
wait patiently outside standing on the left and on the right side of the church
gate. The aisle remains clear and seems to be the priest’s sphere. On an
information board near the church we catch sight of an invitation to a
traditional Holy Saturday celebration in Gornji Senik where winter and ghosts are being expelled. Later on
we are also going to attend this celebration. We linger in the village centre
for some more minutes watching the celebrations before leaving Števanovci and searching for further elements of the
traditional Easter Days in Porabje. Fires, church symbols
and “cannon shots“ On our drive through the Slovene villages of
the Raba Region we encounter many blazing fires,
lucent crosses and statues of the Virgin Mary, which are decorated with candles
and chaplets. People gather around the fires, which illuminate the darkening
sky, and celebrate the ending of wintertime and the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. It is an old custom in Gornji Senik to expel winter symbolically with thunderous cannon
shots*. Fire and noise derived from an originally pagan custom. Malicious, evil
and baneful ghosts were expelled with loud bluster, and by burning old and
damaged objects people “freed” themselves symbolically from winter
as well. Since Christianisation both the fires on Holy Saturday and bluster
gained another meaning: celebrating the resurrection of Christ. The
“shots” are fired from a small hill some meters above the village.
Numerous villagers from near and far march the 1000 meters up the hill in order
to attend the spectacle. We belong to them as well. On the knoll we spot three
silvery cannons and a great fire. Above the fireplace two women sell bread
flavoured with lard and onions. Furthermore, the party guests can satisfy their
thirst at a bar. Both traditional as modern songs sound from large
loudspeakers. Hardly anyone dances but one discusses and laughs. At 10 pm
suddenly numerous fireworks appear in the night sky dancing in various colours
and shapes. People turn their heads and gaze at the light spectacle. After
about 10 minutes the last fire rain falls from the sky returning its dark
dress. Time for us to leave. On the way back we wince
several times due to the loudly whipping “cannon shots” before
sitting in our car leaving the inhabitants of Gornji Senik to continue celebrating. * Needless to say, no real
cannon balls are fired but bangers are lit on cannons.
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