Serbian Festival

I saw an article in the paper about a Serbian festival. Decided I needed to check it out. I invited Penny and Cecelia to come along. Penny said 'What's a Serb?"

I discovered it is an ethnic group and not just a country. There are Serbs throughout Eastern Europe. They first came to the United States in the early 1700's. In Arizona, the first Serbs were here in the late 1800's. Most came to work the mines. Early Serbian communities were in Bisbee and other mining communities. As mines closed, many came to Phoenix. The first Orthodox Serb church was built in Phoenix in 1958. The beautiful building they have today, was built in 1974. The murals and paintings were added about 3 years ago.

The spectacular inside of St. Sava Church. I had seen the domes of this church in the past as I drove by on the 202 or 143.

Views of Palm Sunday.

The raising of Lazarus.

In Serbian and English.

Painting of Serb people

I had some of their grilled sausages.

 Accompanied by lively folk music.

Penny and Cecelia tried cabbage rolls and baked sauerkraut. We had crepe's for dessert.

As we were eating, whole roasted suckling pigs went by. They were selling the meat by the pound.

Kids and young adults in costumes were getting ready to dance.

Pastries and cookies for sale.

Drum cake.

Making cabbage rolls.

Boys costume. They wear the cutest shoes. They look like elf shoes.

Kids dancing.

 After the kids danced, the woman announcer said: In five minutes, the priest will give a guided tour of the church.
Penny: Weren't they going to give a tour of the church?
Me: The lady just said, in five minutes.
Penny: Are we going to go?
Me: I don't know. Do you guys have time?
Penny to Cecelia: Do you have time?
Cecelia: You want to know what time it is? (looking at her watch)
Me banging my head against the cement. Seriously, love these girls.

Candles in the church, in sand. they have them grouped for general reasons, health, spirit, etc.

The priest. The Serbian Church was one of the original orthodox churches started. In 1040 AD, the roman catholic church split from the orthodox churches. The orthodox churches claim uninterrupted apostolic flow from Christ. Priests can be married. Bishops cannot.

 Christ as ruler.

 Christ as teacher.

Everyone was warm and welcoming. We had a fun day.