On Saturday, December 6th, we got together before Vespers to decorate the temple and the hall.   The church looks very festive.   Vespers was followed by a Slava, in honor of St. Nicholas.   The Slava is a Serbian custom.   As the Serbian nation converted to Christianity, whole villages were baptized on the same day.   The entire village took the same saint as their patron.   Our Marko's family patron is St. Nicholas.  This was our first Slava celebrated at St. John the Divine.  Marko and his family feted us afterwards with a lovely Lenten feast.   And, as a special suprise, we sang Many Years to Nikola, Marko's dad, who just so happened to be celebrating his birthday on his patron saint's feastday.   What a treat!