[2] Another hypothesis states that the Slava has its origin in Medieval Serbia, connected to Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of the Serbs.

[7] The increased effective geographic mobility brought about by the post World War II urbanization of a previously highly agrarian society, combined with the suppression of Serbian Orthodox traditions under the Communist rule, has made some aspects of the custom more relaxed.

While the Slava kept something of a grassroots underground popularity during the Communist period, the post-Communist revival of Serbian Orthodox traditions has brought it a resurgence.

It is recognized as a distinctly (if not quite exclusively) Serbian custom, and today it is quite common for nonobservant Christians or even atheists to celebrate it in one form or another, as a hereditary family holiday and a mark of ethnocultural identification.

'Where there is a Slava, there is a Serb') was raised as a Serbian national identifier by Miloš Milojević after his travel to Kosovo and Metohija in 1871–1877.

[13] Besides present day Serbia, Slava is commonly celebrated amongst ethnic Serbs living in neighbouring Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro.

[citation needed] Furthermore, similar tradition can be found in Western Bulgaria and North Macedonia and also among some Vlachs and Aromanians.

[2] The family's patron saint is passed down from father to son and only males are allowed to carry out the Slava's rituals.

[2] Many Serbian communities (villages, cities, organizations, political parties, institutions, companies, professions) also celebrate their patron saint.

Every room in the house is then sprinkled with holy water along with the members of the family who are each named and wished good health.

[21] The parish priest, either at the home or at the church, consecrates the kolač with wine; afterwards the man of the household cuts it into quarters and turns it cut-side up.

[8] The rest of the feast consists of a meal, the contents of which depends on whether or not the celebration falls in a period of fasting.