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Koliva, also spelled, depending on the language, kollyva, kollyba, kolyvo, or colivă, is a dish based on boiled wheat that is used liturgically in the Eastern Orthodox Church for commemorations of the dead.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Koliva is blessed during funerals, as well as during the memorial service ( mnemosyno) that is performed at various intervals after a person's death and on special occasions, such as the Saturday of Souls (). It may also be used on first Friday of the Great Lent, at Slavas, or at mnemosyna in the Christmas meal. In some countries, though not in Greece (and Cyprus), it is consumed on nonreligious occasions as well.
A similar food item is widely popular in Lebanon where it is known as snuniye and, more commonly, as berbara as it is prepared for Saint Barbara's feast day, December 4, which is celebrated with Halloween-like festivities.
In Ethiopia also similar food is popular specially with the Orthodox Christian community, it is called "Nifro". Nifro is a boiled grain snack commonly enjoyed in Ethiopia, typically made from a mix of grains and legumes such as wheat, barley, and chickpeas. It is often seasoned simply with salt and sometimes accompanied by roasted grains or nuts. This nutritious snack is popular during holidays and special occasions, such as funerals.
The practice of offering koliva is traditional in Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Russia and parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and among Orthodox Christians in the Middle East. When served, the koliva mixture, which looks like earth, is shaped into a mound to resemble a grave. The whole is then covered with powdered sugar and the initials of the deceased are outlined on the top. A candle, usually placed in the center of the koliva, is lit at the beginning of the memorial service and extinguished at its end. After the liturgy, those attending share in eating the koliva as they speak of the deceased and say, "May God forgive him/her."
Some Orthodox parishes have a designated individual charged with making the koliva. This is, in part, due to the health risk of fermented wheat if the koliva is not prepared correctly.
Sometimes koliva is made with rice or barley instead of wheat. This custom began as a practical response to a famine that occurred in Soviet Russia, when the faithful did not have wheat available for koliva, so they used rice instead. Some communities continue to use rice for their koliva up to this day. In the Japanese Orthodox Church where rice is mainly eaten, koliva is commonly made from rice sweetened with sugar and decorated with raisins, without reference to famine.
In the 5th century AD koliva in the sense of boiled wheat, constituted along with raw vegetables the diet of monks who refused to eat bread. Available (limitedly) online at the Oxford Reference. The 12th century canonist Theodore Balsamon maintained that koliva as a ritual food practice was originated by Athanasius of Alexandria during the reign of the Emperor Julian the Apostate.
The association between death and life, between that which is planted in the ground and that which emerges, is deeply embedded in the making and eating of koliva. The ritual food passed from paganism to early Christianity in Byzantium and later spread to the entire Orthodox world.
Memorial services are held on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after the repose of an Orthodox Christian, as well as on the one-year anniversary. In addition, there are several Soul Saturdays during the church year (mostly during Great Lent), as well as Radonitsa (on the second Tuesday after Easter), on each of which general commemorations are made for all the departed.
In Lebanon, it is traditionally prepared by the Antiochian Orthodox community for the Eid il-Burbara.
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