Križarice – comes from the word križ, meaning "cross" which was carried in front of the procession, and it has the feminine form of the noun "crusader"

This was the song sung by the "Križarice" in Strizivojna, a small village near Djakovo in Slavonia, while they were going around the village on Holy Thursday.
This custom, which is partly religious and partly profane, dates back from the earliest times in Strizivojna. It takes place once a year on Holy Thursday (40 days after Easter). The point of the custom is to pray God to bless wheat and give good harvest.
Križarice usually were girls from 8 to 13 years old. There were about 15 of them in the group and sometimes there were two groups in the village. The landlady of a wealthy house, who has a daughter of the same age, invites Križarice in her home and prepares food (dinner or supper) for them when they return.
They use to put on the most beautiful national costumes in the way the grown up girls do. They consisted of "rubina" – special skirt that was embroidered by silk, "oplećak"- a special waistcoat; special red silk shawls around their shoulders and silk blue aprons. They always put gold coins around their necks to be as beautiful as possible. Their hair was done according to their ages.
Dressed like this they start from their meeting point, and go around the village from house to house singing. They go two by two preceded by a cross-carrier, a boy who carries a cross specially decorated with different flowers and young wheat. In some neighbouring villages cross-carrier could be a girl from the house where they met and started, but in Strizivojna this role has always belonged to a boy of the same ages as the girls in procession. "Beggars" who go at the end of the procession follow the girls. They are the boys of the same ages carrying baskets and bags for the presents they are going to get symbolizing generosity to the poor.

Passing through the village the girls sing the song

When they enter the front yard, the sing

Un the yard they hold each other by the hands and start dancing in a circle, and the cross-carrier stands in the middle of the circle moving the cross up and down.
Getting out of the yard they sing

After long walking around and singing they come back to the house where they started. They share their presents there and eat some good food prepared for them by the landlady. This great feast of the girls and boys from Strzivojna end with this supper. This custom, like many other customs, has almost been forgotten during the period after World War II but it has been renewed recently thanks to our mothers and grandmothers who still remember it. It is our duty to make tradition alive again and preserve it for the future generations

Nikolina Zorkic 1E₁