How to celebrate a Polish style Christmas
To celebrate a Polish style Christmas you must start preparations four Sundays before because, in Poland, Advent is an important season in which special church services known as ‘Rororaty’ are held every morning at 6 am. The month of Advent begins on the first Sunday after November 30th (around the 1st of December) and the four Sundays of the holy month of Advent symbolize 4000 years of waiting for Christ. Poland is famous for a long and exquisite tradition of carols which are at the centre of Christmas celebrations. These ancient and beautiful songs are sung in homes and in church throughout the holiday season. The way to celebrate Polish Christmas is to allow the rituals and the customs of the Poles to mingle with your celebration.
Some suggestions
- Pour bees wax on water and let the emerging shapes and forms predict your future. Attend church services (if your faith allows it) as regularly as possible.
- Make honey cakes in a variety of shapes and forms such as hearts, animals and St. Nicholas figures eat them through the month of Advent.
- Decorate Christmas trees with shiny apples, gifts, walnuts, chocolates wrapped in different shapes, homemade decorations and candles. Keep the tree outside you home or outside your local church. Hang sparklers on the branches of the tree to make it look heavenly.
- Consider Christmas Eve as very important; keep the traditional meal vegetarian to complete the fast before the birth of Christ. Break wafers and share them with each person present. Express good wishes while sharing them. Give them to pets also because according to Polish tradition animals were the first to greet the Baby Jesus at midnight.
Do’s
- Remember to serve odd number of courses for the traditional Christmas dinner - 7, 9 or 11.
- Always begin the meal with a soup.
Don’ts
- Polish people are very emotional and proud of their celebrations. Do not slight them.
- Don’t copy everything Polish without understanding its true meaning.
Pouring wax on water is not a Christmas tradition. Poles do that on St. Andrew’s Day.
December 7th, 2006 at 10:03 am
It is more customary to have 12 courses (symbolizing the apostles and/or the months of the year). And the wafers are called “oplatek(i)”. Just to let you know. Wesolych Swiat.
December 13th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Start the Christmas Eve with sharing the wafer (oplatek) following the first star is spotted in the sky.
As to the presents, the Poles unwrap them just after the supper on the Christmas Eve.
December 19th, 2006 at 7:13 am
The number of dishes depends on what region of Poland your ancestors are from. The part of Poland my family is from serves an odd number of courses, usually 7. But, friends of ours who are also from Poland serve 12 dishes. And the meal isn’t strictly vegetarian because you serve fish!
December 21st, 2006 at 10:57 am
Poland is The Best ! Polish Christmas are great we wish we could be in POLAND now ! what a pity :/ but England is ok
pozdrowienia od Ani i Kasi ktore siedza teraz na lekcji informatyki w szkockiej szkole 
trzymajcie sie bracia 
:*
December 14th, 2007 at 6:40 am
HeYaH ! Szkoda ze niemamy babci
niema kto nam wigili przygotowac ale spoko damy rade jakos :D….. najwyzej kupimy wigilie na wynoc w McWigilia heh 
Yoooolll ! Pozdrffionka od dzieffffczynek ze ScOtLaNdU 
:*
breh breh 
Peace be with you !
Wesoych Swiat ! Zaszalejcie na sylwestra i nie wpuszczajcie tego grubassa przez komin a jak bedzie natretny to rozpalcie ogien w kominku
December 14th, 2007 at 6:48 am
as Ela said, do not pour wax on water. you should also have some hay under the table-cloth. before the feast pray, read The Bible about Christ’s Birth, pray and share the wafer (break a small part from every and give them best wishes). then you can start a feast. there should be also one more plate and chair for unexpected guest (because at Christmas Eve nobody should be alone), sing traditional carol, let children unwrap all presents. Christmas tree should be adorned at the Christmas Eve in the morning. and fish is NOT MEAT, so you can eat it as much as you want;) at 12.00pm go to the church and have a mass
and merry Christmas
Wesołych Świąt!!!
December 16th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Just curious, What is the Polish tradition with St.Nickolas. When does he come. Is it believed that he enters thru the chimney as is tradition in America?
December 16th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Ditta, fish IS meat. How can you say it isn’t? It is a dead animal! It may be acceptable to eat it, but that doesn’t change what it is?
December 17th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Does anyone know of the legend where the Polish eagle takes its downy feathers to line th manger in Bethlehem? i read of it many years ago in a littlebook of Polish stories/
November 24th, 2008 at 12:59 pm