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Polish holiday - Christmas

Category 11

Christmas

Dominika H

Let me tell you something about Christmas in Poland…

Christmas in Poland are the most solemn Holidays in our tradition which everyone are longing for. It is a time of giving each other gifts, meeting with the family ,friends and broadcasting customs and the tradition from generation to generation. In Poland, Advent is the beginning of Christmas Time. It's a time when people try to be peaceful and remember the real reason for Christmas. Christmas Eve is a very special time and it has unique atmosphere of warmth, when you feel like you are united with the whole world and all good souls. Christmas Eve supper called Wigilia or sometimes “Gwiazdka” is eaten after the first star appears in the sky and that is a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem. The supper begins with the breaking of the holy wafer. Everyone at the table breaks off a piece and eats it as a symbol of their unity with Christ and also as a symbol of forgiveness. The dinner table is decorated with a white tablecloth, under which people put a hand full of hay. On the table there is a one extra plate for an unexpected guest. The traditional Christmas Eve supper consists of twelve dishes representing the twelve months of the year. No meat is served during the supper, only fish, usually herring, carp or pike. Other traditional dishes appearing on the table include red borscht, mushroom or fish soup, sauerkraut with wild mushrooms or peas, dried fruit compote and kutia, a dessert especially popular in eastern Poland. Boiled or fried raviolis, Polish dumplings with a wide variety of fillings, are among the most popular Polish dishes. For the Christmas Eve supper, raviolis are usually made with sauerkraut and mushrooms. In Poland we have a few superstitions and predictions related to the holidays: One is the husk of the Christmas carp that we should keep in the wallet throughout the year which will give us more cash. We should not get up from behind the table during the meal. This ban doesn't concern the housewife or other serving person. We also believe that of this night animals speak with a human voice, but who will hear them won't live to the morning.

After Christmas supper, children are unpacking presents and the whole family singing Christmas carols and at midnight people go to the church on the Midnight Mass, because they want welcome born Jesus Christ. Christmas Eve is extraordinary and people spend it on celebrating and being together with a family and friends. Except for some special types of jobs, nobody goes to work on this day, all the shops are closed. In Christmas Day and Boxing Day whole family go to the church and visits small replica of stable of Bethlehem. In the afternoon, the family come together once again and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

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Czech holidays - Christmas

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French holidays - Noël

Why do people like it ?
At first, the day of christmas was a christian holiday, it was natural for practitioners to celebrate this holiday. Today, this date is especially appreciated by children for the gifts which are offered to them either the day before or in the morning. For adults, it's generally the family context which makes of Christmas holiday a festival appreciated.

What is the traditional Christmas food ?
The meal usually consists of a turkey for Christmas and ended with a Yule log. It can also be a goose. It is often preceded by a plate of seafood (oyster mostly). There is also a tradition known as the Thirteen desserts, in memory of Jesus and his twelve apostles, which comes from Provence (south of France.

Is christmas just commercial feast ?
Some people may think that Christmas is a commercial holiday. However it is a variable point of view. Even if it is true that the commercial side is important in this day, there is also a traditional and religious aspect.