1. Christmas In Poland
• 24.12 – Christmas
Eve
• 25.12 – Christmas
Day
• 26.12 - Second Day
of Christmas
2. Christmas traditions in Poland
First star, beautifully decorated Christmas tree and
the wafer are the most important symbols of
Christmas. The meaning of these symbols and
traditions connected with them should be known by
everybody
3. First Star
It is the symbol of the first star, which appeared
when Jesus was born.
Thanks to it, the shepherds and Three Kings could
reach the place of the
saviour's birth. We are waiting for the first star
today,
when it shines, then, according to tradition, we
can sit down
at the Christmas table and share the wafer.
4. Wafer
Its name is connected with the
Latin word “oblatum” which means a gift.
This is just a thin piece of crunchy wheat
flour and water. There are Christmas
scenes on it .
The tradition of sharing
bread comes from pagan
traditions. Now it is a
Christian custom, and we share the wafer before the
Christmas supper.
5. Christmas Hay
We put it under the white table-cloth on
the table where we have
Christmas supper. It is a symbol of a place
where Jesus was lying after his birth,
a shed and hay.
6. Christmas
tree
It is usually decorated on
Christmas Eve . Once these
were
the ornamented sheaves of hay
or branches. Christmas
decorations should be
connected with symbols of
Christmas, and on its top people
hang a big bauble. Once these
were apples,
now we have glass baubles. The
green tree is the symbol of the
Saviour’s birth.
7. Carols
We begin to sing them at Christmas table. These are the
songs
telling about the Lord's birth. Their name comes from
Latin word “calendae”
which meant the first day of month. First they were sung by
the Romans,
then Christians started to sing them. The oldest Polish
Christmas carol is
“Farewell, the King of Angels”, and it dates from about
1420 .
8. Presents
For many people this is the
most pleasant Christmas
custom. This custom was
connected
with St Nicolas. Today, we
consider presents as gifts
from little Jesus.
9. Shed
Jesus was born there.
It is a symbol of us
as well.
Jesus comes to the
sheds, that means
that He comes to us
and gives us hope,
love and faith.
He is born in us!
10. Christms
Midnight Mass
This is the traditional Mass
which is celebrated at
night from 24 on 25
December.
It is a symbol of watching
the Jesus’ birthplace by
the shepherds. We take
part
in the mass with our
families and this is the
most important moment
of Christmas time.
