Nowadays, all shopping malls are trying to do more and more beautiful Christmas decorations, almost from the very beginning of November. Everywhere you can see wonderful Christmas decorations. Colorful Christmas lights are installed everywhere. Amazing Christmas trees make incredible feeling of magic time. The greatest Christmas hits such as “Last Christmas” are playing from the speakers. All people are in a hurry. However, please stop for a moment to read this article and maybe, you will discover a new meaning of Christmas for yourself.
Christmas time is special in Poland. In particular, it concerns Christmas Eve. It is the most solemn night of the year. The modern tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve have entrenched in Polish families in the 18th century. The whole “process” of celebration is deeply rooted, Christmas traditions are passed from generation to generation. Long time ago and today, the main point of Christmas Eve was Christmas dinner, which was preceded by general cleaning of the house and cooking special Christmas dishes. All the rooms in the house were decorated with festive branches of pine trees, which symbolized health and vitality. Before the twilight all works about the house should be completed. The hay was laid on the table. And the table with hay on it was covered by white tablecloth. Hosts always left a space at the table for the weary traveler. The additional seat at the table was a symbol of remembrance of deceased family members. The four different sheaves of grain, as a symbol of fertility for the next year, were placed in the four corners of the room. During the day hosts followed fasting, and Christmas dinner was very lean. Turing this day it was forbidden to argue, there was a belief that “how it is on Christmas Eve, that would be whole year long”. There was no such a custom in Polish tradition to visit each other on that day, only close relatives could visit each other. Traditionally, the number of dishes had to be odd. The peasants had 5-7 dishes on their tables as a symbol of 7 days of a week. Nobles put 9 meals on their tables as a symbol of the nine choirs of angels. But only aristocrats had 11 dishes on their Christmas tables, of course, they could have twelve dishes in a memory of the twelve apostles.
The dinner usually consisted of lean soup with dumplings, mushroom soup or almond soup, cabbage or peas with mushrooms, fish dishes were mandatory (as today, carp was the most important fish), dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms were also on the table, and a compote of dried fruit and Christmas cake with poppy seeds. Traditional Christmas Eve began after the appearance of the first star in the sky, as the memory of the Star of Bethlehem. This tradition exists today. Traditionally, the dinner began with prayer. The family read the Gospel about the Nativity of the Lord and divided the wafer (bread that is baked from flour and water) as a symbol of reconciliation and friendship. Then there was the dinner, during which people sang carols to midnight. And at midnight the solemn liturgy commemorates the arrival of the shepherds to Bethlehem began. Remains of food and wafers had been given to the pets – it was believed that on this night the animals could speak with a human voice.
As it is today, long time ago Christmas and the day of St. Stephen (the second day of Christmas holidays) were the time of meeting with the family, the time of common celebration.
The tradition of singing carols was also special. This was a common walking of dressed young people from house to house, they spread the good news of Christ’s birth by singing carols. Often it looked like this: young people with a man dressed as a disguised bull (tour, that is fantastic character that resembles both a bull and a goat) were walking around the village or town singing carols. Another group of carolers played biblical story of Christmas. There were such characters as grandfather (Dziad) and grandmother (Baba), magicians, shepherdess, Death and the Devil. There was a belief that misfortune will come to the family whose house was omitted by carolers. This belief is now disappearing.
It is obviously, that most traditions still remain relevant today. We still have twelve meatless dishes at our tables, and still the whole family gathers at the Christmas table. Before the holiday, we clean and decorate our houses. Instead of pine branches, we decorate Christmas trees with nice Christmas toys and Christmas lights, (this tradition came to us from Germany). We still put hay on the table under the tablecloth, and we still leave a free place at the table for those who are no longer with us. We still have tradition to share the wafer, to pray before the dinner and to read the Gospel. Christmas carols are heard in every home by the midnight. Christmas has special unique magic with winter outside. Frost, snow and cold show the magic of home warmness. Recently, a new tradition appeared in Polish families. It is hard to imagine Polish Christmas without it. Of course, we are talking about the film “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2″, that are broadcast every year on Christmas Eve. I think that almost every Polish family is sitting in front of TV at that time.
If one day you would be a “tired traveler”, you can always find an empty seat at the table in every Polish house because there is a saying, “a guest is in the house, the God is in the house” . Polish people have a belief that no one should be lonely at Christmas. It is a pity that fewer and fewer traditions are preserved in today’s way of celebrations. Those are good tradition that should be preserved and passed from generation to generation. I remember Christmas celebrating from my childhood, remember stories of my grandparents about Christmas at their times. The whole family was at home. The snow was falling and covering the whole city. It was wonderful and beautiful time, and carols that were sang everywhere were emphasizing the beauty of the moment. Christmas was a day when the whole family was combined for a joint celebration. This is the time to slow down and think about things that are really important. It is necessary to consider whether the fact of widespread commercialization of Christmas highlights the uniqueness and specificity of this special time, that should be spent with family.
Patrycja Cap