Christmas in Poland
"Boze Narodzenie"
In Poland Christmas is often called Gwiazdka which means "Little Star". Polish people celebrate Christmas when the first star appears in the sky on Christmas Eve which is called "Festival of the Star". All that day the family have to wait until the first star appears to eat - then the feasting starts! A place is always set for the Christ Child. Straw is put under the table cloth to remind them of the stable in Bethlehem.
What a feast it is! Their Christmas dinner is soup, fish, honey and noodles with poppy seeds, dumplings with sauerkraut and mushrooms. For dessert they have cakes, fruit and nuts.
At midnight they are summoned to the church by the bells. Most of the Polish people like to go to Pasterka or "The Shepherd's Mass". The church is brightly lighted and decorated with Christmas trees and an elaborate creche.
Christmas creches with Mary, Joseph and others around the crib of baby Jesus at the Bethlehem stable are a tradition in Poland. Every year during the Christmas season, in Krakow, creches shaped like the church of St. Mary are made by artists and amateurs, and entered in an annual competition. They are a marvellous sight.
