Poles are celebrating the Feast of Christmas, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ and - beside Easter - one of the major religious feasts in the year.
The sacred religious holiday was introduced in the 4th century AD. It was celebrated for the first time in the year 328 in Bethlehem, then in Rome in 335. From there it spread to other parts of the Roman Empire.
In Poland, the observance of Christmas developed over the centuries, initially combining old Polish pagan customs with religious ones introduced after Christianization, blending local traditions and folk cultures. The main family gathering is at a big Christmas Eve supper, "Wigilia", beginning with the appearance of the first star in the sky, taken to represent the Star of Bethlehem. Before sitting down to supper, participants share the Christmas wafer known as "opłatek". A tree is decorated and presents are exchanged. Christmas Eve ends with a Midnight Mass, commemorating the arrival of the shepherds to Bethlehem.
At Christmas, all churches throughout Poland arrange nativity scenes, in a tradition which was first brought to the country from Italy and popularised by Franciscan monks. Initially, the scenes presented Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus with angels, shepherds and the Three Kings; nowadays they often feature contemporary figures and refer to current social, political or economic events. Kraków's spectacular tradition of making hand-crafted Christmas cribs is inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Source: IAR, PAP