Prepare for your household's Wigilia - Christmas Eve Vigil Feast with a set of Oplatki and Sianko (Christmas Wafers & Hay) or give the gift to a loved one today to continue sharing this yearly ritual and rich heritage.

A part of the Polish family Christmas Tradition is the breaking the Christmas Wafer (Oplatek) during the Christmas Eve Vigil Feast or Wigilia, the holiest of all the nights of the year in the Polish home, as their ancestors before them have done during the Christmas Celebration uniting the past with the present. . . heaven with earth.

The Wigilia table is set with a white table cloth under which is placed a piece of hay (Sianko) in memory of the Christ Child's humble birth. The hay and cloth represent the manger and the veil of Mary which would swaddle the infant Jesus. The family's best china and crystal grace the table as this is a sacred night. In the center of the table is placed the Christmas Wafer (Oplatek), often in a bed of hay, sometimes also with a representation of the Baby Jesus. The candles are lit after the youngest child has spotted the first evening star.

The sacred white wafers, much like those used for Holy Communion (unleavened wafers baked from pure wheat flour and water), are shared with each person present. The wafers are embossed with elegant Christmas related religious images. Family members and friends break off a piece of oplatek and give it to one another to eat. During the exchange best wishes and blessing are expressed as well as forgiveness. The breaking and exchanging part of oplatek is intend to remind participants of the importance of Christmas, God, and family. This is the most emotional time of the holiday for the Polish family--the sharing expression of love and forgiveness in celebration and tradition.

The Vigil revolves around the importance of the Christmas Wafer. It literally unites family wherever they are on the Earth. Christmas Wafers have been mailed to each other during the holy season to solidify family unity. Tradition also dictates that an empty place be set for an unexpected guest--in memory of ancestors (for their spirit to occupy) or perhaps for Jesus himself. This is in keeping with the core Polish adage, "Gosc w dom, Bog w dom" -- "Guest in the home is God in the home."

Christmas table kit contains an envelope with three wafers (Oplatki), hay (Sianko) that represents a stable and is to be placed under the table cloth, a Santa Claus shaped candle in traditional costume, and a VCD of Christmas Karaoke Carols. (Set includes Item # 435999, Item # JE142, Item # BRA04 Traditional, and Item # RMVCD92.)