Why is Polish Christmas on the 24th?

i didnt realise xmas was celebrated mainly on xmas eve(wigilia) amongst poles, until i stayed with friends 2 years ago for xmas. spent all of xmas morning helping with cooking, thinking it was for xmas day. i had taken small presents for everyone, and went to see other friends to give them their gifts on xmas eve, thinking they would be too busy with family on xmas day, which in england would be the day you opened your presents. obviously by pure luck, i picked the right day to be giving them gifts. didnt think anything of it at the time, but was asked if i wanted coffee or tea. before i got the chance to reply,i was told no alcohol.as this was mid afternoon,drinking alcohol hadnt actually crossed my mind.alcohol was a definite no no in their house,however its definitely not the same in all polish houses...

Exactly. I have a job which didn't (and couldn't) even exist 100 years ago, and I can't drink between the 25th and the 30th because of this. While everyone else parties, some of us have to remain clear-headed to make life better for everyone else. It's 2011, not 1511; times change, and hundreds of thousands of us can't just stay in and drink for three days ;)


In the USA, no doubt :D

With my family, we all get together on christmas eve, exchange presents, eat and drink, but we wait to exchange gifts with immediate family/spouses/girlfriends/boyfriends till the 25th. We wake up early, unwrap presents, sometimes drive somewhere to exchange with others. Christmas day in the afternoon is popular here for the movies.

I'm intrigued. Is it a secret or can you say what your job is?

24th December because everything of importance happens on that day: the festive family gathering, the sharing of opłatek, the traditional meatless meal (12 or an odd number of dishes), the kolędy singing, the exchange of gifts, all culminating in the reason for the season, the Birth of Christ celebrated at midnight mass. Everything that comes later is anticlimactic, just ordinary partying and socialising. And, let's face it -- how many of us (and our livers) really need another booze-up.

the Christmas tree was decorated on Christmas Eve, too. Made more sense than doing it around Thanksgiving..

Yes, in the States on Dec. 26 (Boxing day is in Canada but not in the USA where it's back to work as usual), you'll find many people have dumped their trees in the rubbish bin. In Poladn trees stay up until Jan. 6 or even Feb. 22 if they survive that long. Public Xmas decorations never come down before Feb. 22 (Candlemas'), the last day of the Chrsitmas season.

Even this year when Christmas day falls on a Sunday?


They all come down in the UK on 6 Jan (it's bad luck otherwise) but in Poland I've known Christmas trees in office buildings to stay up until Easter.

when i arrived in poland for xmas 2 years ago ( i arrived on the 21st) i was surprised not to see a tree. my friend went and cut one down on xmas eve, and decorated it. is it traditional not to put up a tree until xmas eve for polish people?

I'm always surprised that such a Catholic country as Poland has so many Christmas trees. Have these people really not read the bible?!

I have off Monday, most people I know have off Monday as well.


most people in the USA leave it up till after new year's and then it's basically time to take it down.


Is karp in the bible too?

If the people who 'drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes' had ever tried carp, you can be sure that there would be an eleventh commandment and it would have been about the requirement to put to death anybody who even suggested touching carp.

yes, as far as I know, kids decorate the tree on Christmas Eve, and take it down after the Three Kings, which is what... Jan 12?

Traditionally taking down of the Christmas tree should be between Jan 6 (The Three Kings) and Feb 2 (Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej)


"Presentation of Jesus at the Temple" in English

In the Catholic tradition the day before important holy days is more significant than the actual day, or at least it looks that way. It's because the only celebrated holy day is Easter while the others are reserved for reflecting on mysteries or going without in reverence for the holy day. The holy days are important but you are not supposed to do much on them. This is why activity is reserved for the eve before the holy day.

That has got to be the most pathetic reason for feeling superior I've ever heard......

On drinking for Christmas Eve. All my experience is with families who drink during wigilia dinner (moderately but steadily). This forum was the first time I'd heard of any kind of abstention (I certainly never would have guessed form observing people's behavior).

Well, this only shows how limited our individual observations can be. My grandmother used to observe the so-called strict fasting on Christmas Eve, even though this was not required by any canonical law, nor by regional customs. She ate nothing, just drank some water all day, till the Vigil Supper. The rest of us were only forbidden from nibbling on meat dishes, stored in the pantry for the Christmas Day.

There was not a drop of alcohol in our house on Christmas Eve: my grandmother and mother rarely drank, and the rest of us were just kids. But visitors were always welcome during the next two days and they would bring some alcohol with them.

I cannot really explain why my grandma observed strict fasting because ordinarily she was far from being sanctimonious. This probably had something to do with her strong inner faith and personal experiences.

Really? You have really never considered why in a meat-loving country a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner has zero meat?

I knew why there was no meat, and that's always been observed ime. I just hadn't noticed people abstaining from alcohol. I'm not talking about getting drunk of even tipsy just a glass of white wine or a kieliszek of something stronger between courses. When I asked some people they seemed to put 'no alcohol' in the 'eat nothing before the wigilia meal' category, an option for the specially devout, but not a necessity. There's probably regional (and urban/rural and class) distinctions.

You didn't think that that in itself was abstention?


I would very much think so.

well the discussion was specifically about alcohol so that's what I was referring to..... (context)

folk tell you what the tradition is and at the same time break it. then they'll say 'yes, but one bottle doesn't count'

Fair enough.

Although it is interesting that something which is relatively harmless (meat) is always abstained from by Poles during Christmas Eve but something which leads to so much sin (alcohol) is only abstained from by some Poles, don't you think?

On the other hand this forum was the first time I'd heard of anyone Polish drinking alcohol during Wigilia at all. It was not practiced in my neck of the woods.

;)
My Christmas Eve is in town which has 5,000 citizens, 3 grocery stores, 1 pharmacy and 1 restaurant. My parents live here and I'am basically trapped here for every Christmas : )) Wanna rescue me ? ;)


Yes, he had - wine ;)

Sir you should know that Christmas Eve is a day of a fast. We don't eat meat or drink alcohol in that day.


No. You can put up Christmas tree since 6th December. I put mine a week ago.


One can drink and eat meat if Wigilia is on Sunday. We never drink alcohol on Wigilia but tomarrow will be an exeption for a glass of wine.

Rules are made to be broken. At one time Friday was a meatless day.. What happened to that rule? I recall that it was changed during WW2. I forgot the excuse that they gave. I think that it had something to do with feeding the troops. America is different than Poland. That was one reason that my Parents came to America.. We make our own rules.

As a kid I attended a Catholic School ran by Nuns.. Over the years I saw just how most of what we were taught was a lot of crap.. I started to see the light when the Catholic Clergy sextually abused young boys.

Tomorrow is Christmas eve.. We will party with loads of booze until the broad daylight.

thanks for information. my friends house had a forest just behind it,and the tree wasnt cut down until xmas eve. just presumed that it was only on wigilia that the the xmas tree was put up

Christmas tree is decorated by children on Christmas Eve. Of course, you can put yours up in April, but that's not what the Polish tradition is. And yes, no meat on Christmas Eve.

Nonsense. I was raised Polish American catholic and the big day was Christmas day not Christmas Eve. In fact kids who got their gifts on Christmas Eve were considered spoiled for not being able to wait until Christmas Day.

Fasting on Christmas Eve? Whoever heard of such a thing, after all Advent isn't Lent. And also we drank too but alcoholism isn't in my family, so there was no taboo about drinking.


Very true