Why is Polish Christmas on the 24th?

You don't fast on the Eve. If any fasting occured in antiquity, it would have occured on Christmas day. Eves are traditionally considered a time to engage in various sins of the flesh.

You can fast and still engage in various sins of flesh, one doesn`t exclude the other.

It appears there is no consensous of opinion amongst the forum members, and information you can find on the Internet.

This is my first Polish xmas in the UK and all I can say is so far I'm appalled by the whole charade. Presents give 3 weeks before, presents every day for the last week. Relatives competing against the mother by trying to buy bigger and better every day. Miserable brothers and sisters (adults) concerned they are getting less. Controlling mother in law(Grrrr!). A display of everything that is wrong with people. Where the hell Santa Claus comes into this nightmare, god only knows.

I'll miss my Romano British christmas day when we all wear paper hats for lunch to demonstrate the fact everyone is equal for one day and the children are happy with the presents they open on christmas morning.

A Polish Christmas in America is all but gone.Growing up in America with Immigrant Parents,we were exposed to the culture that they enjoyed in Poland. After WW2 the 1st generation started to prosper and move into the suburbs. The old folks remained behind. By now they started to master the English language The Polish language spoken in the street, all but disappeared.

As the older generation died off the Polish neighborhoods began to disappear. Along with most Polish customs. My school St Casimir's no longer taught Polish. The Archdiocese replaced our Polish Pastor with an Italian.. The congregation were limited to one Koledy by the church choir on Christmas day.Many people just left the church.

There are many Polish American's in America. But the culture and language all but disappeared

I suppose that this demonstrates the difference between Polish-Americans and British people of Polish origin.

It seems that once Poles in the USA have been there a while, they forget their culture, or create some fake form of it; let's face it, the "Polish Dog" is just the Pol-Am equivalent of "Singapore Fried Noodles" :) Mind you, this does appear to be the "American Way" - remember that episode of The Sopranos, when the oh-so "Italian-American" characters went to Italy and needed interpreters?? lol :D

It's over 65 years since the first member of my family arrived in this country, yet I am able to pass on the language and the culture to any children or grandchildren I may have.

In the UK, Polish people can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of those who maintain the language and culture and pass it on to their children. These people tend to object to being called English/Welsh etc, but accept being called British. Christmas means a traditional Polish Christmas Eve, not an English Christmas Day. Church means the local Polish church, if it is within a reasonable travelling distance. English may become the primary language, but Polish is spoken at every opportunity.

The other group are those who never bothered with anything Polish, and exclusively refer to themselves as English/British, etc. They will, however, admit to having Polish ancestry, if the subject arises. Christmas means an English Christmas Day, not a Polish Christmas Eve. The local English church is attended, if at all.

What you will not find over here is people claiming to be Polish, but who can't speak a word of the language, have nothing to do with the culture, and will never bother visiting Poland. This latter category appears to describe the American "Polacks" which are often discussed/derided on here.

I'm proud to say that I'm in the first category.


They have only themselves to blame, but if that's what they chose, there's not a lot that any of us can do about it. I do feel sorry for Pol-Ams in a way, though - even I've got a heart ;) I can travel to Poland entirely by train, yet Americans have to fly thousands of miles, so it's not quite as easy to maintain contact with the old country.

Mind you, Chinese and Indians seem to manage, so my sympathy is limited :D

Yup! You described it very well

I've just found out that actually the Polish tradition says that Christmas tree should be put up at Xmas Eve and only those under influence of English/American tradition put it up earlier! :)

Why is Polish Christmas on the 24th?.....

....because the majority is of roman catholic faith and then the tree is put up on the 24.12..

I almost forgot: Merry Christmas to all of you! :)

If you are in the first category, why are you living in England?

My family and I have the dinner and open presents on 24th here in Canada.
We sometimes change it up for the 25th every couple years.

i havent experienced this at all. maybe the people you know have more money than sense? certainly isnt the case amongst people i know :)


good one!

We celebrated a mixed traditions Christmas this year. A wigilia dinner last night, no meat, but a little wine, and let the kids open a few presents. Had some visitors over, and more wine.

Today, balance of the presents, a nice brekkie. Roast beef dinner and finished the wine, then some more.

But the Polish side of the tradition is a lot more traditional, IMO.


Funny, we have on that is on the 6th appearance, best we could all remember!

A umiesz polerować dobrze? ;)

I think the cabbage got to a couple of the guests. The babcia is always good for a laugh. She is virtually deaf and thinks her 'gaseous emissions' are discreet but they are far from it ;)

During my youth, over sixty years ago, Christmas Eve was a day of Fast and Abstinence.
Absinence = NO meat. Fasting rules same as for Lent. No food between meals and two of the three together would be no more than the third. As of age 59, one no longer had to Fast, but still had to abstain from meat.

So I am surprised that Christmas might have been commonly celebrated on the 24th in the past.

Christmas Eve or Wigilia in polish means end of advent season and preperation for Jesus birth. According to Roman Catholic Church Wigilja comes from a latin word of Vigiliare which litterly means anticipation. In ancient times of the Old Testament it was a common practice among the Jews to spend time in in prayer and anticipatioan day before festivity begun. Church has accepted tradition like that and keep continues to this very day.

I always thought the reason Christmas was celebrated on Christmas Eve was to get church and the formalities out of the way so come Christmas Day the men could sit home and drink and watch football on t.v. in peace and quiet while the women and children were at the stores returning their Christmas gifts for cash.

Wonder whether or not "Wigilia" derives from the Latin word for "vigil", as in awaiting something which hasn't yet arrived.

it does

Yes, it does. It's a direct loan word from Latin, and refers to the monastic liturgical prayer times that take place every day from after Vespers at the sundown to just before Matins and Lauds at sunrise. The Christmas vigil is the second most important vigil of the year, after Easter. Usually, monastic vigils that involve literally staying up and praying all night long take place on major holy days.

And no, it has nothing to do with "waiting". It means "staying awake", such as to keep watch over the flocks at night.

On a side note, the timing of events for Easter, and to a lesser extent for Christmas, reflect the fact that the liturgical day used to start at sundown in the Roman Catholic Church. So wigilia is called that not because it occurs before Christmas day, but on Christmas day itself by the old reckoning. That is also why the tradition of eating a big meal on Christmas eve started, because fasting was no longer required. The tradition of eating no meat at that meal started later once the start of the liturgical day was moved to midnight and the evening of Christmas eve was now technically in a period of fasting and abstinence. It's a bit of a botch job, historically speaking.

Interesting. DominicB. I would have thought, being as we use the term in English, that a "vigil" is almost like lying in wait until the moment at which the Saviour finally comes aka "Advent", no?

No. The waiting period was officially over when that term was first used, and the day started at sundown, not midnight. The word vigil comes from the Latin word for staying strong, powerful, alive, active or awake, and is related to the word vigor, violent and virile, all of which have something to do with strength, power, force or liveliness. The English words awake and watch are derived from the same Proto-indoeuropean root. As is the word wait, which used to mean to stay awake before it took on its modern meaning. Your connection of wigilia and waiting was etymologically correct, but semantically an anachronism. The Old English word for 'wait" was abidan, from which we get the Modern English word "abide".

Most informative, DominicB! As a linguist, always appreciated:-)

I have just read on 'google' that the Scandinavians and the Italians also celebrate the 24th December.

Yes, this is so! In Germany for example, gifts are always exchanged on Christmas Eve, NOT in Christmas Day as is done here in the States. In Norway, typically fish rather than goose or whatnot, is the main dish eaten on Christmas Day:-)

Im still waiting for my Xmas gift from North Korea.... He promised!???

Dec 24 is Christmas Eve, which is the night when Jesus was born. So we await Jesus's birth and think of the suffering and hardship Mary and Joseph went through by leaving hitter home, trying to hide from the Roman authorities, and trying to find a place in Bethlehem for the night. It's more religious and spiritual, because the focus isn't as much on presents. During the day of Dec 24th, you're supposed to fast, and then you eat a humble dinner that night - as a way to respect and relate Mary and Joseph's hardship and Jesus' birth in humble circumstances. For example, you're not supposed to eat meat, because that is too extravagant. You open presents the evening of the 24th because that is represents the gift that Jesus' birth gave to the world. December 25th is the first day of Christmas, and on this day you can have a feast.

That's really interesting, thanks!