2.Christmas Traditions Cristmas Tree Christmas Eve Christmas Eve meals 4. Pasterka Koledowanie 5.Easter Swieconka Pisanka 6. Easter Monday

Christmas Traditions Cristmas Tree The Christmas tree is one of the most popular traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas. An evergreen coniferous tree is brought into a home or used in the open, decorated with lights and colourful ornaments during the days around Christmas. An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity story.  Christmas Eve  In Poland the traditional Christmas meal is known as Wigilia ("Vigil"), and being invited to attend a Wigilia dinner with a family is considered a high honour. Before eating everyone exchanges Christmas greetings with each other by giving a piece of Christmas wafer.

12 Christmas Eve meals In Poland, traditional Christmas Eve meals include one or more of the following foods: 'Golabki' – leaves of cabage filled with barley grits or cooked sauerkraft, 'Pierogi'- ravioli, beetroot soup, fish soup, carp and pickled herring, juice made from dried fruit is also drunk after dinner.

Pasterka Carolling  Pasterka is a midnight mass celebrated between 24 and 25 December in Poland. A close translation of the name would be "Shepherds' Mass". This is a reference to the biblical shepherds who were visited by an angel and told of the birth of Christ.  Carollers – in Polish tradition they are the people in disguise who at the time of Christmas go through the villages from house to house and wish happiness in a New Year. The custom starts on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day and lasts untill The Three Wise Men. In return for the wishes, accepted as a good prophecy, villagers give Carollers Christmas cakes, sweets or money. People used to look forward to be visited, otherwise, in case of missing a house, it was a bad luck for the year coming.

Easter  Swieconka  Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood (bukszpan), the typical Easter evergreen. The Poles take special pride in preparing a decorative and tasteful basket with crisp linens, occasionally embroidered for the occasion, and boxwood and ribbon woven through the handle. Observing the creativity of other parishioners is one of the special joys of the event.  Pisanka  Pisanka (plural pisanki) is a common name for an egg (usually that of a hen, although goose or duck eggs are also used) ornamented using various techniques. Originating as a pagan tradition, pisanki were absorbed by Christianity to become the traditional Easter egg. Pisanki now symbolise the revival of nature and the hope that Christians gain from faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

Easter Monday ➲ Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic cultures. Easter Monday in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar is the second day of the octave of Easter Week. In Poland and parts of the United States, Easter Monday is called Dyngus Day. Formerly, the post-Easter festivities involved a week of secular celebration, but this was reduced to one day in the 19th century. Events include egg rolling competitions and, in predominantly Roman Catholic countries, dousing other people with water which traditionally had been blessed with holy water the day before at Easter Sunday Mass and carried home to bless the house and food.