Start A New Tradition This Christmas Season

By Dodie Piersielak

We are lucky that we have so many traditions to help us remember our Polish heritage.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the sharing of Oplatek (Christmas wafer). If your family has a Wigilia dinner (Christmas Eve), then I am sure you share the Oplatek. For those of you who don’t practice this tradition, let me explain.

The Oplatek is a wafer or altar bread –– unconsecrated and white in color. However, in a package, you may find a colored wafer or two. (It was said that the colored Oplatek was for livestock and/or pets.) Today, there are beautiful pictures stamped into the wafer.

Before the meal starts, the head of the house or the oldest person present starts by taking a piece of Oplatek and offering it to those present, wishing each a healthy and prosperous new year. Everybody present shares their own piece of Oplatek, again wishing everyone well for the new year.

You do not have to limit this tradition to a Wigilia dinner. My Nest in Rochester, N.Y., shares Oplatek at its annual installation and awards banquet.

Back in the 1980’s, former PFA National Vice President Charlotte Trella sent me a Christmas card with a piece of Oplatek. This started my tradition of sending Oplatek in my cards, which is easy to do because you can buy Oplatek packs specially made for sending in the mail. If your church does not sell Oplatek, you can purchase it from us here. (You must be a Falcons member and registered with the Member Area to be granted access to this page. If you want more information on how to register for the Member Area, click here.)

Until next time, have a wonderful day. And remember that I can be reached by mail at Dodie Piersielak, 11 Mainview Drive, Rochester, NY 14625, or by e-mail.