Teaching religion was forbidden in Poland... yet religion thrived. Why? Because it was a daily experience. It was a daily part of their lives, woven into every action and thought. The traditions and customs of Poland were woven into the daily fiber of life giving that life meaning and purpose. Those traditions and customs gave a foundation of faith and meaning to daily life.
There are so many beautiful Polish customs that lead us to God and remind us that we always walk with God. For example:
When we cut a new loaf of bread, it is the custom, before making the first cut, to take the knife and sign the loaf with a cross.
When a piece of bread is dropped on the floor, it is reverently and kissed because bread is a gift from God, “to dar Boze.”
Holy water is always kept in the house and at a font at the door and at the household shrine where the family gathers for prayer. The house is sprinkled with holy water in a time of sickness and storm and the bed is sprinkled before retiring.
Family prayer is essential. Gathering together for evening prayer and offering grace before and after meals is a way of including God in our daily activities.
Every home should have a “Holy Corner,” that is, a family shrine that becomes the focus of daily devotions and a constant visual reminder of God’s presence.
The Christmas Oplatek and Wigilia
Consecrating our homes with blessed chalk by writing the monograms of the Three kings…KMB…over the main entrance to our home.
Name’s Day – celebrating the saints’ day as our own special feast day
Decorating our homes and churches with greens for Pentecost Sunday.
Eucharistic Processions with the traditional four altars for Corpus Christi
Visiting the graves of our loved ones and lighting candles for All Souls Day.
These traditions, and many others are small in themselves… but like a few drops of water on a seed they can help our faith to grow… little by little!!! And little by little deep roots are formed to drink from the rich heritage and Faith of the Polish people.
There are so many beautiful Polish customs in daily life to remind us and our families of our loving God and of the protective presence of God in our lives if we use them to sanctify our time and environment.
So too with us… We live in an environment that has become increasingly hostile to our Faith and increasingly intolerant of our Polish culture. True, the Holy Spirit sends His guidance via the Church and our priests, but if we do not make use of the gifts of our heritage and if God is not part of our every day life… as it was for our Grandparents, then the seed of faith can’t grow and the stability of our families and nation are undermined!
What can we do? We can begin to revive some of these old customs… or even make new ones to simply remind ourselves daily of the existence of God in our lives. We need traditions that will be constant reminders of the love of God. We need to constantly plant seeds that will grow strong roots.
Showing posts with label Polish Customs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Polish Customs. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
The Oplatek
THE OPLATEK for the Polish people is the most important element in the Christmas celebration. It is part of the family rites at the Wigilia supper on Christmas Eve and is used by friends and neighbors at parties and gatherings during the holiday season.
The Oplatek is a small piece of bread-wafer often embossed with religious images of Our Lady and of scenes depicting the birth of Jesus. These designs are usually excellent examples of Polish folk art and are often preserved in Art Museums to show the unusually wide scope of the decorative arts of the Polish peasants.
The word Oplatek is taken from the Latin word "Oblatum" meaning sacred bread. In the past, this holy bread, or Bread of Love as Oplatek is sometimes called, was made with great ceremonies and rites. The choicest wheat was chosen and the workers wore liturgical robes and chanted hymns during the process.
The Oplatek symbolizes days of harmony, when what is to be forgiven is forgiven and what is to be forgotten is forgotten. The sharing of the Oplatek signifies that everyone in the universe is related - we are all God's children - we all have His Divine power.
The Oplatek, that Bread of Love, so frail and perishable, has for all Poles a mystical meaning which cannot be explained. At Christmas time it is even sent to absent members of the family and to close friends separated by distance, to draw them close in a spiritual union with their loved ones. To receive a piece of Oplatek is a special blessing. It says that the recipient is loved in a holy way and that the most choice blessings are prayed over them.
At the Wigilia Supper the rite of sharing and breaking the Oplatek is both simple and moving. The host and hostess first share and break the Bread of Love - the Oplatek - with each other and then with all the members of their family and guests. With the breaking, good wishes, blessings and prayers are exchanged and shared. It is a time of spiritual gift-giving. Sometimes the blessings take the form of spontaneous poetry - but this is often an art form reserved to the old.
A piece of Oplatek is often saved after Christmas to use in time of sickness. It is administered to the ill as a blessing-prayer for healing. It is a strong affirmation of the love of family and friends.
In some parts of Poland and among some Polish-Americans there is the custom of saving a few squares of the Oplatek and of creating religious ornaments with them. Some of them are made into stars and miniature cradles for the Baby Jesus. Others are made into tiny churches and complicated globes - often with a tiny figure of Jesus holding the cross in the inner circle of the world-globes to signify His rule over the universe.
Usually these ornaments were carefully hung by a thread from the ceiling. With the movements in a room it gently swayed to and fro and old timers often prophesied the coming weather from the direction in which these lacy ornaments moved.
Adam Plug remembered these Oplatek ornaments of his Polish childhood and wrote: "When father glued together a fine star enclosing a tiny cradle, he hung it to the ceiling by a thread. I knew for certain this was the same star which shone down upon Jesus in the manger. I rocked the little cradle on the thread with my childish breath, and really felt I was rocking the real little baby Jesus to sleep, singing Him a kolenda."
The Oplatek is a small piece of bread-wafer often embossed with religious images of Our Lady and of scenes depicting the birth of Jesus. These designs are usually excellent examples of Polish folk art and are often preserved in Art Museums to show the unusually wide scope of the decorative arts of the Polish peasants.
The word Oplatek is taken from the Latin word "Oblatum" meaning sacred bread. In the past, this holy bread, or Bread of Love as Oplatek is sometimes called, was made with great ceremonies and rites. The choicest wheat was chosen and the workers wore liturgical robes and chanted hymns during the process.
The Oplatek symbolizes days of harmony, when what is to be forgiven is forgiven and what is to be forgotten is forgotten. The sharing of the Oplatek signifies that everyone in the universe is related - we are all God's children - we all have His Divine power.
The Oplatek, that Bread of Love, so frail and perishable, has for all Poles a mystical meaning which cannot be explained. At Christmas time it is even sent to absent members of the family and to close friends separated by distance, to draw them close in a spiritual union with their loved ones. To receive a piece of Oplatek is a special blessing. It says that the recipient is loved in a holy way and that the most choice blessings are prayed over them.
At the Wigilia Supper the rite of sharing and breaking the Oplatek is both simple and moving. The host and hostess first share and break the Bread of Love - the Oplatek - with each other and then with all the members of their family and guests. With the breaking, good wishes, blessings and prayers are exchanged and shared. It is a time of spiritual gift-giving. Sometimes the blessings take the form of spontaneous poetry - but this is often an art form reserved to the old.
A piece of Oplatek is often saved after Christmas to use in time of sickness. It is administered to the ill as a blessing-prayer for healing. It is a strong affirmation of the love of family and friends.
In some parts of Poland and among some Polish-Americans there is the custom of saving a few squares of the Oplatek and of creating religious ornaments with them. Some of them are made into stars and miniature cradles for the Baby Jesus. Others are made into tiny churches and complicated globes - often with a tiny figure of Jesus holding the cross in the inner circle of the world-globes to signify His rule over the universe.
Usually these ornaments were carefully hung by a thread from the ceiling. With the movements in a room it gently swayed to and fro and old timers often prophesied the coming weather from the direction in which these lacy ornaments moved.
Adam Plug remembered these Oplatek ornaments of his Polish childhood and wrote: "When father glued together a fine star enclosing a tiny cradle, he hung it to the ceiling by a thread. I knew for certain this was the same star which shone down upon Jesus in the manger. I rocked the little cradle on the thread with my childish breath, and really felt I was rocking the real little baby Jesus to sleep, singing Him a kolenda."
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