Christmas wafer

Several Christmas wafers are saved and fed to cows, to keep the milk from spoiling.

After the first star appears in the sky, everyone shares the Christmas wafer (opłatek) and wishes good things for the coming year.

The Christmas wafer symbolizes the unity of the family, which many consider to be the main pillar of society.

The Primate shared the traditional Christmas wafer with Solidarity and Communist legislators alike.

In Poland and some parts of Central Europe, these Christmas wafers are dyed and used as ornaments.

Christmas wafers (oplátky) in Slovakia are round (usually oval) and embossed with various Christmas motifs.

After the First Star appears in the sky and after sharing the Christmas wafer (opłatek), the Supper begins.

Sometimes, families also partake in a religious tradition, such as the consumption of a Christmas wafer in Christian families of European ancestry.

This is a symbol of friendship, similar to the sharing of the Opłatek (Christmas wafer) on Christmas Eve.

In Slovakia, before eating, everyone exchanges Christmas greetings with each other by sharing a piece of Christmas wafer (Oblátky) with honey and wallnuts.

By sharing a piece of Christmas wafer (Opłatki), when everyone at the table breaks off a piece and eats it as a symbol of their unity with Christ.

The breaking of the Christmas wafer is a custom that began in Poland in the 10th century and is practiced by people of Polish ancestry around the world.

Just before the vote, the country's Roman Catholic Primate, Jozef Cardinal Glemp, appeared in Parliament to hand out Christmas wafers, a holiday custom with strongly religious overtones.

Christmas wafers, whose patterns often depict religious scenes, are an Eastern European Roman Catholic Christmas tradition celebrated in Poland, Slovakia, Lithuanian and Italy families during Wigilia ('Christmas Eve Vigil').

Family members begin the celebration with a prayer and breaking of the Christmas wafer (opłatek - symbolizing the bread eaten daily - our day-to-day common life; very old Christian tradition of sharing bread) and wishing each other good fortune in the upcoming new year.