02 November 2001

"gdy sie Chrystus rodzi I na swiat przychodzi Ciemna noc w jasnosciach Promienistych brodzi; Aniolowie sie raduja Pod niebiosy wykrzykuja Gloria, gloria, gloria In excielsis Deo"

This was one of the first Polish Christmas carols I learned as a child. It tells about the Angels singing and rejoicing at the Birth of Christ.

Following four weeks of Advent during which time many social activities were curtailed came Wigilia, or the Vigil, Christmas Eve. We all waited in anticipation of the birth of the Infant Jesus. a tradition centuries old.

We lived in a rented house and shared it with at least seven other Polish families, all from villages in the Kielce province of Poland. At 4 am. the morning of Wigilia they walked to Kensington Jewish market a good half hour from where we lived and bought what they could afford to make the traditional Wigilia supper. Traditionally, and depending on what area of Poland you came from, Wigilia was a meatless day and there had to be 12 different dishes to signify the 12 Apostles of Christ.

The women cooked all day on a wood/coal burning stove. Small children helped with chores around the house and setting the table. At our house we had lots of tables to accommodate all the people who lived there. We always had a white table cloth. Sometimes it was a clean sheet. We decorated the tree with home made decorations. We used to put some straw under the table to indicate that Christ was born in a stable on hay. Hay was easy to get because most of our deliveries were made by horse and wagon. An extra place was always set at the table for the "guest" who was Christ.

When the first star appeared, we were taught that this was the Star of Bethlehem. That started the whole Wigilia supper. Oplatek or communion wafer was held by the eldest member in the group/family and each person broke off a piece and ate it . It symbolized peace, and forgiveness. Food served on Wigilia varies in each region of Poland, I can only write about what we ate.

The first course was usually sledzie or herring, either marinated by my mother or bought already marinated at the Jewish Market. Then we had a meatless soup, either mushroom , barzcz. Then there was more fish, or fish patties, I remember having gefilte fish (Kielce had a huge Jewish population and recipes were traded frequently, by word of mouth, not in writing.) then there were the pierogi with potatoes or sauerkraut (home made) . Fruit compote with whichever fruit was affordable, usually apples, figs, maybe dates, pastries and liqueurs or wisniowka (cherry brandy) coffee or tea.

After everyone was stuffed, the eldest member who already had too much wisniowka started the Christmas carols or Koledy. Dinner on Wigilia usually started about 8 PM. Our Christmas presents were usually stockings that had an apple or some candy if you were lucky enough to get it, and maybe some nuts.

We all went to midnight Mass at St. Stanislaus Church "na pasterke" as shepherds. The church was overflowing and you could hear the Polish hymns and carols for miles away. But that was during the 1928-1938 period.

1929-1945: Wigilia Traditions still there but we could afford a few more things despite the Depression and the beginning and end of WW II

1946 -1965: Wigilia tradition incorporated into a more Westernized Tradition. Parents age. Daughter or son now hold the annual celebration. Christmas now is turkey dinner and celebrated Christmas Day

1966-: The next generation marries Poles or doesn't marry Poles and each one brings in another Tradition.

1980: The Fourth Wave of Immigrants from Poland bring with them old Traditions, like history repeating itself.

So, try to recapture SOME of the Tradition that our ancestors kept. Either through food, on Wigilia, Christmas Eve, at least include one or more of the dishes. If you don't want to make this stuff, buy it if you have a Polish community and stores, all of these are available. Try to get to a Polish church at Midnight Mass.....

Wigilia took a different "celebration" when war broke out in September of 1939;

At this time, most of the families who lived in our house had moved out and found homes of their own. It was a time of great fear and frustration not knowing if your parents and relatives were still alive in Poland. So Wigilia became a very quiet .time as most Poles flooded the churches to pray and on Christmas Eve they sang Boze Cos Polske. Our menu for Wigilia was basically the same for the next five years. In 1946 my father Wincenty Wojcik travelled to Poland on what I call his Mission of Mercy. He travelled all over Poland trying to find missing family, relatives, not just his own but for others as well. He travelled by horse and wagon over the ruins of Poland. And that is another story, except that he came home December 6th, 1946 to Union Station and so Wigilia was celebrated in another way, that Christmas., People overtook our house on Bellwoods Avenue in Toronto to find out about their families ( even though my father wrote about his journey for the Polish Alliance Press or Zwiazkowiec where he worked.) THAT WIGILIA to me was the most memorable and I remember it vividly as though it happened yesterday. People brought over food, whiskey , whatever and THEY put on a Wigilia the likes of which I had never seen.

Wigilia after WWII saw another wave of immigrants from Poland, and many of them lived at our house. They came from different regions of Poland and they first went to the Polish Church and then to the Polish Hall and then they were referred to my father. They brought with them different customs and recipes because they arrived from different regions. This was a different group. These were people who had seen war, seen people killed, and some even killed . By this time we could afford more staples to feed these immigrants or they used to be called "D.P.'s - Displaced Persons"

But Oplatek and Midnight Mass or Pasterka remained.

In the 1950's onward, children married some to Poles, others to different nationalities. We no longer had everyone there for Wigilia . Some of my friends got together and coordinated Wigilias so they could have everyone together.

Time passed and these "children " of immigrants moved into the suburbs, had children, and it was difficult to get together; It was in the mid 1960's in our family anyway, that the Traditional Wigilia was abandoned for a while and with aging parents we all took turns having them over for Wigilia or Christmas Day. We would visit family during the entire week of Christmas but Wigilia as I wrote earlier was abandoned.

In my own family, we kept up the meatless Wigilia with some of the Polish dishes mentioned in the first part of this series. It was an exciting time to go down to the old Kensington Market by car, drive around for half an hour trying to find a parking spot, and with three kids, it was rough. But we bought the herring and the sauerkraut and a few other items. Well, my kids didn't like the sledzie, or pickled herring, then they didn't like mushroom soup. Years later they now bug me to make this stuff. So we had a meatless Wigilia, and at this time the Churches had an earlier Children's Mass at 8 p.m. So that worked out just fine. The kids were disappointed because they had to wait to open their Christmas gifts until Christmas Day.

And so in the Post Solidarity Years many more Immigrants have left Poland for various reasons. One cousin I had defected through Czechoslovakia and ended up on my doorstep on Wigilia. So in the last decade several hundred thousand have come to Canada and to the United States to find a better life. There are pockets of "Little Poland" in Toronto and in Mississauga where I live. And each brings with him/her another set of Traditions. These Poles appear to be better educated and have a different sense of purpose.

I have not been, but I have heard that some Polish churches hold Wigilias.

The new wave of immigrants to Canada and the U.S.A. will no doubt bring with them other Traditions from various parts of Poland. I hope to get my young cousin to tell me how they observe Wigilia there now post Communist period and how she plans to spend Wigilia here, her first in Mississauga. I hope to pass this on to the web surfers.

And so as Wigilia 2001 approaches and my granddaughters ages four and six have already helped me make pierogi and they are at the age when it will sink in (they slept through most of the Wigilias when they were small) I think I will tell them all about Wigilia and how special it should be and can be for them. Now that's Tradition.

Related subjects:

1. Wincenty Wojcik: A Lifetime of Service to the Polish Community - by Irena Wojcik Gabon
2. Polish Christmas Traditions - Web site by Ann Hetzel Gunkel
3. Christmas Remembered - Learn more about Wigilia