# History of Christmas Eve: Polish Christmas Wafer > Reading Time: 2 minutesHistory of Christmas Eve: Polish Christmas Wafer, its tradition and background > URL: https://billpetro.com/history-of-christmas-eve/ > Last modified: 2023-12-24T18:54:46+00:00 Reading Time: 2 minutes[](https://i0.wp.com/billpetro.com/wp-content/uploads/20121224-121459.jpg?ssl=1)Christmas Wafer ## HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS EVE: POLISH CHRISTMAS WAFER My friend and neighbor Phil gave me **Opłatek**, or Christmas wafers, as part of his Polish Christmas tradition. This practice is now common in many countries across Eastern Europe — among Lithuanians, Czechs, Moravians, and Slovaks — but in **Poland,** it is a legacy from the past to celebrate the vigil of Christmas Eve, going back to the 10th century. During the 17th century, it spread from there and was emblematic — especially since the 19th-century partitioning of Poland — of the country becoming independent again. During **WWII**, families would send pieces of *oplatek* to relatives dispersed around the world wherever they were.   Table of Contents Toggle - [History](#History) - [Christmas Eve Tradition](#Christmas_Eve_Tradition) - [Related](#Related) ### History Each wafer is embossed with an image from the Christmas story, usually the nativity scene or the [Star of Bethlehem](https://billpetro.com/history-of-christmas-star). An empty place is set at the family table in memory of ancestors, departed loved ones, and the Unseen Guest, **Jesus Christ**. There is high hope that the “Unexpected Guest” will come and bless the gathering. As Christmas Eve marks the end of the [Advent](https://billpetro.com/history-of-christmas-advent) fast, to be followed by the [12 Days of Christmas](https://billpetro.com/history-of-12-days-of-christmas), at the start of dinner just after grace, the male head of the house takes the wafer and expresses his hopes for his wife in the year to come. It might be good health or a request for forgiveness for his shortcomings. His wife breaks off a piece and eats it, then returns the blessing and shares the wafer with her husband. The ceremony continues with older relatives, guests, and children from oldest to youngest.   ### Christmas Eve Tradition [](https://i0.wp.com/www.billpetro.com/wp-content/uploads/red-wafer.JPG?ssl=1)Opłatek An old tradition asserts that during the original Holy Night, the animals could speak with a human voice in memory of that first [Christmas](https://billpetro.com/history-of-christmas-nativity), though only colored wafers are given to the farm animals. Between friends and family, a piece of the wafer is exchanged along with a blessing as a symbol of mutual forgiveness between them, the importance of family, and that God sent his son born on **Christmas Day** as Savior. “…and on Earth peace, good will toward men.” –Luke 2:14   *Who will you bless this Christmas Eve?*   Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian [billpetro.com](https://billpetro.com) [*Subscribe*](http://g003.enterprise.ipost.com/billpetrofriend/prefs) to have future articles delivered to your email. 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