Post by nancy on Dec 25, 2005 9:48:20 GMT -7
I did not have any family celebrations this year, and actually, the last real wigilia I had at my home was several years ago. But here is a nice story about a family maintaining their tradition for 100 years ...
POLISH CUSTOMS: A century of tradition
Family celebrates 100th Christmas Eve in the U.S.
December 23, 2005
BY KIM NORTH SHINE
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Every year for 100 years, the same all-white table setting, the same beet soup, the same mushroom dumplings and the same holy wafer cradled in hay have greeted the Wegrzynowicz family at its traditional Polish celebration of Christmas Eve.
In that time, many of the faces at the table have changed -- though one family member has attended the event every one of her 89 years -- and the tradition has undergone a few modern-day tweaks.
<snip>
But whether it's the people, the food or the religious customs, today's members of the Wegrzynowicz family celebrate much as their ancestors did.
<snip>
In the books, Milostan and her husband, Bill, have compiled photographs that trace the family history back to the original Wigilia -- the Polish Christmas Eve. The books will be passed out to all nine surnames that have branched out from Emilia and Jan Wegrzynowicz, who celebrated their first Wigilia in the United States in a flat on the east side of Detroit in 1905 the year they arrived in Detroit via Ellis Island.
The memory books and a Christmas tree that is specially decorated this year in red and white, the colors of Poland, and topped with a banner that reads "Stolat" -- "May you live 100 years" -- will be the most noticeable differences at this year's get-together at Milostans', where a banner proclaiming "Witamy" -- Welcome -- is draped above the front door.
<snip>
"The tradition is very important. The kids, especially, need tradition in their lives," said Milostan, who seems to respect humor and fun and as much as history and culture.
The fact that there have only been three hostesses in all this time -- Milostan, her grandmother and her mother, both of whom lived to their 90s -- has helped keep the tradition true to custom.
Milostan, like most Polish Catholics who observe the Wigilia, offers the family an oplatek to share. The consecrated wafer that symbolizes the body of Christ is used to wish each other prosperity and health in the coming year. After the meal, Milostan and her guests attend midnight mass. She also follows tradition in laying everything out in white and by cradling the oplatek in hay.
She serves nearly all the same dishes her ancestors ate: barshch, the beet soup, and ushka, meaning ears and named for the shape of the mushroom dumplings. Though today, the aromatic mushrooms imported from a forest in Poland run $75-$125 a pound.
more ... www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051223/NEWS05/512230386
POLISH CUSTOMS: A century of tradition
Family celebrates 100th Christmas Eve in the U.S.
December 23, 2005
BY KIM NORTH SHINE
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Every year for 100 years, the same all-white table setting, the same beet soup, the same mushroom dumplings and the same holy wafer cradled in hay have greeted the Wegrzynowicz family at its traditional Polish celebration of Christmas Eve.
In that time, many of the faces at the table have changed -- though one family member has attended the event every one of her 89 years -- and the tradition has undergone a few modern-day tweaks.
<snip>
But whether it's the people, the food or the religious customs, today's members of the Wegrzynowicz family celebrate much as their ancestors did.
<snip>
In the books, Milostan and her husband, Bill, have compiled photographs that trace the family history back to the original Wigilia -- the Polish Christmas Eve. The books will be passed out to all nine surnames that have branched out from Emilia and Jan Wegrzynowicz, who celebrated their first Wigilia in the United States in a flat on the east side of Detroit in 1905 the year they arrived in Detroit via Ellis Island.
The memory books and a Christmas tree that is specially decorated this year in red and white, the colors of Poland, and topped with a banner that reads "Stolat" -- "May you live 100 years" -- will be the most noticeable differences at this year's get-together at Milostans', where a banner proclaiming "Witamy" -- Welcome -- is draped above the front door.
<snip>
"The tradition is very important. The kids, especially, need tradition in their lives," said Milostan, who seems to respect humor and fun and as much as history and culture.
The fact that there have only been three hostesses in all this time -- Milostan, her grandmother and her mother, both of whom lived to their 90s -- has helped keep the tradition true to custom.
Milostan, like most Polish Catholics who observe the Wigilia, offers the family an oplatek to share. The consecrated wafer that symbolizes the body of Christ is used to wish each other prosperity and health in the coming year. After the meal, Milostan and her guests attend midnight mass. She also follows tradition in laying everything out in white and by cradling the oplatek in hay.
She serves nearly all the same dishes her ancestors ate: barshch, the beet soup, and ushka, meaning ears and named for the shape of the mushroom dumplings. Though today, the aromatic mushrooms imported from a forest in Poland run $75-$125 a pound.
more ... www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051223/NEWS05/512230386
- if we're still here!
