The evening of Christmas Eve (24th December) in Poland is traditionally the most festive and moving evening of the year. It is the culmination of the advent experience for Christian families.
The word for Christmas Eve in Polish, Wigilia, comes from the Latin for “keeping watch”. According to an old Church tradition, on the day before a major celebration people would fast and the faithful would stay up all night, praying together.

Christmas Eve only became a fixed tradition in Poland in the 18th century. The main event is the Christmas Eve supper, made up of Lenten dishes. The supper is a close family affair, but sometimes people who live alone are invited along as well as blood relatives.

The Christmas Eve Supper
The Christmas Eve supper was first celebrated in Poland in the 18th century and by the 20th century had become a widespread tradition. It has become a holy and sacred meal, and is a completely unique experience.
Before the supper Polish housewives would thoroughly clean the house. In the past and sometimes at the countryside, sheaves of grain (wheat, rye, barley, oats) would be placed in the four corners of the main room of every house. This was done so that the Christ Child would not begrudge people and their cattle food in the New Year. The table was laid with a white tablecloth, reminiscent of an altar and the robes of Jesus Christ. Underneath the tablecloth they would lay hay, in memory of the hay on which the Christ Child lay. Tradition also dictated that a strict fast should be observed throughout the whole day until the supper. The supper itself would consist of an odd number of Lenten dishes, but these dishes would be very diverse so as to include all the different meals normally served throughout the course of the year.

After supper
In many parts of Poland various after-supper customs used to be observed, apart from the traditional singing of carols. For example, in Warmia and Masuria, in the northeast of Poland, when people were still seated around the table after supper, pieces of straw would be pulled out from under the tablecloth. If the straw was straight then the person who pulled it out would have a simple, trouble-free life. If the straw was bent then that person would have a difficult time ahead of them in the coming year.
In Masovia, a region in the east of Poland, the remains of the supper would be given to the animals. This was done according to a belief that at midnight the animals, or at least some of them, would be able to speak with a human voice. This belief particularly referred to cattle, who were rewarded for their presence at the birth of Christ with the gift of a human voice on the night of Christmas Eve.
In Podlasie in northeastern Poland the remains of the supper would be laid out around the stove and sand or ash sprinkled on top. This food was meant for those family members who had passed away. In the morning the family could tell from the footprints who, if anyone, had visited in the night.
In a lot of regions of Poland people would go caroling on Christmas Eve. Traditionally there had to be a minimum of three “characters” in the group of carol-singers: a stork, a goat and a bear. The stork symbolised New Year and new life, the goat – fertility and the bear – the hostile forces of nature which had to be tamed.

read more about Polish Christmas:
Christmas wishes in Polish - write to your family and friends
At the Polish Christmas table: an Even Number of People
The number of Christmas Eve dishes
Oplatek - Breaking the Wafer