Polish Christmas Tradition: Sharing the Oplatek

One of the clients  (my job is home health care) I work with is Polish, and knowing of my own Polish heritage, she enjoys sharing with me stories of the traditional Polish customs. She also speaks Polish fluently, and shares songs and prayers.

One of the stories she shared with me is the Polish tradition of sharing of the Oplatek (op-wa-tek) or Christmas wafer, which is done on Christmas Eve. The tradition dates back hundreds of years, and was passed from my client's ancestors to own her family, who lived on a farm in the rural Midwest.

Christmas Eve or Wigilia, marks the end of Advent for Polish families, and is usually a day of fasting so the meal would not include meat. Advent is a time to remember the real reason for Christmas, people try not to have an excess of anything and give up their favorite foods and drinks. Typical foods served for Advent in Polish families include dumplings, beetroot soup, gingerbread and fish.

Advent also is a time when families begin to thoroughly clean their home to prepare for Christmas. My Mom also did this--disinfecting the floor with lemon cleaner, scrubbing cupboards, and arranging the Nativity scene to be displayed prominently in the center of our living room were some of her cleaning activities. Cleaning was a festive time because Mom would sing and dance to Christmas music while cleaning--her favorite was Motown Christmas, and "Christmas on Sesame Street" for my brother and I. There was a large, oval woven rug in the middle of the living room floor that I clearly remember Mom dancing on, often she picked up our cat Hooper as her dance partner, swaying to the music. My brother and I were given Advent calendars to remind us of the holiness of the season, and mark the passage to Christmas. Also, in my own family, Christmas Eve was a time for a family reunion and celebration. My Mom comes from a large family and we always gather on Christmas Eve, and later in the evening, attend Mass.

My client says that on Christmas Eve her family would gather at the table for a meal, and before they ate they would say grace then pass the oplatek around the table. The oplatek is a thin, flavorless wafer made of flour and water. The oplatek is rectangular in shape and embossed with images of the Holy Family or the Nativity Scene. The oplatek is shared with one family member to another, who breaks then offers a blessing or asks for forgiveness.  It is a time to tell family members that you love them, or ask for forgiveness and make peace.The oplatek is shared around the table until every member has shared it. When the oplatek is eaten, it is a sign that the blessing or forgiveness has been accepted. My client said that when her children grew older, they would break the oplatek then go in a private room to talk, catching up on recent events or laughing over memories shared.

What a beautiful tradition! I am so thankful my client shared this with me, I am excited to begin this tradition with my own children, and rekindle our connection to our Polish heritage.

~ Daylen Swift, 2014

Read More:

"Polish Christmas Wafer: A Flavorless Tradition That is Oh So Sweet" by Sarah Zielinski: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/12/19/167650665/polish-christmas-wafer-a-flavorless-tradition-that-s-oh-so-sweet

"Catholic Activity: Oplatek, Old Polish Custom" by Catholic Culture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=283

Amazing: Mommy Sea Turtles Return to Beach where Born, after 30 years, to Lay Eggs!

Sea turtles live in almost every ocean, all around the world. Loggerhead sea turtles have been on Earth for 250 million years and are related to the dinosaurs. “Loggerhead” sea turtles are known for their big, clunky head and large beak. The Loggerhead shell is golden brown, like honey, and their skin ranges in color from yellow to brown.

After birth, Loggerhead sea turtles head into the sea, where they spend most of their life. Sea turtles spend their day eating and resting. Sea turtles can sleep under water, curled up under rocks or in reefs. Or, they float on top of the water with their fins pulled back, and laying against their shell.

Sea turtles spend most of their lives alone, but there are short periods of time where turtles “date”. A female Loggerhead is usually ready to breed after 30 years (can you imagine if your parents made you wait that long to date! Haha – kidding). Sometimes male turtles fight over a female turtle they really like. Dating for a turtle involves play fighting—a turtle may gently bite another or bump shells (kinda like bumping fists!).

After this, the male stays at sea while the female goes to land to build a nest and lay eggs.

Loggerhead sea turtles are known to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from its feeding ground to its nesting place, this is called “migration”. Scientists are not sure how sea turtles map their migration but guess that sea turtles may be able to read the Earth’s electromagnetic fields, and use that to find their way. Zzap!

When a Loggerhead is ready to build her nest, there is only one place she will go—back to the very same beach she was born! After 30 years, the Loggerhead will somehow know, over thousands of miles of endless blue sea, how to find the way back home. At night, Loggerhead will leave the water to make a nest on land, which she makes by digging a hole in the sand with her flippers. The female Loggerhead will lay between 50-200 eggs, each the size of a golf ball, and then hide her nest to keep it safe. The sea turtles are very fragile animals so out of the many eggs hatched, few turtles actually survive.

 

After two months, the eggs hatch and the baby Loggerheads make their way back to the sea (this happens when temperatures are cool, between the time the sun goes down, until it comes up again). The baby Loggerheads wait until the sun goes down then use the light of the stars and moon shining off the water to find their way into the sea. The baby Loggerheads will swim back into the sea and will drift on the currents for many years, eating and resting and growing.

- Daylen Swift

Sea Turtle Conservancy: http://www.conserveturtles.org

(Greek Island Sea Turtles) Zante Carretta Caretta Loggerhead Turtles: http://www.explore-zakynthos.com/zakynthos_caretta_caretta_loggerhead_turtles_zante.htm

Hi Mommy - I love you MOM (Mother and Child Video)

A beautiful video about the incredible bond between Mother and Child, which begins at conception and grows stronger every day...



This video is so true. I feel the same way for my children, I loved them from the start and will love them always! Tu es mi corazon! xoxox Mommy xoxox

The Littlest Super Hero

Dad makes amazing video of his adventurous son..

Source: Twitter: Kid@ActionMovieKid 
FB: https://www.facebook.com/ActionMovieKid

3 Queens Video Honors Motherhood

This touching video, "3 Queens" narrated by a child who describes a day in the life of his "Mommy" through imagery, prose and music. "3 Queens" beautifully depicts the Mother-Child bond, and honors the work , sacrifices and efforts put into mothering. 

Proverbs 22:6(King James Version), "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

"3 Queens" a celebration of 3 stay at home moms in three different regions of the country ...

director: matt bieler
music: dane leon & chris newlin
editor: matt bieler & aidan haley
music mix: danny cocke
final mix: tom @ lime
color: david hernandez

Bravo to the team behind "3 Queens"! Love this <3

Love Began when you smiled by Natalie Rungan

Natalie Rungan also known as Natalie R is a South African born singer, songwriter who is well known in the Jazz, RnB & Gospel circuit. Performing with her on this live recording is Mark Royeppen, Bruce Baker & Brent Quinton. The song is part of a collection written for their recent "Up Close and Personal" concert.


Natalie Rungan's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyLUzeX-4vH3mijv-wksVPQ

German Prayer for Child

I learned a beautiful German prayer today... 

I work in home healthcare and my client said this prayer, in perfect German, I almost cried... it reminded me of my beautiful Great-Grandma, and of those tender moments tucking my own children into bed. 

My mother's side of the family is from Germany, they settled in a small, town founded by fellow German pioneers, and later owned a butcher shop. The butcher shop specialized in sausages but sold other delicious meats such as braunschweiger, headcheese and pickled pig knuckles. As a small child, I remember how special it was when my Mom would open an antique box that was the faded color of buttercups and decorated with lace. The top of the box had the picture of a woman on it, with a bug bouffant of wavy hair and bow shaped lips. I think she was also holding a glass bottle of cola. The box held all of Mom's treasures...including an old photo of my great-grandmother. My great-grandmother was a dainty woman with dark, flashing eyes. She was known to be a strong woman, who went into business to help her husband at a time women traditionally stayed at home. She adored her two children--Grandma and her brother. And died young, of pneumonia. Grandma named my favorite Aunt after her mother. And my Mom named a doll after her--my daughter and her cousin just love playing house with the doll. So her memory lives in our hearts, and in our love. 

THE GERMAN PRAYER

Jesukindlein komm zu mir, 
Mach ein frommes Kind aus mir. Mein Herzerl ist klein, Kann niemand hinein, Als du, mein liebes Jesulein. 



Baby Jesus come to me 
Make a pious child out of me 
My little heart is so small 
No one can get in 
Except for you my lovely little Jesus.










(Image from: Turn Back to God)


To my beautiful children ~ Mommy keeps you in my thoughts and prayers. I love you so much! I love 1,222,222,000,000 + 0= U! Tu es mi corazon. xoxox