A Maspeth living room is transformed into a Thanksgiving dining room that can seat visiting family. Tribune photo By Brian M. Rafferty

Polish Tradition:
U.S., Polish Holidays Are Very Similar

By MICHAEL CUSENZA

If New York City is the grand melting pot, then Queens constitutes a heaping portion of its elements.

It's the most diverse city's most diverse borough - an integral part of Gotham where every block can be a virtual United Nations replete with myriad traditions and practices that combine love of homeland with appreciation for home.

This is perhaps most evident in December, when various international holiday customs emerge to highlight Queens' character as everyone's abode. From Springfield Gardens to Long Island City; Breezy Point to Little Neck, and everything in-between, the holidays are a special time in Queens County.

Polish Power

During the past several years, Western Queens has experienced a dramatic influx of Eastern European immigrants, with the Polish leading the way. Take a stroll down a bustling thoroughfare like Fresh Pond Road in the heart of Ridgewood and Middle Village, there's a Polish deli or bakery on both sides of nearly every block from Grand Avenue to Myrtle Avenue. What was once a fairly equal mix of Italian, Irish and German has become in some ways the unofficial Little Warsaw of Western Queens.

Each window provides a glimpse of Polish delicacies and traditions - breads, meats, cookies; each customer a walking source of what the holidays are like across the pond, and what they have become here in their new home.

Very Similar

Poland, the eighth most populated country in Europe with more than 38 million inhabitants, is mostly Catholic. According to the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook about 75 percent of Catholics in Poland are practicing, making it one of the most devoutly religious countries on the continent.

Pawel, a 28-year-old contractor living in Maspeth, said he celebrated Christmas in Poland much like Americans.

In other words, food and family anchor tradition for the Lomza, Poland native who immigrated to the United States in 1999.

Pawel said that Christmas Eve is the main event, even characterizing it as a celebration as beloved, if not more, than Christmas Day.

"We have two holidays," he said. "That's what we do every year."

Prior to attending Midnight Mass, or Pasterka, together, the family sits down for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Wigilia.


The Big Feast

Wigilia literally translates to "eve" and consists of 12 dishes, mainly various fish, soups and salads because Catholic Poles do not eat meat on Christmas Eve. The number of dishes served is said to symbolize the number of months in the coming year and the fact that Jesus had 12 apostles.

According to the Polish American Center Web site, "For days in advance, Poles prepare the traditional foods and everyone anxiously awaits the moment when the first star, known as the Gwiazdka, appears in the Eastern sky. For that is when the feast to commemorate the birth of the Christ Child begins."

A traditional extra place is set at the Wigilia table to symbolize hospitality for any stranger that may unexpectedly arrive or welcoming of the baby Jesus. The dinner commences with a blessing and the sharing of a thin, unleavened symbolic wafer called the Oplatek. Some of the food items included in Wigilia are mushroom soup, boiled potatoes (kartofle), pickled herring (sledzie), fried fish, pierogi, beans and sauerkraut (groch i kapusta), a dried fruit compote, babka, platek, assorted pastries, nuts and candies.

After the hearty Wigilia meal, Pawel said, the family sings Christmas carols, or "Koledy i Pastoralki," around the choinka - the Christmas Tree - before exchanging gifts. Some of the more popular carols are "Bog sie Rodzi" and "Przybiezeli do Betlejem."

After the Wigilia celebration, caroling and gift-giving, the family is off to Pasterka, the Midnight Mass which literally means "Shepherds Watch."

According to the Polish American Center, "there is popular belief in Poland that while the congregation is praying, peace descends on the snow-clad, sleeping earth and that during that holy night, the humble companions of men - the domestic animals - assume voices. But only the innocent of heart may hear them."


Christmas & New Year's

Christmas morning is for Swiety Mikolaj, or Santa Claus. Pawel also said it's a peaceful day of eating and relaxing. A return to meat includes a feast of sandwiches, ham, kielbasa and bigos, a traditional Polish stew made of cabbage and meat.

Poles ring in the New Year with traditions similar to those found in the United States, Pawel said. While the celebration may not be on the same reverential, religious level as the Wigilia, it still centers on food, drink - and fireworks.

"There are huge fireworks at midnight," Pawel said. "It's the same as Fourth of July over here."

As is the case on most continents, New Year's Day in Poland is one dedicated to rest and recovery.

The Christmas Season in Poland runs all the way to Feb. 2, or Candlemas Day.

"On that day, people carry candles to church and have them blessed for use in their homes during storms, sickness and death," according to the Polish American Center Web site.

For Pawel, and most of the individuals featured on these pages, the holidays are the most beloved and anticipated time of the year. They are reserved for family, friends, food and faith. And the traditions and customs contained therein are so ingrained in the lives of those that celebrate that even though the landscape may have changed from Krakow to Queens, the elements, and more importantly, the message, endures for generations.

And it is in this county that they all come together.

"I brought all my holidays over here," Pawel said. "Polish tradition is in my blood."