Polish
Christmas
Epiphany
Epiphany
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Polish
Christmas
Epiphany |
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Text and Images
of a Polonian House Blessing
History of the Polish Catholic Epiphany Tradition |
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This is done to bless the home and provide protection for those within against illness and misfortune. Often the parish priest--or in rural villages, the parish organist--comes to bless the home at this special time. The Feast of the Three Kings ends the swiete wieczory -- the twelve holy nights that began on Christmas Day--and signals the beginning of zapusty, or carnival time.
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In Poland, Christmas Day begins the twelve-day Gody (Days of harmony and good will.) The evenings of this twelve-day period are known as swiete wieczory, or holy evenings. The Twelfth Night was amongst the most important days of the Winter Solstice. The evening of the Feast of the Three Kings was called szczodry wieczor, which means a bountiful or plentiful evening. On the Feast, the family takes blessed chalk, foil, and incense, marking the home with the initials of the Three Wise Men along with the year.
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Polish Christmas
