Christmas in Poland: Oplatek

Upon sitting down to their Christmas Eve supper, many Polish families observe the old tradition of sharing an oplatek between them. These small white wafers resemble Roman Catholic communion wafers. The father bids family members to be at peace with one another and breaks the wafer. Everyone present eats a piece of the broken wafer. So significant is this custom that families may even send absent members a broken oplatek so that they, too, may partake of the blessed wafer.