Beautiful Russian carol music "Njebo I Zemlja":
http://www.iarelative.com/xmas/oplatki2.htm
The Christmas Wafer - Oplatky
By Father George M. Franko
Holy Name Church, Youngstown, Ohio
Christmas Wafers-Oplatky
Christmas wafers have been part of our Slovak Christmas Eve supper, Vilija, as long as we can remember!
We recall that God sent manna to His people as they sojourned in the desert. We also recall that Jesus said that He was "the bread of life," and that He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist.
Christmas wafers are called oblatky and this name indicates their purpose and origin.
Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist, has been used as a sacramental in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. ...
http://www.iarelative.com/xmas/oplatki.htm
Oplatki
The start of our Traditional Christmas eve meal was always Oplatki, or Bread of Love, a thin Communion-like wafer stamped with a Christmas scene and served with honey spread upon the wafer sheet.
The Oplatki is passed from person to person along with a wish and a kiss.
With this each of us offered a piece of the wafer to all others sitting at the table wishing the other a "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy New Year".
I guess the symbolism of sharing the wafer to everyone back and forth was to symbolize giving and sharing in our lives.
As I always understood it, the wafer, although the same as the Eucharist wafer in Mass, was not consecrated,and therefore not the body Christ, but rather just sharing and breaking of bread as in the last supper.
It is customary to have the Oplatki wafers blessed by the parish priest prior to Christmas Eve.
Oplatki is followed by Soup, in our meal also, but it is a mushrooms and potato soup, that is followed with Fish and potatoes.
The potatoes are cold, with onions in a vinegar and sugar solution. I was told my entire life by my parents that this meal was the same that my grandparents in Slovakia had each Christmas, plain and simple by todays standards, but a virtual feast for my poor ancestors.
The meal was made from what was available to them in the old country. After the main course, of course we had Kolachi, and coffee.
I was also told that the order in which the courses were served signified life, remember, honey on wafer, sour potatoes and fish, then pastries, sweet, sour, sweet.....that is the order of life.
We also had walnuts in a big bowl on the table, and with that my father would always throw a couple of them into the corners of the room, he was taught this was to insure good luck for the coming year by his father.
I had grown up in and attended a Slovak church, and the oplatki was always available to the parishoners at Christmas time.
It is nice to hear that this custom has been going on elsewhere in this country, and here I thought it was just us. I for one plan to keep the custom alive with my kids, and I'm sure they will with theirs.
This time of year especially, I always feel a tug at my heart, from the old country, and a wish to visit to walk on the soil of my ancestors.
Merry Christmas to you and your family and to all my friends on Slovak-World.
Jim and Chris Sagat
sawdust4@execpc.com
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/customs/highland.htm
Christmas in the Carpathian Highlands by Michael Roman
The below article first appeared in Greek Catholic Union Magazine, and was authored by Michael Roman, K.S.G.G.
This is used with permission from GCU. Any other use without prior permission from GCU is strictly prohibited.
Thanks goes to Greg Kopchak for finding and HTML'ing this article for us
In recent years many Carpatho-Rusins -- also known as Rusins, Carpatho-Russians, Carpatho-Ruthenians or Ruthenians --- have been showing a keen interest in their "roots," history, traditions and customs. Some of the traditions, so enthusiastically observed by our pioneers in America, then partially lapsed, are slowly but surely being revived. With the approach of the Feast Day of the Nativity of Our Lord, preparations are being made in many Rusin-American homes for Holy Supper on Christmas Eve.
For many centuries Holy Supper on the eve before Christmas was traditionally a special family meal for our Rusins. It was full of meaning and symbolism. Even those who have unfortunately abandoned this glorious tradition still recall and cherish the childhood memories of "Svjatyj Vecer."
In a a booklet printed a few years ago, Father Joseph Ridella, Donald Petyo and Michael Huszti of the Parma Diocese have emphasized the importance of observing the traditional Holy Supper in the following words.
"This custom of taking time to gather together in joy as a family and to share a special meal is not only something of fond memories but a vital way of reaffirming the importance of family where we learn to love and be loved. Beginning our Christmas celebration with 'Holy Supper' is just as meaningful today as it was years ago; perhaps it is needed even more now than ever before."
...
http://www.byzantines.net/feasts/christmas/recipes.htm
THE HOLY SUPPER ON CHRISTMAS EVE
Sharing a special, family meal, different from all their times of the year, has always been an important art of our Christmas celebration. Today many families ok back on and cherish childhood memories of the "Holy Supper." The various foods and customs surrounding this meal differed from village to village, indeed from family to family, and thus became part of a familles heritage. Yet this custom of taking time to gather together in joy as a family and to share a special meal is not only something for fond memories but vital way of reaffirming today God's love for the world, a vital way of reaffirming the importance of the family where we learn to love and be loved. Beginning our Christmas celebration with "Holy Supper" is just as meaningful today as it was years ago; perhaps it is needed even more now than ever before.
This Christmas Book gives a general description of the customs of the "Holy Supper" and a number of recipes so that at least a few of the traditional dishes, made by adventurous younger chefs, could mark the specialness of this holy night. We do this in the hope that every family would celebrate in this way the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus.
Holy Supper usually begins at twilight when the 'first star' appears. The table is covered with white tablecloth in memory of the swaddling clothes of Christ. Hay or straw is strewn on the table to remind us of the poverty of the cave Jesus was born in. A large loaf of bread is the centerpiece of the table symbolizing Christ the Bread of Life. A candle in the center of this bread recalls the Star of Bethlehem, which led men to worship the true Light of the World. This bread, along with garlic and honey, is shared by all present. Holy Supper begins with prayer in Thanksgiving for all the blessings of the past year and prayer for all good things in the coming year.
Following Holy Supper, the entire family joins in singing Christmas carols....(Recipes Follow--click link)
Kidney beans (slow cooked all day) seasoned with shredded potatoes, lots of garlic, salt and pepper to taste