In memory of our Saviour's birth in a manger, straw or hay is laid upon the table and under a white cloth.
A semi-transparent thin wafer (Oplatek), has been specially made of flour and water and blessed by the parish priest and has some sacred sign stamped upon it - IHS or a pictured scenes of the Nativity.
It is a custom that at the begining of the Christmas Eve Supper the father breaks the wafer with the mother, and then with everyone present. Everybody eats it as a symbol of their unity with Christ and people wish a happy Christmas to one another.
The use of the Christmas wafer is not only by native Poles in Poland but also by people of Polish ancestry all over the world.