Christmas Wafer - Oplatek
After grace is said and befor sitting down to eat, all those present at the Wiligia share the "oplatek" or wafer, symbol of love, brotherhood, forgiveness, innocence and Christ.  The father breaks the wafer with his wife, exchanging wishes for health and happiness.  Then the "oplatek" is broken with others, beginning with the oldest.  Typical wishes may be "May God five you happiness, health, and fortune, and after death a heavenly crown."  When the wafer is accepted,  a willingness to forgive and forget is expressed; when it is offered to another, a willingness to share is denoted.  A special pink-colored wafer is taken to the barnyard and fed to the cattle, thus recalling the part which the beast played in the first Nativity.  It is customary to send a wafer by mail to absent relatives and friends as a sign of spiritual union.