What is "wigilia"

Wigilia is the traditional Christmas Eve vigil supper in Poland, held on December 24. The term is often applied to the whole day of the Christmas Eve, extending further into Pasterka, the midnight Mass held at Roman Catholic churches all over Poland and in large Polish communities worldwide at midnight preceding the Christmas Day. In this usage, the supper itself is rather called "wieczerza" or "wieczerza wigilijna", using an Old Polish word meaning "dinner" or "large supper", stemming from Proto-Indo-European root *vesper - "evening". The Last Supper translates into Polish as "ostatnia wieczerza".

The word Wigilia derives from the Latin verb vigilare, "to watch", and literally means "eve". The feasting traditionally begins once the First Star has been sighted (usually by children) in the heavens at dusk (around 5 p.m.). Therefore, Christmas is also sometimes called "Gwiazdka" (the little star, referring to the Star of Bethlehem).