Radio: Chrysfus Rodzi si

In the age-old Christmas ritual of Poland, the first rising star of Christmas Eve is greeted with the glad kolenda (carol) Wsrod Nocnej Ciszy (In the Stillness of the Night). Then the family hastens to table and partakes of the great Christmas wafer, symbol of brotherly love and forgiveness. Another kolenda, Bracia, Patrzcie Jeno (Brothers, Look Ahead), asks a blessing on this rite (and on a plow concealed under the table, so that the land, too, may be blessed). At pasterka, or midnight mass, the swelling Gdy się Chrystus Rodzi (When Christ the Lord is Born) is sung, and the carolers...