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Oplatky remains a Christmas tradition
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, which has a Slovak heritage, continues the tradition of the Christmas wafers. Slovak families share oplatky at the Christmas Eve meal.
They’re packaged in a paper envelope, decorated for the yule season. There is also some information about the legacy of the oplatky and devotions that might be read.
The Rev. Martin Celuch is pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, which is the merger of Holy Name of Jesus Church, 613 N. Lakeview Ave., established in 1916; Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church, 252 E. Wood St., established in 1896; and St. Matthias Church, 915 Cornell St., established in 1914.
The Slovak churches have a membership of 1,100 families; the central office is at St. Matthias.
The name was chosen because Our Lady of Sorrows is the patroness of Slovakia.
Father Celuch has been pastor since May 2013. He hails from the eastern part of Slovakia, where he began studying for the priesthood. He came to the United States in 1999 and finished his seminary studies here.
Father Celuch said the oplatky, now usually in rectangles, used to be oval-shaped. “It had a theological meaning — round like the sun — meaning Christ is the light,” he said. “The light of Christ comes into our lives at Christmas.”
Father Celuch said in Slovakia, only the sacristan and organist make the wafers and distribute them.
In America, the wafers are made commercially and sold.
Sharing oplatky also is a Christmas custom in Poland and Lithuania.
“The oplatky symbolizes the Eucharistic meal,” he said. “It reminds of sharing in the body of Christ.”
At the Christmas Eve meal, he continued, the oplatky is shared among the family. “The head of the household makes the sign of the cross and offers a blessing for all at the table,” Father Celuch said. The wafer, which is made of flour and water, might be dipped in honey. “That’s a sign of plenty,” the pastor said.
The priest said the Christmas Eve meal is traditionally meatless. “On Christmas Eve, people fasted until the meal. Then there would be presents, then Mass,” he said.
In Slovakia, the meal features fish, soup with mushrooms, peas, potatoes and pirogi. Bobalky, small buns soaked in milk, honey and poppyseed, are a dessert after the main meal. Each region in Slovakia might have something different. “In America, we blend them all,” he said.
The Christmas trees in Slovakia are decorated mostly with handmade ornaments along with apples and other fruits.
He recalled how carolers go from house to house in villages to present small nativity plays.
“In the village I lived in, the carolers would go to Protestant and Catholic homes,” he said.
The carolers would visit homes to Jan. 6, Ephiphany.
Father Celuch said St. Matthias preserves its ethnic heritage by singing carols in Slovak in addition to English.
That recalls the carolers in Slovakia, who give Christmas wishes of a healthy year to the families they visit.
The priest noted “it is unique to Slovakia,” that it is baby Jesus who brings the Christmas gifts.
Dec. 6, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, sees the appearance of St. Nicholas or Santa Claus.
Father Celuch interprets these customs as “God can do it all.”
This Christmas will be a special one for the priest. His mother and brother arrived from Slovakia this week for a three-week visit.