St. Stephen’s Day
This day spent on visiting
relatives and friends
is the second day
of
Christmas, which is
also celebrated as a
holiday in Poland.
After mass, people
threw wheat or rice at
each other, to ensure
good harvest and
wealth in coming year.
On this day domestic help
was hired or rehired for the coming year and the hostess
prepared an excellent
meal for her domestic staff. When one of the staff left the table and did not eat, he indicated he was
leaving for employment somewhere else. For the rest of the staff a new contract was sealed for the
following year.