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".