Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper A twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper is traditionally prepared in many Central European and Northern European cultures, especially those that were formerly part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. The meal (, , , or "wieczerza wigilijna", , ) consists of twelve meatless dishes representing the twelve months of the year. The tradition of the supper can be traced back to pre-Christian times and connected with remembrance of the souls of deceased ancestors. In some parts of Poland a similar tradition of thirteen meatless dishes on Christmas Eve is practiced. The specific
Christmas in Ukraine a vase are often used to decorate the table. Shopka is a traditional portable nativity scene used to represent nativity and other figures in a puppet form. "Kutia, Star of the Ukrainian Christmas Eve Supper" Kylymnyk, Stepan, 1955–1969; "Ukrainskyi Rik u Narodnykh Zvychayakh v Narodnomu Osvitlenni" [Ukrainian Year in Folk Customs from Historical Perspective], Winnipeg, Toronto Tracz, Orysia 2015, "First Star I See Tonight", Mazepa Publications Zhuravli, Winnipeg "Ukrainian Christmas Traditions", Ukrainian International Directory Voropai, Oleksa 1958, "Zvychai Nashoho Narodu" [Customs of Our People], Ukrainske Vydavnytstvo, Munich Yakovenko, Svitlana 2016, "Ukrainian Christmas Eve Supper: Traditional village recipes for Sviata Vecheria",