EAST Lancashire's Polish community kept their traditions alive at a bread-breaking ceremony.
More than 130 people packed into the Polish Catholic Centre, Preston New Road, Blackburn, to take part in the Opwatek ceremony and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the centre.
Everyone broke off a piece of bread then wished each other well before a dinner at the centre on Saturday. Roy Sidnik, chairman of the community, said the Bishop of Salford, Terence Brain, attended the ceremony.
Children of the Polish Catholic Saturday School then performed a nativity play in the centre's chapel.
The Opwatek ceremony takes place in family homes on Christmas Eve, and the centre organises a post-Christmas ceremony for the whole community. Before they bought the centre 20 years ago, they rented Sacred Heart Church, Blackburn.
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