At the Christmas Eve table people behave gracefully and respectfully. Grandparents and parents are the first to speak. They remember the dead and absent members who cannot take part at the supper. The conversation centers round the birth of Infant Jesus, the coming holidays, the most important events of the past year and the harvest. People look hopefully to the future and their visit to church on Christmas day.
Beekeepers discuss the industry of bees.
After supper and a grace of thanks for the food, both the grown-ups and the children enjoy telling fortunes by drawing out stalks of hay from under the tablecloth. The grown-ups are interested to know what the harvest is going to be like the next year, the younger people mostly want to find out their prospects for marriage. In many districts of Lithuania the Christmas Eve table is not cleared for the night, for people believe that the souls of their ancestors and other dead members of their family come home for supper on this night. Not a single living being, thing or spot inside or outside the house is neglected that day. Apple tree trunks are tied with the straw which has been used to strain the boiled peas for the supper to protect them against the sharp teeth of hares and to increase the harvest of apples for the next summer.