John Biernat maintains an active presence in the Birmingham, Michigan, legal community as an associate attorney with the Padilla Law Group. An avid traveler who has studied foreign languages and cultures, John Biernat is a member of the Polish American Congress.

One unique Polish tradition involves providing hospitality to strangers by leaving one chair empty for anyone who might happen to stop by on Christmas Eve. Some people attribute this to the lesson embodied in Jesus’ birth in a humble manger while his mother was on the road. Others make reference historical roots, stating that the seat is left empty in sustained hope that one of the Poles who rose up against enlistment in the Russian army in 1863 (and were subsequently banished to Siberia) might one day return.

Another seasonal tradition has pagan roots and involves celebrating the end of winter through the “drowning of Marzanna.” Marzanna is a pre-Christian goddess who embodied winter, and her likeness is created with straw and old clothing. This is symbolically thrown into a river or lake as the growing season begins. Communities traditionally sing verses encouraging Marzanna to swim across the sea so that flowers can come into bloom and the fields can turn green.