The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a traditional Southern Italian and Sicilian event. Christmas Eve, known as vigilia di magro, is a Catholic day of fasting; no meat is eaten. Toward evening a family will traditionally break the fast with a feast of seven fishes prior to midnight mass. Today, some Italian-American families continue to follow the tradition of the feast, with families adding nine, eleven or even thirteen fishes. The seven is believed to represent the seven sacraments.
