Mikulaš is coming…hide
While so many American children are awaiting the fabled visit from Santa Claus this Christmas, with his jiggling belly, jingling bells, gift-laden sack, and jolly disposition, children in the Czech lands will be awaiting a very different St. Nicholas. Here he is still called by his historical name, which in Czech is Mikulaš. St. Mikulaš carries with him quite different connotations than in the far flung western world with his reindeer and north pole mythos. In the Czech lands he is an austere, slender and tall bishop. While the long white beard remains unchanged, his kindly disposition is only revealed after a child has proven themselves worthy of such generous treatment.
He does not come at Christmas, for there is another gift bringer assigned that duty(more on that later). Rather, he arrives on the evening of December 5-6 to the trepidation of most Czech children, for he does not come alone. The advent of St. Mikulaš is accompanied by a long-tongued devil, bent on carrying children away to hell in his burlap sack, as well as a kindly angel who has the role of interceding for the children and advocating for mercy and reward in place of damnation and punishment. So the three arrive in tandem.
They make their way from house to house, as pre-arranged by parents, and often into schools as requested by teachers. They secretly conspire with the three before their arrival, recounting the good deeds and bad of each child in the past year. With their arsenal prepared, of condemnations and accolades, they arrive to the terror of the young. The youth have been preparing for this visit. They know that nothing is hidden from the seemingly omniscient trio. In an effort to swing the judgement in their favor, they have been memorizing poems and songs, their flawless recitation will cover a multitude of their sins.
It’s hard to stay composed however, when the three venerated visitors make their way into the living room. The devil is highly agitated, swinging his chains and hissing excitedly. He is filled with hopeful malice at the prospect of capturing a naughty child in his demon sack and transporting him to the fires of hell. Mikulaš and the angel slowly glide into the scene ambivalent and unaffected. The children are gathered forward, wrangled from the safety of their hiding places behind parents’ legs and under kitchen tables. As the ritual unfolds, Mikulaš recites the good deeds of each child to the smiling praise of the angel, while naughtiness is revealed to the excited gesticulations of the demon. The angel and demon argue their rights to the child’s body and soul as Mikulaš patiently and judiciously hears their claims. The child will be prompted to recite their poem in defense, proving their worthiness to receive the mercy and benefaction of the towering bishopric.
And thus the spectacle ends with the frayed but victorious child receiving a goodie bag of chocolate treats from St. Mikulaš...or a potato or piece of coal from the demon if the child was especially naughty in their parents’ evaluation. Nevertheless, the judgement of hell is deferred to the following year so that the child might redeem himself in the year to come.
The impact of these childhood traumas/festivities are both impactful and lasting. The caricature of eternal judgement is not one easily forgotten. Unfortunately, this caricature is just that; a portrayal that comes close to an eternal truth, while losing the spirit of it and twisting it in some grotesque way in the process. It is no surprise that many who cast off notions of faith frequently reference these religious inoculations, declaring that they will not be ruled by the fearmongering of religion and threats of eternal damnation. They are evicted from conscience in the same swipe as Santa Claus(Ježišek in Czech tradition), the Easter Bunny, or Monsters under the bed.
Yet there is a mediator between God and man! Sin does have consequences and the threat of damnation is real. Even so, it is not in our hands to redeem. That was accomplished in the manifestation of God’s love in Jesus Christ, the incarnation, the eternally wonderful and mysterious arrival of the one who would become sin for us, and will once again return to judge the quick and the dead, and institute true justice and peace forevermore!
