BOHEMICAN
  • Home
  • Czech It Out Blog
  • Bohemican Podcast
  • My Travel Journal
  • Citation
    • Book References
    • Web References
    • WIKI References
  • Czech History
    • Czech History
    • The Great War Podcast
    • Battles
    • The Treasury
  • Store

December 5th, St. Nicholas Day (Mikulas, the Angel, and the Devil)

12/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
On the eve of St. Nicholas Day, the Czechs usher in the Christmas season in some wonderful ways. Many will take their children to the town square and have them meet with Mikulas (St. Nicholas) dressed in his white beard and bishop regalia, an Angel, and Cert (the Devil). 
Nope, it is not a Halloween encore but a way for children to be quizzed if they were good or not. Mikulas will ask this tough question to the kids and based on their response, will be either given some sweets for good behavior or a sack of coal or hard potatoes for a "bad year" of mischief. If the fear of hard potatoes does not elicit an attitude adjustment, then maybe the devil threatening to put you in his bag and take you to hell will do the trick;-)
Mikulas will most likely ask the good children to sing him a song or recite a poem of their choice, such as Silent Night.

Tichá noc, svatá noc.
V spánku svém dýchá zem,
půlnoc odbila, město šlo spát,
zdřímli dávno i pastýři stád.......

You will most likely see several of these trios (Mikulas, Angel, and Cert) on the Old Town Square in Prague. Once your kids are done with this ritual, you can grab some mulled wine and browse through the Christmas shopping market. Once home, the kids will find the final surprise....a bountiful collection of fruits, nuts, and sweets on the table. Just a little something from good old St. Nicholas:-)

Throughout the month of December, I will be posting many other Czech Christmas traditions as well as a special Czech Christmas edition of the Bohemican Podcast......stay tuned!!! 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    DONATE  TODAY

    Picture

    "Czech It Out" 
    Blog

    Picture

    Author:

    Pete Collman is an American expat living in Prague, Czech Republic.
    

    Archives

    December 2021
    March 2020
    January 2017
    June 2016
    May 2016
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    May 2012
    April 2012

    RSS Feed

    MY PICTURE 
    OF THE MONTH

    Picture
    Tower in Pardubice. Photo by Peter Collman

    App of the Month

    Picture
    Prague Minos Guide (Free)
    Picture
    Minos Screenshot
Drag & drop footer content here

Our Mission

The mission of the Bohemican website and podcast is to inform, educate, and entertain on the unique cultural identity of the Czech people. 
Picture
CLICK ABOVE OR BELOW TO DONATE
Picture

Get Social

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

BOHEMICAN

Links

Picture
CollmanPhotography
Picture
  • History of Alchemy Podcast
  • History of Germany Podcast
  • CollmanPhotography.com
  • Podcastnik.com


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.