Saint Nicholas, the Devil, and an Angel

December 6th is Saint Nicholas Day, or Mikulas, as it is commonly called by Czech speakers. On Saint Nicholas Eve, an angel, the devil, and, of course, Saint Nicholas travel together and visit the children. Traditionally, good children receive chocolate from Saint Nicholas, and bad children are loaded into the devil's sack to be taken to Hell. Clearly, it pays to be good.

In order to receive a treat from Saint Nicholas, children should recite a poem. At our house, my wife, Martina, always gets a treat from Saint Nicholas, but she has to recite a poem by Alexander Pushkin in Russian first, though she has been known to recite a rather morbid poem by the Czech poet Jiri Wolker some years.

Here in Texas, the Czech Center Museum in Houston will be hosting a Saint Nicholas celebration tomorrow with Saint Nicholas, an angel, and the devil all in attendance. Here is a short video from the Czech Center Museum: