My friend Franklin sent this hat full of chocolates as a St. Nicholas gift from Germany! He also sent chocolate-filled hats for Jodi and Allison. What a sweetie.
The celebration of St. Nicholas, by the way, isn’t the same as the role of Santa Claus in North America, at least as it’s practiced in European countries. In the Netherlands, for instance, Sinterklaas (Dutch name for St. Nicholas) will give gifts and candy to good children, but bad children might be taken back to Spain with him. His helper is Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).
The names and roles vary slightly, depending the country. Sometimes St. Nick leaves the punishments to his helper. In France, Pere Fouettard disciplines bad children with a spanking while Pere Noel (Father Christmas) just leaves gifts.
Apparently there really was a St. Nicholas. He was born in 271 AD and died around December 6, 342 or 343 AD in Turkey. His reputation for doing good deeds and helping the helpless blossomed into long-lasting mythology after his death. (Source: Kaboose.)
I can’t help but be curious, though, whether his nasty little helper was also based on a real person…
Anyway, I’ll be giving Allison’s and Jodi’s chocolates to them this Thursday. Thank you, Franklin!
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You can find out more about Father Flog here and here.
If you ever get a chance to hear/see the St. Nicholas Mass by Britten, it’s interesting. I think I actually like it better than Noye’s Fludde in terms of Britten’s religious opera-like-things.
A_Tim: thanks for those links; I’ll check them out.
Rebecca: thanks for the suggestion. I think I may have heard that Britten piece ages ago, but I might be wrong. Even if I have, it’s clearly time for another listen!
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