2010-12

Y
ou may wonder what on earth
I am going to write about
under the title of Swiety
Mikolaj? No it is not Sweaty
Michael nor is it anything to do with
sweets - well not directly - nor milk.
However if you can speak Polish
you will know that it is what people in
Poland call Father Christmas.
Our modern day view of Father
Christmas comes mainly from the
American poet Clement Moore who in
1822 wrote a poem in which he
describes Father Christmas. It is
entitled ‘The Night Before Christmas’
or ‘A Visit From St Nicholas’ and
includes bits like “He had a broad
face, and a little round belly that shook
when he laughed like a bowl full of
jelly. He was chubby and plump, — a
right jolly old elf — And I laughed
when I saw him, in spite of myself”.
(They don’t write them like that
anymore). Not only is this poem where
we get our image of Father Christmas
but also the idea that he uses a
sledge pulled by reindeer, lives at the
North Pole and has lots of elves.
The concept of Father Christmas in
the UK is much older and comes from
a pagan tradition in England which
celebrated the passing of midwinter,
signs of spring and ever lengthening
days - which is why Father Christmas
was originally dressed in green with a
red beard. He would go from house to
house and make merry with the
families who were celebrating the end
of a long winter. It was only in the
1930s that Coca Cola changed his
coat from green to red to match their
corporate colours.
Whilst Father Christmas and Santa
Claus are now pretty much
interchangeable these days they
actually come from very different
traditions. Whilst the story of Father
Christmas is based on an English
pagan tradition, the person of Santa
Claus is based on a real life person –
St Nicholas. He was around during the
third century in a then Greek city
called Myra, which is now in modern
day Turkey. St Nicholas was a Greek
Christian bishop and a very devout,
kindly person who gave a lot of his
wealth away to the poor. Because he
did not want people to know that it
was he that was giving the money he
would either throw it through an open
window or drop it down the chimney in
the house of the families that he
wanted to bless. On one occasion it
landed in some stockings which were
hanging above the fire to dry – hence
hanging stockings up for Father
Christmas to put presents in.
If like me you will be celebrating the
birth of Jesus this Christmas or just
having a bit of a knees up to give
yourselves a lift during the winter
nights, or both, be very careful walking
past an open window. Some kindly old
chap whispering Καλά Χριστούγεννα!
may lob a bag of gold through it.
Steve Winks
St Chads Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
email: office@stchads.org
Church Offices: 15 Camping Lane, Sheffield S8 0GB Page 15 website: www.stchads.org
Tel: (0114) 274 5086