几个英美国家的主要节日

几个英美国家的主要节日马兰芬ChristmasAlthough, for Christians, Christmas is not the most important of fest ivals, it is probably the most widely celebrated religious occasion i n the West. This festival celebrates the birth of the messiah in Beth lehem Palestine about two thousand years ago. This messiah was Jesus Christ who, Christians believe, was sent to save mankind and absolve them from their sins. Nowadays, you might be forgiven for missing the religious element to this festival as it has descended somewhat into an orgy of consumerism and indulgence. Gifts are given amongst famil y and friends and cards wishing “Seasonal Greetings” sent between j ust about everyone. Father Christmas, otherwise known as Santa Claus, is said to squeeze his way down chimneys across the world on Christm as Eve and deliver presents to any children that have behaved well ov er the last year. Another important motif of the festival is the Chri stmas tree, around which traditionally people would dance around hint ing at the pagan origins of this mid-winter celebration.圣诞节圣诞节的假期是12月25——26日，但很多的企业和政府机关都从12月24放到元月2，3号的。

虽然对基督教徒来说，圣诞节并不是其最重要的节日，但是在西方，它却是一个最受广泛庆祝的节日。

圣诞节庆祝的是两千多年前弥赛亚(犹太人盼望的复国救主)在巴勒斯坦伯利恒的诞生。

这个弥赛亚就是耶稣(基督教信奉的救世主)。

基督教徒相信，耶稣是被派来拯救人类并协助人们摆脱罪恶的救世主。

如今，就算你已经忘记了这个节日的本来意义也不会有人怪罪你，因为，现在的圣诞节已经演变成为大肆消费、狂欢与纵情享受的节日。

在这个节日里，亲人们、朋友间都会互送礼物，满载着“节日祝福”的贺卡也会送到每一个人的手中。

“圣诞之父”（Father Christmas），也就是我们所熟知的“圣诞老人”（Santa Claus），据说会在圣诞节前夕顺着烟囱下来，给世界各地的孩子们送去礼物，这些收到礼物的孩子必定是那些在过去的一年中各方面表现都很优秀的孩子。

圣诞节的另一个重点是圣诞树，在这一天，人们会围着圣诞树跳舞，这也表明圣诞树是圣诞节形成之前的隆冬节日的重要组成部分。

EasterFor religious, as opposed to cultural, Christians, this is the fundam ental festival of Christianity. It celebrates the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified and died and then rose again a few days later. Jesu s claimed in his life that he was the Son of God. The Jews, viewing t his as heinous blasphemy, had him handed over to the Roman governor o f Palestine and demanded that he be executed. Following his death on the cross however, Jesus appeared to his disciples and told them to s pread his gospel of love and forgiveness around the world. Despite th e religious theme to Easter, to many people in the west, this festiva l is simply about the exchange of chocolate eggs, said to be delivere d by the Easter Bunny. Again, one can see, as with Christmas, hints o f the pagan origins of this festival, onto which has been grafted the ater Christian message of Easter. The early pagan concern was with t he onset of spring and the rebirth of nature symbolized by an egg!复活节一般在每年春分后月圆第一个星期天，约在3月7日左右。

对基督徒来说，复活节在宗教上的意义与在文化上的意义是不一样的，它是基督教中最重要的节日。

它纪念的是耶稣在十字架上受刑死后几天内又复活这件事。

耶稣声称自己是“上帝的儿子”。

犹太人认为这是极其恶毒的亵渎话，因此把耶稣交给了当时在巴勒斯坦的罗马统治者，要求将这个“狂妄之徒”处死。

在十字架上被钉死后，耶稣又出现在他的信徒们面前，号召大家把爱和宽容的信仰散播到世界各地。

忽略了宗教上的本来意义，现在的许多西方人只把这个节日当成了一个互换“复活节彩蛋”的节日，还美其名曰是“复活兔”赠送的。

大家可以看到，就像圣诞节一样，以前的宗教成份已经融入到了复活节当中，在复活节形成之前，人们正是利用“彩蛋”来暗示春天的到来和自然万物的新生。

ThanksgivingThanksgiving is a very important cultural festival in the United Stat es. It takes place on the last Thursday of November and its purpose, as its name suggests, is to give thanks for all that we have. The May flower pilgrims held the very first Thanksgiving. After having barely survived a harsh winter and following an abundant harvest, they deci ded to hold a feast to give thanks. Largely redolent of the tradition al English Harvest Festival, a significant and unique element to this original Thanksgiving was that the pilgrims invited 91 local Indians to whom they felt indebted for assisting their survival in that firs t bleak year. This spirit of friendship did not last however, a few y ears on and the pilgrims were condemning the Indians as heathen. Nowa days, the festival is a chance for family to get together and enjoy t he traditional food such as roast turkey and pumpkin pie that no Than ksgiving could do without.感恩节在美国，感恩节是一个非常重要的节日。

感恩节是在11月的最后一个星期四，它的纪念主题正如它的名字本身所提到的，感谢我们所拥有的一切。

最早开始庆祝这个节日的是“五月花号”上的清教徒们。

在渡过了一个难熬的严冬后，他们获得了一次大丰收，于是，他们决定举行一个盛大的宴会来表达他们的感激之情。

在英国传统的“收获感恩节”中，“感恩节”还有另外一个重要的因素，那就是清教徒们邀请91个当地的印第字安人共同庆祝这个节日，这91个人正是在那个寒冬中给了他们极大支持的人，确实是他们需要感谢的人。

然而，这种友谊并未能延续多长时间，几年之后，清教徒们一致谴责这些印第安人是野蛮人。

如今，这个节日演变成了一个有机会让家庭成员聚集在一起的节日。

在这个节日中，大家在一起享用传统美食，如烤火鸡，南瓜馅饼等这些节日特色食物。

Mother’s DayMothering Sunday was an English observance whereby people were encour aged to return on the 4th Sunday of Lent to the church in which they were baptized, their “Mother Church”. Naturally, this often meant r eturning to their hometown. At the time itwas common for children as young as 10 to be away from home working s o it became the custom that they were on this day allowed to return t o visit their families. This evolved into a day for showing respect a nd love for one’s mother. Mother’s Day in the USA, on the second Su nday of May, has a different origin. It did not develop from another practice as in England, but was instigated in the early 20th Century as a day specifically for expressing gratitude to the Nation’s Mothe rs. Father’s Day, not as is often believed invented by card companie s, actually originated in the USA only a little later, inspired by Mo ther’s Day.母亲节每年5月份的第2个星期日，政府部门和各家门口悬挂国旗，表示对母亲的尊敬。