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Part 1 History of Easter 復活節的由來
Easter is a festival of overwhelming joy. The joy that celebrates life. Or, rather, the victory of life over death. But does it have any historic background? Did life really overcome death? Most important, why Jesus is so remembered on Easter? And why those funny stuffs like eggs, and bunnies came to be mixed up with those ideas?Also who brought all those customs on the soil of America?
Easter, the principal festival of the Christian church year, celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion. The origins of Easter date to the beginnings of Christianity, and it is probably the oldest Christian observance after the Sabbath which was originally observed on Saturday, later on Sunday.
Meanwhile, many of the cultural historians find, in the celebration of Easter, a convergence of the three traditions - Pagan, Hebrew and Christian. According to St. Bede, an English historian of the early 8th century, Easter owes its origin to the old Teutonic mythology. It was derived from the name Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the month of April was dedicated. The festival of Eostre was celebrated at the vernal equinox, when the day and night gets an equal share of the day.
The English name "Easter" is much newer. When the early English Christians wanted others to accept Christianity, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday so that it would match the name of the old spring celebration. This made it more comfortable for other people to accept Christianity.
But it is pointed out by some that the Easter festival, as celebrated today, is related with the Hebrew tradition, the Jewish Passover. This is being celebrated during Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew lunar year. The Jewish Passover under Moses commemorates Israel's deliverance from about 300 years of bondage in Egypt.
It was during this Passover in 30 AD Christ was crucified under the order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate as then the Jewish high priests accused Jesus of "blasphemy". The resurrection came three days later, on the Easter Sunday. The early Christians, many of them being brought up in Jewish tradition regarded Easter as a new feature of the Pascha (Passover).
It was observed in memory of the advent of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. And it is equanimous with the proclamation of the resurrection. Thus the early Christian Passover turned out to be a unitive celebration in memory of the passion-death-resurrection of Jesus. However, by the 4th century, Good Friday came to be observed as a separate occasion. And the Pascha Sunday had been devoted exclusively to the honor of the glorious resurrection.
Throughout the Christendom the Sunday of Pascha had become a holiday to honor Christ. At the same time many of the pagan spring rites came to be a part of its celebration. Maybe it was the increasing number of new converts who could not totally break free of the influence of pagan culture of their forefathers.
But despite all the influence there was an important shift in the spirit. No more glorification of the physical return of the Sun God. Instead the emphasis was shifted to the Sun of Righteousness who had won banishing the horrors of death for ever.
The Feast of Easter was well established by the second century. But there had been dispute over the exact date of the Easter observance between the Eastern and Western Churches. The East wanted to have it on a weekday because early Christians observed Passover every year on the 14th of Nisan, the month based on the lunar calendar. But, the West wanted that Easter should always be a Sunday regardless of the date.
To solve this problem the emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in 325. The question of the date of Easter was one of its main concerns. The council decided that Easter should fall on Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. But fixing up the date of the Equinox was still a problem. The Alexandrians, noted for their rich knowledge in astronomical calculations were given the task. And March 21 was made out to be the perfect date for spring equinox.
The dating of Easter today follows the same. Accordingly, churches in the West observe it on the first day of the full moon that occurs on or following the Spring equinox on March 21, it became a movable feast between March 21 and April 25.
Still some churches in the East observe Easter according to the date of the Passover festival. The preparation takes off as early as on the Ash Wednesday from which the period of penitence in the Lent begins. The Lent and the Holy week end on the Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection.
Today, with all its joyous customs, Easter is indeed a major popular festival across the United States. A festival that has become more of secular in spirit, though it has religious background.
However, this was not the case all along the history of United States. Easter did not enjoy the status of a popular festival among the early settlers in America. Because most of them were Puritans or members of Protestant Churches who had little use for the ceremonies of any religious festivals. Even the Puritans in Massachusetts tried their best to play down the celebration of Easter as far as possible. While various rites are said to be associated with the celebration of Easter, most of them have come as part of the ancient spring rites in the Northern hemisphere.
Not until the period of the Civil War did the message and meaning of Easter begin to be expressed as it had been in Europe. It was the initiative of the Presbyterians. The scars of death and destruction which led people back to the Easter season. They found the story of resurrection as a great source of inspiration and renewed hope.Since then, of course, its joyous customs delight children and adults alike.
復活節是最古老最有意義的基督教節日之一。它慶祝的是耶穌基督的復活，世界各地的基督徒每年舉行慶祝。復活節還象征重生和希望。早年在基督教會中對復活節的日期曾經有過爭議，引起一時的混亂，直到公元325年，教士會議才決定整個教會統一在一天慶祝復活節。
復活節是基督教紀念耶穌復活的節日。傳說耶穌被釘死在十字架上，死后第三天復活升天。每年在教堂慶祝的復活節指的是春分月圓后的第一個星期日，如果月圓那天剛好是星期天，復活節則推遲一星期。因而復活節可能在從3月21日到4月25日之間的任何一天。
典型的復活節禮物跟春天和再生有關系：雞蛋、小雞、小兔子、鮮花，特別是百合花這一季節的象征。 復活節前夕，孩子們會把雞蛋著色打扮一番。這些蛋有的煮得很老，有的只是空空的蛋殼。復活節那天早上，孩子們會發現床前的復活節籃子里裝滿了巧克力彩蛋、復活節小兔子、有絨毛的小雞及娃娃玩具等。據說復活節兔子會把彩蛋藏在室內或是草地里讓孩子們去尋找。一年一度的美國白宮滾彩蛋活動經常被電視臺實況轉播。
復活節也是向你所關懷的人送鮮花、盆景、胸花等的節日。許多去做禮拜的人這天也向教堂獻上花束。成人們則往往互贈賀卡或小件禮品。 傳統上人們在復活節給孩子們送去活的小雞、小鴨、小兔子等，但孩子們太小往往不能恰當地喂養這些小動物，所以究竟送什么禮物你得認真考慮一番。
Part 2 The Icons of Easter 復活節的象征
Egg, Bunny, and Lily, needless to say what they are for. These have become associated with Easter in such a manner that we can hardly get rid of them from our Easter functions, from decoration to fun, from confectionery to meal, from rites to rhymes, they are everywhere during the Easter.
The Easter Egg 復活節彩蛋
Eggs and Easter have almost become synonymous. But what is so special in an egg? It is the influence of the traditional spring rites that made Easter so egg-special. And myths coming down to us from an incredibly distant past have shown man's relationship with the egg to be very deep seated one. This is caught in old Latin proverb: Omne vivum ex ovo. This means "all life comes from an egg". Not just the Latin saying, eggs are just laid well over all corners of the world. From ancient India to Polynesia, from Iran, Greece, and Phonecia to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, from Central America to the west coast of South America, there are reports of myths of the whole universe created out of an egg.
So, it is not unusual that in almost all ancient cultures eggs had been held as an emblem of life.In Europe an egg was hung on New Year trees, on Maypoles, and on St. John's trees in midsummer. Indeed, all meant egg as a symbol of the regenerative forces of nature. Later during the Christian period, it was believed that eggs laid on Good Friday, if kept for a hundred years, would have their yolks turn to diamond. If Good Friday eggs were cooked on Easter they would promote the fertility of the trees and crops and protect against sudden deaths. And, if you would find two yolks in an Easter egg, be sure, you're going to be rich soon. That's what they believed!
Eggs were said to be dyed and eaten at the spring festivals in ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The Persians of that time gave eggs as gifts at the vernal equinox. But it is not very clear how those colored eggs have come in to dominate the Easter basket. In fact, they have become so popular with the Easter celebration that they even started to dominate the ancient concepts of the symbolism of eggs. It is speculated that it was introduced in Europe, or, rather Western Europe, during the course of the fifteenth century. This was when missionaries or knights of the Crusades are thought to have brought in the concept of the coloring of eggs westwards.
In medieval times there was a superstition: the church bells which had not been heard since Holy Thursday had been to Rome for the Pope's blessings and returned on Easter Eve with colored eggs for everyone. Many of the eggs were dyed red. Red was in memory joyous Easter celebration. Or it was to honor the blood that Christ shed. During the strict Lenten fast of forty days no eggs were eaten.
蛋象征春天新生命的開始，更象征耶穌復活走出石墓。其實四旬節守齋是禁止吃蛋的，到了十二世紀，才開始有雞蛋的祝圣。
教徒習慣把蛋涂成紅色，請神父祝圣，然后蛋送給朋友作為禮物。祝圣蛋的經文是祈求上帝使之成為健康的食品，并為慶祝耶穌的復活、懷著感激之情去食用。這是便是復活蛋的起源。
