Easter is more than a religious celebration. Saint Bede (673-735), the English historian and theologian, discussed how the secular concept of Easter originated from a heathen festival held at the vernal equinox in honor of the Teutonic goddess of dawn, called Eostre, from which the Old English word eastre derived. It was only natural that people should celebrate when life was renewing itself after a hibernation or seeming death of winter; or as Geoffrey Chaucer versed so vividly, it was the time
Whan that April with his showres soote
The droughte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veine in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flower.
What more reason would they need for festivities?
The name Easter was then adopted for the Christian Paschal festival, which added a new meaning, Resurrection, to the celebration and turned it into a religious holiday. For centuries, however, people could not decide which Sunday should be the one for celebrating Easter. The only agreement that could be reached was that it should be the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox, which may be March 21 or any of the next 28 days. Therefore Easter Sunday should not be earlier than March 22 or later than April 25, as laid down by the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. It was not until 1963 that the Vatican Council declared itself in favor of fixing the date of Easter, but the Eastern Church still celebrates Easter independently. *
In contrast to this difference, Easter Eggs are common to people almost everywhere where they celebrate this holiday, for the egg is the symbol of life progressing from a quiet and motionless state to the momentous burst of birth. It symbolizes the renewal and continuation of life. Whatever the religion, whatever the culture, life is celebrated in most countries at this time of year. Eggs are colored, given to children, rolled down a slope of newly grown grass, hidden and searched out with cheers and laughter...
If only the world would always be so peaceful, cheerful, and full of life! The shape of the egg resembles 0, and that reminds me of Ground Zero. Death visited this paradise, too. There is still a long way to go before this holiday can be celebrated universally regardless of religion and ideology.
* See “Easter” in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.作者: 廖康 时间: 2008-3-20 01:00 复活节要到了，把这篇旧文译出来。作者: 青冈 时间: 2008-3-20 02:45 草木能复活，人能么？活一辈子也够了。：）作者: weili 时间: 2008-3-20 13:02 不必写长，这么短正好。：))作者: 廖康 时间: 2008-3-21 09:00 朋友发给我这个：
This year's Easter is earlier. The date is March 23. Easter is always the
1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the spring Equinox (which is March 20). Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) than it is this year but that is pretty rare.
This years is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of
our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever before seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are only ones that were around for that!).
2)The next time it will be day earlier, March 22, will be in the year
2285(277 years from now). The last time it was on March 20 was 1818. So no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.
