Although, for Christians, Christmas is not the most important of festivals, it is probably the most widely celebrated religious occasion in the West. This festival celebrates the birth of the messiah in Bethlehem 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 family and friends and cards wishing “Seasonal Greetings” sent between just about everyone. Father Christmas, otherwise known as Santa Claus, is said to squeeze his way down chimneys across the world on Christmas Eve and deliver presents to any children that have behaved well over the last year. Another important motif of the festival is the Christmas tree, around which traditionally people would dance around hinting at the pagan origins of this mid-winter celebration.
聖誕節
雖然對基督教徒來說，聖誕節並不是其最重要的節日，但是在西方，它卻是壹個最受廣泛慶祝的節日。聖誕節慶祝的是兩千多年前彌賽亞(猶太人盼望的復國救主)在巴勒斯坦伯利恒的誕生。這個彌賽亞就是耶穌(基督教信奉的救世主)。基督教徒相信，耶穌是被派來拯救人類並協助人們擺脫罪惡的救世主。如今，就算妳已經忘記了這個節日的本來意義也不會有人怪罪妳，因為，現在的聖誕節已經演變成為大肆消費、狂歡與縱情享受的節日。在這個節日裏，親人們、朋友間都會互送禮物，滿載著“節日祝福”的賀卡也會送到每壹個人的手中。“聖誕之父”（Father Christmas），也就是我們所熟知的“聖誕老人”（Santa Claus），據說會在聖誕節前夕順著煙囪下來，給世界各地的孩子們送去禮物，這些收到禮物的孩子必定是那些在過去的壹年中各方面表現都很優秀的孩子。聖誕節的另壹個重點是聖誕樹，在這壹天，人們會圍著聖誕樹跳舞，這也表明聖誕樹是聖誕節形成之前的隆冬節日的重要組成部分。
Easter
For religious, as opposed to cultural, Christians, this is the fundamental festival of Christianity. It celebrates the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified and died and then rose again a few days later. Jesus claimed in his life that he was the Son of God. The Jews, viewing this as heinous blasphemy, had him handed over to the Roman governor of Palestine and demanded that he be executed. Following his death on the cross however, Jesus appeared to his disciples and told them to spread his gospel of love and forgiveness around the world. Despite the religious theme to Easter, to many people in the west, this festival is simply about the exchange of chocolate eggs, said to be delivered by the Easter Bunny. Again, one can see, as with Christmas, hints of the pagan origins of this festival, onto which has been grafted the later Christian message of Easter. The early pagan concern was with the onset of spring and the rebirth of nature symbolized by an egg!
復活節
對基督徒來說，復活節在宗教上的意義與在文化上的意義是不壹樣的，它是基督教中最重要的節日。它紀念的是耶穌在十字架上受刑死後幾天內又復活這件事。耶穌聲稱自己是“上帝的兒子”。猶太人認為這是極其惡毒的褻瀆話，因此把耶穌交給了當時在巴勒斯坦的羅馬統治者，要求將這個“狂妄之徒”處死。在十字架上被釘死後，耶穌又出現在他的信徒們面前，號召大家把愛和寬容的信仰散播到世界各地。忽略了宗教上的本來意義，現在的許多西方人只把這個節日當成了壹個互換“復活節彩蛋”的節日，還美其名曰是“復活兔”贈送的。大家可以看到，就像聖誕節壹樣，以前的宗教成份已經融入到了復活節當中，在復活節形成之前，人們正是利用“彩蛋”來暗示春天的到來和自然萬物的新生。
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a very important cultural festival in the United States. 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 Mayflower pilgrims held the very first Thanksgiving. After having barely survived a harsh winter and following an abundant harvest, they decided to hold a feast to give thanks. Largely redolent of the traditional 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 first bleak year. This spirit of friendship did not last however, a few years on and the pilgrims were condemning the Indians as heathen. Nowadays, the festival is a chance for family to get together and enjoy the traditional food such as roast turkey and pumpkin pie that no Thanksgiving could do without.
感恩節
在美國，感恩節是壹個非常重要的節日。感恩節是在11月的最後壹個星期四，它的紀念主題正如它的名字本身所提到的，感謝我們所擁有的壹切。最早開始慶祝這個節日的是“五月花號”上的清教徒們。在渡過了壹個難熬的嚴冬後，他們獲得了壹次大豐收，於是，他們決定舉行壹個盛大的宴會來表達他們的感激之情。在英國傳統的“收獲感恩節”中，“感恩節”還有另外壹個重要的因素，那就是清教徒們邀請91個當地的印第字安人***同慶祝這個節日，這91個人正是在那個寒冬中給了他們極大支持的人，確實是他們需要感謝的人。然而，這種友誼並未能延續多長時間，幾年之後，清教徒們壹致譴責這些印第安人是野蠻人。如今，這個節日演變成了壹個有機會讓家庭成員聚集在壹起的節日。在這個節日中，大家在壹起享用傳統美食，如烤火雞，南瓜餡餅等這些節日特色食物。
Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night
This is an English festival that takes place on the 5th November. It commemorates what is known as the Gunpowder plot. A group of Catholic conspirators aimed to blow up the Houses of Parliament in Westminster London while the King was present hoping to foment a Catholic revolution. However, they were foiled in their scheme when a guard discovered Guy Fawkes in the basement of Parliament surrounded by barrels of gunpowder. After much torture he revealed all and the conspirators were rounded up and executed in the grizzly fashion of the day reserved for traitors: Hung, Drawn and Quartered. Today this festival is very popular with children. They build their own Guy – a dummy of stuffed clothes that resembles a person – and put it on top of a bonfire. Finally, as the bonfire rages fireworks are released symbolizing the explosions that never took place all those years ago.
蓋伊·福克斯之夜 (或篝火節之夜)
這是英國的傳統節日，時間為每年的11月5日。它紀念“火藥的陰謀”這個歷史事件。壹小撮天主教反叛分子密謀炸毀位於倫敦威斯敏斯特的英國國會大廈，當時國王正在開會，討論天主教改革的事宜。但是，密謀泄露了，壹個衛兵發現了當時正在國會大廈地窯內，被成桶成桶的炸藥包圍著的蓋伊·福克斯。他們的陰謀被挫敗了。在嚴刑拷打下，蓋伊·福克斯招供了壹切。於是，陰謀反叛的人被團團包圍起來，根據當時的律法以叛國賊論處，被判處絞刑並剖屍裂肢。今天，孩子們都非常喜歡這個節日。他們自己制作“蓋伊”－壹個用舊衣服填充做成的假人，再把它放到篝火上焚燒。最後，當絢麗的焰火燃放起來時，代表多年前的那場爆炸根本沒有發生過。
Mother’s Day
Mothering Sunday was an English observance whereby people were encouraged to return on the 4th Sunday of Lent to the church in which they were baptized, their “Mother Church”. Naturally, this often meant returning to their hometown. At the time it
was common for children as young as 10 to be away from home working so it became the custom that they were on this day allowed to return to visit their families. This evolved into a day for showing respect and love for one’s mother. Mother’s Day in the USA, on the second Sunday 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 Mothers. Father’s Day, not as is often believed invented by card companies, actually originated in the USA only a little later, inspired by Mother’s Day.
母親節
“母親節”是英國的傳統節日，在“四旬齋月”的第四個星期天，人們都要回到自己接受“洗禮”時的教堂－“母親教堂”去做禮拜。自然而然地，這也代表了回到家鄉的意思。那時，年僅10歲的孩童出外打工是很平常的事，因此，在那天回到家中跟家人團聚也就成了壹種習俗。漸漸地，這壹天變成了對母親表示尊敬和愛戴的節日。在美國，“母親節”是在五月的第二個星期天，它的來源跟英國的不大壹樣。它並不象英國那樣是從某壹個習俗轉變過來的，而是在二十世紀早期興起，為感謝所有的母親而特別設立的節日。至於“父親節”，許多人壹直認為是由賀卡制造商發起的，事實並不是這樣。在美國，“父親節”的建立只略微比“母親節”晚些，是在“母親節”的推動下產生的。