圣誕節(jié)的意思是“基督的彌撒”

Christmas Day　圣誕節(jié)

◎ Anonymous

As winter rolls around again this year and the days become chillier, millions of people around the world will break out their winter coats and look forward with anticipation to the approaching holiday season. That’s right, Christmas is upon us again.

冬去冬又回，今年也已入冬，天氣越來(lái)越寒冷，全世界數(shù)百萬(wàn)人猛地搬出一大堆冬衣，滿心期待即將來(lái)臨的年度大假。沒(méi)錯(cuò)，圣誕節(jié)又來(lái)了！

The name Christmas is short for “Christ’s Mass”. A Mass is a kind of Church service. Christmas is a religious festival. It is the day we celebrate as the birthday of Jesus. There are special Christmas services in Christian churches all over the world. But many of the festivities of Christmas do not have anything to do with religion. Exchanging gifts and sending Christmas cards are the modern ways of celebrating the Christmas in the world.

圣誕節(jié)的英文原名Christmas是Christ’s Mass的縮寫(xiě)，意思是“基督的彌撒”。彌撒是一種教堂禮拜儀式，圣誕節(jié)則是一個(gè)宗教節(jié)日，我們?cè)谶@一天慶祝耶穌的誕生。圣誕節(jié)到來(lái)之際，世界各地的基督教教會(huì)都會(huì)舉行特殊的禮拜儀式。但是，現(xiàn)在的很多圣誕節(jié)歡慶活動(dòng)已經(jīng)和宗教毫無(wú)關(guān)系。直到近些年來(lái)，圣誕節(jié)交換禮物和送圣誕卡這兩種大眾慶祝方式才開(kāi)始興起。

For some, that means digging out those old lights and ornaments out of the closet to hang on the Christmas tree. Although it is generally agreed that the Christmas tree in its current form came from Germany in the early 19th century, the tradition of decorating a tree to mark winter celebrations dates back hundreds of years to Roman times, when they used to decorate evergreen trees with small pieces of metal to celebrate Saturnalia.

對(duì)一些人而言，這意味著又要翻箱倒柜找出往年的裝飾燈、裝飾品，將它們掛到圣誕樹(shù)上了。眾所周知，現(xiàn)在這種圣誕樹(shù)源自19世紀(jì)初的德國(guó)，但是，通過(guò)裝飾樹(shù)木作為冬季佳節(jié)來(lái)臨的標(biāo)志這一傳統(tǒng)，卻可以追溯到幾百年前的古羅馬時(shí)代。那時(shí)的人們就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始使用金屬亮片裝飾常青樹(shù)，以慶祝農(nóng)神節(jié)的到來(lái)了。

In medieval times the “Paradise Play” was performed every year on 24 December. This depicted the creation of Man and the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and always included an evergreen hung with apples which represented the apple tree of temptation. In the late 16th century, Martin Luther (the founder of the Protestant religion) was the first to decorate an indoor tree with candles when he attempted to recreate the stars shining over a forest of evergreens. The first mention of decorated trees being taken indoors came in 1605 in Germany—a country with a long Christmas tree history! The trees were initially decorated with fruit and sweets together with hand-made objects such as quilled snowflakes and stars. German Christmas Markets began to sell shaped gingerbreads and wax ornaments which people bought as souvenirs of the fair and took home to hang on their trees.

中世紀(jì)時(shí)期，每年的12月24日都會(huì)上演一出《天堂劇》。這出劇主要描繪的是人類(lèi)創(chuàng)造之初，以及亞當(dāng)、夏娃從伊甸園墮入人間的故事，劇中常常出現(xiàn)一顆掛滿蘋(píng)果的常青樹(shù)，象征著引誘他們墮落的蘋(píng)果樹(shù)。16世紀(jì)末，新教創(chuàng)始人馬丁·路德是第一個(gè)用蠟燭裝飾室內(nèi)樹(shù)木的人，而他當(dāng)時(shí)的真正目的，只是想再現(xiàn)群星照耀萬(wàn)年青樹(shù)林的一幕。1605年，德國(guó)人最先將裝飾好的樹(shù)木移到室內(nèi)，而圣誕樹(shù)在德國(guó)可是有著相當(dāng)悠久的歷史！圣誕樹(shù)上的裝飾物最初只有水果和糖果，以及用羽毛手工制作的雪花和星星。但慢慢地，德國(guó)的圣誕集市上開(kāi)始出售形狀各異的姜餅和蠟質(zhì)飾品。人們把這些買(mǎi)回家掛在樹(shù)上，當(dāng)作趕集的紀(jì)念品。

For many children, Christmas is the season of Santa Claus, that mysterious and jolly invader of chimneys, soaring through the sky on his magical sled, bearing gifts for the nice and coal for the naughty. Most people who celebrate Christmas are familiar with the figure of Santa Claus. However, few know the details of his origins or the fairly complex history of his development.

對(duì)孩子們來(lái)說(shuō)，圣誕節(jié)可是圣誕老人的大舞臺(tái)，這個(gè)神神秘秘、樂(lè)樂(lè)呵呵、愛(ài)爬煙囪的老頭，會(huì)駕著他那魔幻般的雪橇滑過(guò)天際，將禮物撒向乖孩子，而將煤球留給淘氣鬼。大多數(shù)慶祝圣誕節(jié)的人都很熟悉圣誕老人的形象，但圣誕老人的來(lái)歷以及那錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的發(fā)展史，幾乎沒(méi)幾個(gè)人能說(shuō)清楚。

The figure of Santa Claus actually has many different origins and is derived from a variety of traditions. Elements from these different traditions became incorporated together with time and produced the Santa Claus that we know today. The primary inspiration for Santa Claus is the 4th century Christian bishop Saint Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas resided in the ancient Lycian town of Myra, located in Byzantine Anatolia. Having devoted his entire life to Christianity at a young age, Nicholas became known for his generous gifts to the poor. One famous story tells of how he presented three impoverished daughters of a faithful Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. Today, we continue to use Saint Nicholas (or Saint Nick) as a pseudonym for Santa Claus.

事實(shí)上，圣誕老人的形象出處相當(dāng)多，源自于許多不同的傳統(tǒng)。隨著時(shí)間的推移，不同傳統(tǒng)中的文化元素逐漸融為一體，最終形成了我們今日熟悉的圣誕老人形象，其主要靈感來(lái)源于4世紀(jì)邁拉的基督教主教圣·尼古拉斯。邁拉是他的居住地，位于小亞細(xì)亞拜占庭的古利西亞小鎮(zhèn)。他在很小的時(shí)候就是基督教徒，畢生都獻(xiàn)身于基督教事業(yè)，并因好善濟(jì)施而出名。關(guān)于他有一個(gè)廣為流傳的故事：曾有一名虔誠(chéng)的基督徒，膝下有三個(gè)窮得叮當(dāng)響的女兒，在圣尼古拉斯的資助下，才得以置辦嫁妝而不至于淪為娼妓。今天，人們繼續(xù)使用圣·尼古拉斯（或簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)圣·尼克）作為圣誕老人的別稱(chēng)。

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