圣诞节不可不知圣诞节来历
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Christmas is a Christian1 holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but most Christians2 observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special religious services.
 
During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly3, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that means Mass of Christ. The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New Testament4.
Noteobserve: vt. 观察,评述,说      decorate: v. 装饰

The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated5 centuries before the Christ child was born.

The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god-Marduk. Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos6.

Notecarnival: n. 狂欢节    procession: n. 行列,队伍    believe in: 相信,信任

 

To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.

 

The Persians and the Babylonians celebrated a similar festival called the Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places, the slaves would become the masters and the masters were to obey.

 

The ancient Greeks held a festival similar to that of the Zagmuk/Sacaea festivals to assist their god Kronos who would battle the god Zeus and his Titans.

Noteobey: v. 服从,顺从      battle: vi. 作战,战斗   n. 战役,战争

 

The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn7. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive8 meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits).

The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. Again the masters and slaves would exchange places.

"Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians thought it an abomination to honor the pagan god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia.

 

 

Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time.

 

Notefestive: adj. 庆祝的,喜庆的   abomination: n. 憎恨,厌恶   rival: n. 竞争者

 

The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas.

The exact day of the Christ child's birth has never been pinpointed9. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop10 of Rome ordered the birthday of the Christ Child celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD another Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th as the observance of Christmas.

Notesolemn: adj. 庄严的,隆重的

 

The birth of Jesus had a story: In Nazareth, a city of Galilee. The virgin's name was Mary was betrothed11 to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was minded to put her away secretly.

While he thought about these things, Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him did not be afraid to take Mary as wife. And Mary will bring forth12 a Son, and he shall call his name, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

 

Before Jesus births, Joseph and Mary came to Quirnius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up out of Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and of the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

 

So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And that, Christmas is the feast of the nativity of Jesus, is on 25th, December every year. But nobody knows the actual birthday of Jesus. And the Christmas has become popular when Christmas cards appeared in 1846 and the concept of a jolly Santa Claus was first made popular in nineteenth Century.

Notefirstborn: adj. 第一胎生的   nativity: n. 出生   concept: n. 观念,概念

 

The custom of giving gifts to relatives and friends on a special day in winter probably began in ancient Rome and northern Europe. In these regions, people gave each other small presents as part of their year-end celebrations.

 

In the 1800's, two more Christmas customs became popular--decorating Christmas trees and sending Christmas cards to relatives and friends. Many well-known Christmas carols, including "Silent Night" and "Hark! The Herald13 Angels Sing," were composed during this period.

 

In the United States and other countries, Santa Claus replaced Saint Nicholas as the symbol of gift giving.

The word Xmas is sometimes used instead of Christmas. This tradition began in the early Christian church. In Greek, X is the first letter of Christ's name. It was frequently used as a holy symbol.

Notetradition: n. 传统,惯例


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
2 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
  • His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
3 holly hrdzTt     
n.[植]冬青属灌木
参考例句:
  • I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
  • People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。
4 testament yyEzf     
n.遗嘱;证明
参考例句:
  • This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
  • It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明,编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。
5 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
6 chaos 7bZyz     
n.混乱,无秩序
参考例句:
  • After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后,城市一片混乱。
  • The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。
7 Saturn tsZy1     
n.农神,土星
参考例句:
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。
  • These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们,土星由较轻的物质构成。
8 festive mkBx5     
adj.欢宴的,节日的
参考例句:
  • It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节,每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
  • We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。
9 pinpointed e23273e2459d3a2f113ef7cdb8d1c728     
准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 ); 为…准确定位
参考例句:
  • His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice. 他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。
  • Computers pinpointed where the shells were coming from. 计算机确定了炮弹发射的位置。
10 bishop AtNzd     
n.主教,(国际象棋)象
参考例句:
  • He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
  • Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。
11 betrothed betrothed     
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She is betrothed to John. 她同约翰订了婚。
  • His daughter was betrothed to a teacher. 他的女儿同一个教师订了婚。
12 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
13 herald qdCzd     
vt.预示...的来临,预告,宣布,欢迎
参考例句:
  • In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
  • Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。
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