西方过圣诞节的习俗（要英文的）

圣诞节的习俗（英文版）急需~

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but most Christians 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 holly, 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 Testament.

The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated 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 chaos. 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.

The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. 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 festive 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. 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 pinpointed. Traditions say that it has been celebrated since the year 98 AD. In 137 AD the Bishop 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.

The birth of Jesus had a story: In Nazareth, a city of Galilee. The virgin's name was Mary was betrothed 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 forth 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.

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 Herald 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.

“圣诞节”这个名称是“基督弥撒”的缩写。弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式。耶诞节是一个宗教节。我们把它当作耶稣的诞辰来庆祝，因而又名耶诞节。这一天，世界所有的基督教会都举行特别的礼拜仪式。但是有很多圣诞节的欢庆活动和宗教并无半点关联。交换礼物，寄圣诞卡，这都使圣诞节成为一个普天同庆的日子。

圣诞节是基督教世界最大的节日。4世纪初，1月6日是罗马帝国东部各教会纪念耶稣降生和受洗的双重节日、称为“主显节”Epiphany，亦称“显现节”即上帝通过耶稣向世人显示自己。当时只有耶路撒冷的教会例外，那里只纪念耶稣的诞生而不纪念耶稣的受洗。

后来历史学家们在罗马基督徒习用的日历中发现公元 354年12月25日页内记录着：“基督降生在犹大的伯利恒。”经过研究，一般认为12月25日作为圣诞节可能开始于公元336年的罗马教会。12月25日原来是波斯太阳神（即光明之神）密特拉（Mithra）的诞辰，是一个异教徒节日，同时太阳神也是罗马国教众神之一。这一天又是罗马历书的冬至节，崇拜太阳神的异教徒都把这一天当作春天的希望，万物复苏的开始。可能由于这个原因，罗马教会才选择这一天作为圣诞节。这是教会初期力图把异教徒的风俗习惯基督教化的措施之一。后来，虽然大多数教会都接受12月25日为圣诞节，但又因为各地教会使用的历书不同，具体日期不能统一，于是就把12月24日到第二年的1月6日定为圣诞节节期（Christmas Tide），各地教会可以根据当地具体情况在这段节期之内庆祝圣诞节。

Christmas Day
Christmas is a joyful religious holiday when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. To people all over the world, Christmas is a season of giving and receiving presents. In some European countries, Father Christmas, or Saint Claus, comes into houses in the night and leaves gifts for the children. Saint Nicholas
is represented as a kindly man with a red cloak and long white beard.
Most children believe that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. All year he lists the names of children, both those who have been good and those who have been bad. He decides what presents to give to the good children. Each child hung a stocking, or sock, over the fireplace. Santa entered down the chimney and
left candy and presents inside the socks for the children. On the morning of Christmas day. Each child can't wait to open his or her eyes to see what Santa has left in the stocking.

Christmas Cards
Another important custom of Christmas is to send and receive Christmas cards, which are meant to help express the sentiment of the season. Americans begin sending Christmas cards early in December to friends,
acquaintances, and co-workers. The post office advises customers to mail early in the season and avoid the Christmas rush. Some people heed the advice; others wait until the last minute and then are upset when their loved ones have not received the greeting card or the present which they sent.

It is interesting to see how different countries celebrate Christmas．We asked some of our friends and this is what they told us about their Christmas celebrations：

Belgium On Christmas Eve，it starts with a drink and “nibbles1)”，followed by a “starter” course such as seafood，and then stuffed turkey．The dessert is a kind of cake made with cream．Father Christmas is called “Saint Nicholas” and he brings presents to children on Dec ember 6th，“St．Nicholas Day，” a long time before Christmas．

Brazil Father Christmas is called Papai Noel．Many Christmas customs are similar to those in the USA or UK．For those who have enough money，a special Christmas meal will be chicken，turkey，ham，rice，salad，pork，fresh and dried fruits，often with beer．Poorer people will just have chicken and rice．

Finland Finnish people believe that Father Christmas（Santa Claus）lives in the north part of Finland called Korvatunturi，north of the Arctic Circle．People from all over the world send letters to Santa Claus in Finland．There is a even big tourist theme park called “Christmas Land” in the north of Finland，near to where they say that Father Christmas lives．Everyone cleans their houses ready for the three holy days of Christmas－－Christmas Eve，Christmas Day，and Boxing Day2)．Christmas Eve is very special，when people eat rice porridge3) and plum4) fruit juice in the morning．They will then decorate a spruce5) tree in the home．Many families will visit cemeteries and graveyards to place a candle onto the burial graves of family members．Cemeteries are very beautiful at Christmas－time．

France In France，everyone has a Christmas tree，sometimes decorated in the old way with red ribbons and real white wax candles．Fir6) trees in the garden are often decorated too，with lights on all night．Father Christmas is called Père Noel．The Christmas meal is an important family gathering with good meat and the best wine．Not everyone sends Christmas cards．

Germany Germans love to decorate their house sat Christmas．Many houses will have little wooden frames holding electric candles in their windows，and coloured pictures of paper or plastic which look beautiful from the outside at night．Father Christmas brings presents in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve（December 24th），after people have been to a church meeting．The presents are then found under the Christmas tree．One person in the family will ring a bell and call everyone to come to the room．On Christmas Day，fish（carp7））or goose will be cooked．

Latvia Latvians believe that Father Christmas brings presents on each of the 12days of Christmas starting on Christmas Eve．Usually the presents are put under the family Christmas tree．The special Latvian Christmas Day meal is cooked brown peas with bacon（pork）sauce，small pies，cabbage and sausage．

Portugal People pretend that Father Christmas brings presents to children on Christmas Eve．The presents are left under the Christmas tree or in shoes by the fireplace．A special Christmas meal of salted dry cod－fish8) with boiled potatoes is eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve．

Russia In the days of the Soviet Union，Christmas was not celebrated very much．New Year was the important time－－when “Father Frost” brought presents to children．Now Christmas can be openly celebrated－－either on December25th；or more often on January 7th．This unusual date is because the Russian Orthodox church uses the old“Julian”calendar9) for religious celebration days．Special Christmas food includes cakes，pies and “meat dumplings．”

Sweden The most important day is Christmas Eve．A special Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve－－ham（pork），herring10) fish，and brown beans－－and this is the time when families give presents to each other．Many people attend a church meeting early on Christmas Day．

世 界 各 地 的 圣 诞 庆 典

了解不同的国家怎样庆祝圣诞节是一件有趣的事情。我们请教了一些朋友。他们对自己国家的圣诞活动是这样描述的：

比利时 圣诞夜，欢庆活动由小饮和小吃开始，然后是“开胃”菜，如海鲜。接下来的菜是填满佐料的火鸡。甜点是一种带奶油的蛋糕。圣诞老人叫做“圣尼古拉斯”。他在12月6日这一天为孩子们带来礼物。“圣尼古拉斯节”时间远在圣诞节前。

巴西 圣诞老人被叫做“圣诞阿爸”。巴西很多的圣诞节习俗与美国或英国类似。对于那些有钱的人家，特别的圣诞宴有鸡、火鸡、火腿、米饭、沙拉、猪肉，以及水果和干果，通常还有啤酒。穷人只是食用鸡和米饭。

芬兰 芬兰人相信圣诞老人（圣克劳斯）住在芬兰北部一个叫做科尔瓦山的地方，位于北极圈北部。全世界的人们都把寄给圣诞老人的信发往芬兰。在芬兰的北部甚至有一个大型旅游主题公园被称为“圣诞地”，就位于传说中圣诞老人的居住地附近。每家每户都清扫各自的房屋以迎接圣诞节的三个圣日---圣诞夜、圣诞日和节礼日。圣诞夜是个重要的节日。

人们早上喝米粥和李子汁。然后他们在家中装饰云杉树。很多家庭会前往墓地，在已故亲属的墓上献上一根蜡烛。圣诞节时墓地都显得格外漂亮。

法国 在法国，每人都有一棵圣诞树。有时圣诞树按传统的方式用红绸带和真正的白蜡烛装饰。庭院中的冷杉树也经常被装饰起来，通宵都亮着小彩灯。圣诞老人被叫做“圣诞阿爸”。圣诞宴是一次重要的家庭聚会，席上满是美酒佳肴。圣诞卡不是每个人都寄的。

德国 德国人喜欢在圣诞节装饰他们的房子。很多房子的窗户上都会有用小木架支起来的灯泡蜡烛以及印在纸上或塑料上的彩色图片，晚上从屋外看上去非常漂亮。圣诞老人在圣诞夜（12月24日）傍晚人们去教堂聚会之后带来礼物。礼物放在圣诞树下。每家有一个人摇着铃铛叫所有人去屋里看礼物。圣诞节人们烹饪鲤鱼或者家鹅。

拉脱维亚 拉脱维亚人相信圣诞老人在从圣诞夜开始的12天中每天都带给人们礼物。通常礼物放在家中的圣诞树下。独特的拉脱维亚圣诞节宴有褐豆加火腿酱、小馅饼、洋白菜和香肠。

葡萄牙 人们假装圣诞老人在圣诞夜给孩子们带来礼物。礼物放到圣诞树下面或者壁炉旁的鞋里。圣诞夜子夜之时，人们开始享用有腌制的鳕鱼和煮土豆的特别的圣诞宴。

俄罗斯 苏联时期，人们不大过圣诞节。新年是一个重要的节日---这时“霜父”为孩子们带来礼物。现在圣诞节可以被公开庆祝，或者在12月25日，或者更通常在1月7日。选择后者这个不寻常的日子是因为俄罗斯东正教按照古老的儒略历确定宗教节日。典型的圣诞宴包括蛋糕、馅饼以及“肉饺”。

瑞典 最重要的日子是圣诞夜。特别的圣诞宴安排在圣诞夜，有猪肉火腿、鲱鱼和褐豆。这也是各家互赠礼物的时候。很多人在圣诞节这一天一大早便去教堂参加聚会。

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