A Sunday between March 22 and April 25
The meaning of many different customs observed during Easter Sunday have been buried with time. Their origins lie in pre-Christian religions and Christianity. All in some way or another are a "salute to spring," marking re-birth. The white Easter lily has come to capture the glory of the holiday. The word "Easter" is named after Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox （春分）.

People celebrate the holiday according to their beliefs and their religious denominations （命名）. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day that He was resurrected （復(fù)活）. Protestant settlers brought the custom of a sunrise service, a religious gathering at dawn, to the United States.

This year Easter will be celebrated on Sunday April 11, 2004. On Easter Sunday children wake up to find that the Easter Bunny has left them baskets of candy. He has also hidden the eggs that they decorated earlier that week. Children hunt for the eggs all around the house. Neighborhoods and organizations hold Easter egg hunts, and the child who finds the most eggs wins a prize.

The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit. Long ago, he was called the" Easter Hare." Hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births so they became a symbol of fertility. The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that hares laid eggs in the grass. The Romans believed that "All life comes from an egg." Christians consider eggs to be "the seed of life" and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Why we dye, or color, and decorate eggs is not certain. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia eggs were dyed for spring festivals. In medieval Europe, beautifully decorated eggs were given as gifts.

Egg Rolling

In England, Germany and some other countries, children rolled eggs down hills on Easter morning, a game which has been connected to the rolling away of the rock from Jesus Christ's tomb when he was resurrected. British settlers brought this custom to the New World.

In the United States in the early nineteenth century, Dolly Madison, the wife of the fourth American President, organized an egg roll in Washington, D.C. She had been told that Egyptian children used to roll eggs against the pyramids so she invited the children of Washington to roll hard-boiled eggs down the hilly lawn of the new Capitol building! The custom continued, except for the years during the Civil War. In 1880, the First Lady invited children to the White House for the Egg Roll because officials had complained that they were ruining the Capitol lawn. It has been held there ever since then, only canceled during times of war. The event has grown, and today Easter Monday is the only day of the year when tourists are allowed to wander over the White House lawn. The wife of the President sponsors it for the children of the entire country. The egg rolling event is open to children twelve years old and under. Adults are allowed only when accompanied by children!

Traditionally, many celebrants （司儀神父） bought new clothes for Easter which they wore to church. After church services, everyone went for a walk around the town. This led to the American custom of Easter parades all over the country. Perhaps the most famous is along Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Good Friday is a federal holiday in 16 states and many schools and businesses throughout the U.S. are closed on this Friday.

復(fù)活節(jié)是最古老最有意義的基督教節(jié)日之一。它慶祝的是基督的復(fù)活，世界各地的基督徒每年都要舉行慶祝。復(fù)活節(jié)還象征重生和希望。時(shí)間是春分月圓后的第一個(gè)星期日。

復(fù)活節(jié)是基督教紀(jì)念耶穌復(fù)活的節(jié)日。傳說耶穌被釘死在十字架上，死后第三天復(fù)活升天。每年在教堂慶祝的復(fù)活節(jié)指的是春分月圓后的第一個(gè)星期日，如果月圓那天剛好是星期天，復(fù)活節(jié)則推遲一星期。因而復(fù)活節(jié)可能在3月22日至4月25日之間的任何一天。

典型的復(fù)活節(jié)禮物跟春天和再生有關(guān)系：雞蛋、小雞、小兔子、鮮花，特別是百合花是這一季節(jié)的象征。復(fù)活節(jié)前夕，孩子們?yōu)榕笥押图胰私o雞蛋著色打扮一番。這些蛋有的煮得很老，有的只是空空的蛋殼。復(fù)活節(jié)那天早上，孩子們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)床前的復(fù)活節(jié)籃子里裝滿了巧克力彩蛋、復(fù)活節(jié)小兔子、有絨毛的小雞及娃娃玩具等。據(jù)說復(fù)活節(jié)兔子會(huì)將彩蛋藏在室內(nèi)或是草地里讓孩子們?nèi)ふ?。一年一度的美國白宮滾彩蛋活動(dòng)經(jīng)常被電視臺(tái)實(shí)況轉(zhuǎn)播。

在多數(shù)西方國家里，復(fù)活節(jié)一般要舉行盛大的宗教游行。游行者身穿長袍，手持十字架，赤足前進(jìn)。他們打扮成基督教歷史人物，唱著頌歌歡慶耶穌復(fù)活。如今節(jié)日游行已失去往日濃厚的宗教色彩。節(jié)日游行洋溢著喜慶的氣氛，具有濃烈的民間特色和地方特色。在美國，游行隊(duì)伍中即有身穿牛仔服踩高蹺的小丑，也有活潑可愛的卡通人物米老鼠。在英國，游行多以介紹當(dāng)?shù)氐臍v史和風(fēng)土人情為主，游行者化裝成為蘇格蘭風(fēng)笛樂隊(duì)以及皇宮衛(wèi)士，吸引了眾多的游客。復(fù)活節(jié)的到來還使人們紛紛換上新衣。過去基督教教徒會(huì)在節(jié)前去教堂行洗禮，然后穿上自己的新袍，慶祝基督的新生。穿戴一新的習(xí)俗保留至今，因?yàn)槿藗冋J(rèn)為節(jié)日里不穿新衣是要倒運(yùn)的。復(fù)活節(jié)期間，人們還喜歡徹底打掃自己的住處，表示新生活從此開始。

德國政府規(guī)定復(fù)活節(jié)休息兩天。在節(jié)日里，家人團(tuán)聚，品嘗各種傳統(tǒng)食品，親戚朋友見面要互相祝賀。象征生命的蛋、火、水、兔等成了復(fù)活節(jié)的吉祥物。雞蛋和兔子在西方是新的生命和興旺發(fā)達(dá)的象征。雞蛋的本色象征太陽，把雞蛋染成紅色則象征生活幸福。在復(fù)活節(jié)中，父母要特地為孩子們準(zhǔn)備制成雞蛋、兔子形狀的巧克力糖。親友間要互贈(zèng)彩蛋。在萊茵河中游和黑森東部的一些城鎮(zhèn)，至今保留著“彩蛋樹”這一古老習(xí)俗。人們把成百的蛋殼涂上彩畫，串成蛋鏈，在復(fù)活節(jié)這天掛在松樹上，制成彩蛋樹，大人孩子圍著彩蛋樹唱歌、跳舞、慶祝復(fù)活節(jié)。而阿爾卑斯山的姑娘們則通過贈(zèng)送紅雞蛋來表達(dá)自己的愛情。在復(fù)活節(jié)這天，姑娘如果向某一小伙子贈(zèng)送三個(gè)紅雞蛋，表示姑娘向小伙子求愛。關(guān)于兔子成為復(fù)活節(jié)的吉祥物，是有一段傳說的。

在古代耶穌復(fù)活之日，正值斯堪的納維亞地區(qū)居民慶祝大地回春的“春太陽節(jié)”，作為草原、森林動(dòng)物中多產(chǎn)動(dòng)物之一的兔子，它象征了春天的復(fù)蘇和新生命的誕生，同時(shí)它又是愛神阿弗洛狄特的寵物，也是日爾曼土地女神霍爾塔的持燭引路者。因此，現(xiàn)在兔子作為給孩子們送復(fù)活節(jié)雞蛋的使者，深受孩子的寵愛。'在復(fù)活節(jié)這一天孩子定會(huì)收到兔形禮物。 火不僅給人類帶來了光明，也使大地獲得了新生。作為耶穌再生的象征，復(fù)活節(jié)的許多活動(dòng)都與火相關(guān)。

復(fù)活節(jié)這一天，人們?cè)诮烫们包c(diǎn)燭以示圣化，并將圣燭迎進(jìn)千家萬戶。這一天，孩子們最快樂的事是把圣火送到各家。他們?cè)诮烫们坝檬セ瘘c(diǎn)燃樹枝，然后奔跑著送到各家各戶，其間充滿著歡快的節(jié)日氣氛。在德國的巴伐利亞地區(qū)，每年的復(fù)活節(jié)居民們都要舉行火炬賽跑，以慶祝耶穌的再生。而北萊茵上威斯特法倫州的呂克臺(tái)復(fù)活節(jié)滾火輪更是遠(yuǎn)近聞名。六個(gè)巨型大木輪被火點(diǎn)燃滾下山谷，就像六個(gè)火球從天而降，漆黑的山谷被大火輪照得通明，它與五彩繽紛的焰火交相輝映，再次顯示了火給人類帶來了新生。

作為德國惟一的少數(shù)民族索布族人則是用百騎大合唱的形式來慶祝耶酥的復(fù)活。一個(gè)個(gè)身穿黑色上衣、頭戴黑色禮帽的索布族人，騎在用彩帶、鮮花和白色貝殼裝飾的駿馬上，浩浩蕩蕩地行進(jìn)在林間小路上。他們邊走邊用粗獷雄厚的嗓音高唱贊歌，場(chǎng)面十分壯觀。

復(fù)活節(jié)與食物

在歐洲，因?yàn)橛兴难?復(fù)活節(jié)前40天)的守齋的緣故，在每次復(fù)活節(jié)用餐前，都先予以祝圣；因此第七世紀(jì)時(shí)，就有祝圣羔羊的記載出現(xiàn)了，之后又多了油脂和火腿的祝圣。

其實(shí)四旬節(jié)守齋是禁止吃蛋類的。到了十二世紀(jì)，才開始有雞蛋的祝圣；因此在復(fù)活節(jié)時(shí)，天主教徒會(huì)把蛋涂成紅色，請(qǐng)神父祝圣，自己也用作禮物送給朋友，這是為什么現(xiàn)在復(fù)活節(jié)都要送彩蛋的最早起源。

除了雞蛋外，還有其它食品，如奶油、乳酪、面包等的祝圣。在禮儀改革前的圣教典禮中，仍保留了羔羊、蛋、面包的祝圣經(jīng)文。

在歐洲許多國家，復(fù)活主日的主餐均食羔羊肉，因?yàn)樵谧Ｊジ嵫驎r(shí)，可讓人紀(jì)念摩西借著羔羊的血，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)以色列人出埃及，而這羔羊(后來稱為逾越節(jié)的羔羊)是耶穌的預(yù)表：他是上帝的圣潔羔羊，藉他在十字架上所留的血，使人類得以洗凈罪，脫離魔鬼的奴役。

蛋也象征春天及新生命的開始。到了基督徒的時(shí)代，更賦予了一層宗教意義：象征耶穌復(fù)活走出石墓。

而面包則使基督徒們想到耶穌是永生的活糧。在歐洲許多國家中，復(fù)活節(jié)通常會(huì)另外烤制特別的復(fù)活節(jié)面包，面包上畫有基督耶穌的字樣、十字架，或羔羊的圖案等，以紀(jì)念基督。

復(fù)活節(jié)島與復(fù)活節(jié)

在煙波浩渺的南太平洋上，有一個(gè)面積僅為165平方公里的小島－－復(fù)活節(jié)島，它以神秘的巨石人像和奇異的風(fēng)情吸引著無數(shù)游人。復(fù)活節(jié)島是智利的一個(gè)小島，距智利本土3600多公里。據(jù)說，1722年荷蘭探險(xiǎn)家雅可布·洛吉文（Jabbo Roggeween）在南太平洋上航行探險(xiǎn)，突然發(fā)現(xiàn)一片陸地。他以為自己發(fā)現(xiàn)了新大陸，趕緊登陸，結(jié)果上岸后才知道是個(gè)海島。正巧這天是復(fù)活節(jié)（1722年4月5），于是就將這個(gè)無名小島命名為復(fù)活節(jié)島。1888年，智利政府派人接管該島，說來也巧，這天又正好是復(fù)活節(jié)。