复活节诗歌：Easter Bunny

　　In memory of all the bunnies we couldn't save.

　　I remember Easter Sunday

　　It was colorful and fun

　　The new life that I'd begun

　　In my new cage.

　　I was just a little thing

　　When they brought me from the store

　　And they put me on the floor

　　In my cage.

　　They would take me out to play

　　Love and pet me all the time

　　Then at day's end I would climb

　　In my cage.

　　But as days and weeks went by

　　I saw less of them it seemed

　　Of their loving touch I dreamed

　　In my cage.

　　In the night outside their house

　　I felt sad and so neglected

　　Often scared and unprotected

　　In my cage.

　　In the dry or rainy weather

　　Sometimes hotter sometimes colder

　　I just sat there growing older

　　In my cage.

　　The cat and dog raced by me

　　Playing with each other only

　　While I sat there feeling lonely

　　In my cage.

　　Upon the fresh green grass

　　Children skipped and laughed all day

　　I could only watch them play

　　From my cage.

　　They used to take me out

　　And let me scamper in the sun

　　I no longer get to run

　　In my cage.

　　Once a cute and cuddly bunny

　　Like a little ball of cotton

　　Now I'm grown up and forgotten

　　In my cage.

　　I don't know what went wrong

　　At the home I did inhabit

　　I just grew to be a rabbit

　　In my cage.

　　But they've brought me to the pound

　　I was once loved and enjoyed

　　Now I wait to be destroyed

　　In my cage.

　　Mary

　　复活节诗歌：Easter Holiday

　　Easter holiday, is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ!

　　Jesus Christ, The Son of God, bled and died for us in a sacrifice.

　　This Spring day's celebrated, generally in the month of April.

　　All of the bright and pretty colors, of the Easter outfits with frills.

　　Women and children will wear their Easter bonnets.

　　In the Spring, you'll hear the various musical sonnets.

　　April will bring many rain showers.

　　That'll bring us various beautiful flowers.

　　One special flower for this day is the Easter Lily.

　　It's color is white, and yet snowy & milky.

　　The birds will sing their songs of praise.

　　As we begin to feel the warmth of the sun's rays.

　　As we say "Goodbye" to the winter's gloom,

　　The flowers and trees have already begun to bloom.

　　All of life's beauty, The Lord created, for us all to share.

　　Spring breezes begin to flow, sending fragrances through the air.

　　The winter's thawing will let the rivers, lakes, and streams rise and flow.

　　The beauty of the Earth will make us all feel aglow!

　　Farmers and gardeners will start to hoe.

　　And then they'll begin to sow.

　　On Sundays, we'll hear the various church bells ring.

　　Let's be grateful for the LORD, let's rejoice and sing.

　　If it wasn't for the Lord, we wouldn't have anything!

　　Easter: The Day of Resurrection

　　Well, There is a Christian saying. It says, "Prophets died, saints died, great men died - none of them ever returned to life. When Christ died some people remembered that he had foretold his resurrection……"

　　Well, There is a Christian saying. It says, "Prophets died, saints died, great men died - none of them ever returned to life. When Christ died some people remembered that he had foretold his resurrection……"

　　The reference of Bible

　　Behind the festive joys, feast, fun and family enjoyment, Easter reminds all of a significant event. The event that Jesus Christ was resurrected, after having suffered and died. It reminds you that Christ, who was crucified on, what is now called, the Good Friday, showed himself up on the Easter. So, it is a time to celebrate. To celebrate - that Lord, who appeared on Earth for the good of mankind, is always with us.

　　That Jesus would resurrect was foretold. The saying came as one of his prophecies.

　　And, with memories sharpened by hatred, his enemies were the first to remember his prophecy. Hardly had he been buried when they approached the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate with a request to guard the tomb. Pilate gave them soldiers and instructed them to secure the tomb. They went, sealed the stone that closed the entrance, and set the guards to keep watch day and night.

　　During the night of Friday, the day of his Crucifixion, through to Saturday, nothing had really happened. So did go the the whole of Saturday, the weekly rest day in Jerusalem then.

　　The things turned different on the early morning of the Sunday, the third day since Jesus was crucified. There was a great uproar and the guards of the tomb were all struck by lightning. for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His face shining like lightning and his garments white as snow. At this sight, the soldiers trembled with fear and remained as dead men. When they came to their senses there was no point in watching over an empty tomb any longer.

　　They went to report the chief priest about the incident. In reply they were asked to distort the truth. And spread a story that the body of Jesus was stolen by his own disciples when the guards were asleep during the night.

　　Meanwhile, early on the following morning, that was Sunday morning, some holy women started for the tomb. They were surprised to see that the stone had been moved aside. They entered the tomb. And found it empty. As they wondered what all these meant, two angels appeared. The angels told them that Jesus had risen again, as he had already told.

　　Soon Peter, the chief of Jesus' twelve apostles got there along with John, his junior. They found only the linen and the piece of cloth used to wrap his body lied in the empty tomb. Puzzled, they left.

　　But Jesus was yet to appear in front of them. Instead, Jesus went farther. He turned up to join two of his disciples who were journeying from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. However, Jesus did not make himself known to them. Jesus to them came to be known as a stranger who had real mastery over the holy Scriptures. Impressed they invited Jesus to stay with them and share their meal. Jesus agreed. But when at the table they recognized Jesus, he disappeared.

　　In no time the two disciples headed for Jerusalem. When they met the apostles and told them about everything happened, Jesus made his appearance. And Jesus convinced them all that he was alive and asked them if anything was there to eat. Then he ate in their presence as a living man does. With this everybody there became overwhelmed with joy that their master had returned to life. And life again had become meaningful to the apostles.

　　Jesus had eaten with them. Talked to them in a familiar manner. And finally he reminded them that he had come from heaven, sent by his Father to perform a task. Now, the task had been done by offering his life for the sins of mankind, it is time for the apostles to follow his suit. And Jesus gave the apostles the Holy Spirit: the power over sin. So one whose sins are forgiven by the apostles, would be forgiven by the heaven. After this Jesus left, as suddenly as he came in.

　　Jesus returned to the same place on the Sunday next, to make believe the unbelievers. And Jesus showed himself now and then to teach his apostles the lessons and to teach them to live without him. Jesus did this for a period of forty days.

　　On the fortieth day of reappearance, when he felt he had given the disciples all that he had to, he went back to the heaven. This same Jesus will come back just the same way He has left.

　　He had left his disciples to carry on his work and to reach his message of love and peace to all.

　　The Easter Bunny: Symbol of Easter

　　The Easter Bunny is one of the best known Easter symbols. Learn its history, and how people around the world revere rabbits and hares.

　　The Easter Bunny is one of the best known Easter symbols. Learn its history, and how people around the world revere rabbits and hares.

　　The Easter Bunny: Beloved Easter Symbol

　　Of all the symbols of Easter, none is more beloved than the Easter Bunny. And, of all the symbols of this season, none has a more varied, unique and universal background than this floppy-eared chocolate confection deliveryman. With his place—and yes, for some reason, the Easter Bunny is always referred to as "he"—in the traditions of many cultures, Rabbit can most certainly answer the question, "What's up, doc?" (after all, what would Elmer be without Bugs?).

　　The Advent of The Easter Bunny

　　The first documented use of the bunny as a symbol of Easter appears in Germany in the 1500s; although the actual matching of the holiday and the hare was probably a much earlier folk tradition. Not surprisingly, it was also the Germans who made the first edible Easter Bunnies in the 1800s.

　　The Pennsylvania Dutch brought the beneficent Easter Bunny to the United States in the 1700s. Children eagerly awaited the arrival of Oschter Haws and his gifts with a joy second only to that brought about by the winter visit of Kris Kringle.

　　Rabbits Revered Around the World

　　Many Asian and Eurasian cultures revere the rabbit (or hare) as a sacred messenger of the Divine; to the Chinese, he is a creature in the moon, pounding rice (the staff of life) in a mortar.

　　To the followers of Buddhism the rabbit was placed in the moon as a result of his self-sacrifice in offering himself as food. In a second version, the rabbit cooks himself in Indra's fire since he had no food to offer her and the deity placed him in the moon as a reward. To the Egyptians, the hare (as opposed to the rabbit) was known as un, which meant "to open," or "the opener." This was because the hare, unlike his cotton-tailed cousin, is born with his eyes open. "Un" also meant "period" as it was a symbol for both lunar and human cycles.

　　These traditions undoubtedly spread to the indigenous tribes of Western Europe much as the Indo-European language base developed through encounters between these two groups. This also blended well with Celtic tradition, which viewed the hare as a symbol of fertility and new life, and the Germanic tradition that the hare brought new life each spring.

　　Even in North America, the Rabbit/Hare is revered. To the Native American peoples, he was the Trickster/Transformer who either plays the Fool or, in other instances, has brought about a benefit for humankind (i.e., the legend of Rabbit bringing fire to the people). The ancient Mayan culture gives Rabbit credit for inventing Mayan writing.

　　Just as the ancient sacred places and names were blended into the holiday celebration we know as Easter, so too was the Rabbit/Hare molded from an ancient bringer of new life and renewal to the Easter Bunny, a symbol of a holiday celebrating a resurrection. In truth, the Rabbit stays the same: a messenger of a season when all things are possible and all things can again be new.

　　Easter Sunday, Easter Baskets

　　Easter is not just bunnies and eggs. Learn about Easter Sunday, Easter bonnets, Easter baskets and why people pick pussy willows in Russia and England.

　　Easter is not just bunnies and eggs. Learn about Easter Sunday, Easter bonnets, Easter baskets and why people pick pussy willows in Russia and England.

　　Easter Sunday

　　Although taken as a given, one question that is rarely asked, but should be, is why Easter has to fall on a Sunday. In 325 AD, the council of Nice issued an edict that read, in pertinent part, "Easter was to fall upon the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox; and if said full moon fell on a Sunday, the Easter should be the Sunday after."

　　The Easter celebration was coordinated with older, pre-Christian celebrations of spring. The direct relationship to Sunday as the day sacred to the Sun, the ultimate symbol of life, is obvious; yet the subtle connections to the earlier celebrations of the time of planting and the Moon are of equal importance in determining the day of the Easter celebration.

　　Easter Baskets

　　The Easter basket originates from the ancient Catholic custom of taking the food for Easter dinner to mass to be blessed. This, too, mirrored the even more ancient ritual of bringing the first crops and seedlings to the temple to insure a good growing season.

　　This practice, combined with the "rabbit's nest" awaited by the Pennsylvania Dutch has evolved in the brightly colored containers filled with sweets, toys and the like left for children on Easter morning by that omnipotent hare.

　　Bells

　　The timing of the use of bells at Easter comes from France and Italy. While the gentle pealing of these huge instruments can be heard throughout the year, their songs fall silent on Maundy Thursday—the Thursday before Easter—not to be heard again until Easter Sunday, thus marking the resurrection.

　　This Easter tradition, too, has an older origin. In many ancient belief systems the period before an equinox or solstice was a time of reflection on the past seasons. This period of silence would then be marked by a joyous celebration of light and sound that told all that the darkness had fled and that new life was coming back into the world.

　　Other Easter Traditions

　　The cross and the lily are both Christian symbols relating to the religious significance of the season and the renewal of faith. Similarly, the lamb has a religious basis, both in Christianity (Christ as the Good Shepherd) and in Judaism (the Paschal Lamb). The view of a lamb as a symbol of new life is the foundation for both religious images.

　　The Easter bonnet and the wearing of new clothes on Easter Sunday are fairly recent additions to Easter traditions. While imitating the more ancient view that the new clothes and colors symbolized the end of winter, new life and renewal, the actual practice of strolling to Church in your "Sunday Best" was not prevalent until the end of the nineteenth century.

　　A unique Easter tradition founded primarily in England and Russia is the picking of pussy willows. As an ancient symbol that spring had finally arrived, it was viewed as good luck to be tapped on the shoulder by a branch of these soft blooms by a neighbor or loved one.

　　Though identified in modern times as a Christian Holy Day, Easter, the ancient celebration of spring, has roots far deeper than any one belief or culture. It reminds us that there is always a chance to plant our dreams anew; that the cold of winter will pass; and, that in the course of humankind, you can always plant again.

　　复活节词汇知多少？

　　想没想过“耶稣受难日”怎么用英文表达？常听到的一系列稀奇古怪的宗教节日，如“四旬节斋戒”、“圣灰星期三”和“复活节守夜”是怎么回事？复活节玄词大解密和您一起解读西方文化…… 提醒一下哦，注意最下方的词语解释！

　　Ash Wednesday

　　Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter, is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before theLentfast.

　　On this day, many Christians receive a mark of ashes on the forehead as a token of penitence and mortality.

　　Symbolism of the ashes

　　The marking of their forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each churchgoer that:

　　Death comes to everyone

　　They should be sad for their sins

　　They must change themselves for the better

　　God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes

　　Lent

　　The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection.

　　Lentis the period of forty days which begins on Ash Wednesday. The season is devoted toreflection, which is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.

　　Why is it called Lent?

　　Lent is an old English word meaning to lengthen. Lent is observed in spring, when the days begin to get longer.

　　Do you know?

　　The colour purple is the symbolic colour used in some churches throughout Lent because purple is the colour associated with royalty, and celebrates Christ' s resurrection and sovereignty.

　　Holy Week

　　Spain Seville Semana Santa Easter Holy Week Festival

　　Holy Week, the last week of Lent, begins with the observance ofPalm Sunday. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet.

　　Holy Thursdaycommemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion.

　　Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crufixion, the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross.

　　Good Friday

　　Good Friday commemorates Jesus' crucifixion

　　Good Fridayis the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the execution of Jesus by crucifixion.

　　Man Fridayis one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's novelRobinson Crusoe. His name, in the novel given to him by Robinson Crusoe, has later become an expression used to describe a male personal assistant or servant.

　　Vocabulary:

　　Ash Wednesday: 圣灰星期三，大斋首日、复活节前第七个星期三和大斋期的第一天。在这一天很多基督教都用灰在前额画一标记以作忏悔和必死的标志。

　　Lent fast: 四旬节斋戒

　　Lent: 封斋期，从圣灰星期三（大斋节的第一天）到复活节的四十天，基督徒视之为禁食和为复活节作准备而忏悔的季节。可参考“词海拾贝”有关Carnival（嘉年华会）起源的第三种理论

　　reflection: 反省，自省

　　Good Friday: 耶稣受难日（复活节前的星期五）

　　Man Friday: “星期五”，英国作家丹尼尔·笛福的小说《鲁滨逊飘流记》中鲁滨逊的忠实奴仆。 现常用来指代“忠心的仆人；得力的男佣人”。

　　Holy Week: the week before Easter（圣周，复活节前一周）

　　Palm Sunday: the Sunday before Easter, observed by Christians in commemoration of Jesus's entry into Jerusalem, when palm fronds were strewn before him（棕榈星期日，复活节前的星期日，纪念耶稣胜利进入耶路撒冷，当天人们在他前面撒满了棕榈枝）

　　Holy Thursday: 圣星期四，复活节前最后一个星期四，用以纪念耶稣最后的晚餐

　　Easter traditions and origins

　　瞧，“春之女神”抱着她的小兔子向您招手了，很难想象吧？基督教最古老最有意义的一个节日，实际上是以古代北欧的黎明女神“伊奥斯特”命名的。伊奥斯特，原意是指“冬日逝去后春天的太阳从东方升起”，由于该词喻意“新生”，于是被基督教教徒借用，期冀“光明的恩赐者耶稣再次回到人间”。

　　Easter traditions and symbols are abundant. But what are the origins of these Easter traditions? Learn the history of Easter traditions here.

　　The Easter Season

　　Easter is not only a holiday but a season unto itself. To many religious people, it marks a time of miracles and a reaffirming of faith. To those with a more secular view of the world, it is a celebration of the end of winter, a time to look toward the warmth of the coming summer and a chance to shed the heavy clothing of the winter for the bright colors of spring.

　　The Date of Easter

　　Goddess of the spring

　　Easter is a movable holiday, which is calculated as the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, then Easter is the following Sunday. The holiday can occur anywhere between March 22 and April 25. This year Easter is April 16, 2006.

　　The pagan oigins Of Easter

　　Long before Easter became the holiday it is today, the spring festival was celebrated by the people around the world. The celebration was originally based on the lunar calendar. The name Easter is derived from the Saxon Eostre (which is synonymous with the name of the Phoenician Goddess of the Moon, Astartephoto), a Germanic goddess of spring and the deity who measured time.

　　The Christian origins of Easter

　　"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it" (John 3:16-17).

　　As Christianity grew and spread throughout the world, it was common practice to adopt, modify, convert or take over existing non-Christian festivals. Because Eostre was the goddess of spring and her symbolism dealt with renewal and rebirth, the Christian belief in the resurrection of Christ fit well with these themes.

　　The Easter story of Jesus (photo )

　　Angels Adoring the Heart of Jesus, by Vicente Lopez Portana

　　On Good Friday , Jesus Christ was executed target=_blank class=infotextkey>executed by crucifixion. His body was taken down from the cross, and buried in a cave. The tomb was guarded and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no-one could steal the body.

　　On the following Sunday, some women visited the grave and found that the stone had been moved, and that the tomb was empty. Jesus himself was seen that day, and for days afterwards by many people. His followers realised that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

　　The Easter Vigil Service (15 April 2006 )

　　The Easter Vigil service (photo) is the first Easter service, and takes place on the night of Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday is the Saturday after Good Friday which is often, but wrongly, called Easter Saturday.

　　The idea behind the service is for faithful Christians to wait and watch, hopeful and confident that Christ will return at midnight.

　　The Easter candle (photos) is lit during this service. The service traditionally begins outside the church, where minister and some worshippers gather around a fire - a charcoal brazier is common.

　　The service begins with words like these:

　　Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this most holy night, in which our Lord Jesus Christ passed over from death to life, the Church invites her members, dispersed throughout the world, to gather in vigil and prayer.

　　After being lit outside, the candle is carried into the church, where most of the worshippers are waiting in darkness, which symbolises the darkness of Christ's tomb.

　　Vocabulary:

　　vernal equinox: 春分

　　Eostre: 伊奥斯特，撒克逊黎明女神。它的原意是指“冬日逝去后春天的太阳从东方升起，把新生命带回”。由于该词喻意“新生”，于是被基督教教徒借用过来表示光明的恩赐者耶稣再次回到人间。

　　Phoenician: 腓尼基人的，生活于叙利亚沿岸

　　Astarte: 阿斯塔蒂，腓尼基人所崇拜的丰饶女神，传统上掌管爱情和生育。

　　The Easter Vigil Service: 复活节守夜礼,在复活前夕，教会守夜不眠、等待着基督的复活，并以圣事来庆祝。守夜礼分四个主要部分：烛光礼，圣道礼，洗礼，圣祭礼。

　　Good Friday: the Friday before Easter, observed by Christians in commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus（耶稣受难日，复活节前的星期五，被基督教徒作为耶稣受难节予以纪念）