Unit 10Unit 10

Easter Easter

Easter Traditions and Origins Easter Traditions and Origins

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The Easter Season 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 others, 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 The Date of Easter

Easter is a movable holiday, which is calculated as the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox （春分） .

The holiday can occur anywhere between

March 22 and April 25. This year Easter is April 16, 2006.

The Easter story of JesusThe Easter story of Jesus

On Good Friday , Jesus Christ was 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 realized that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

The Easter Vigil Service The Easter Vigil Service 复活节守夜礼复活节守夜礼

(15 April 2006 )(15 April 2006 )

The Easter Vigil service  is the first Easter service, and takes place on the night of Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday is the Saturday after Good Friday.

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 is lit during this service. The service traditionally begins outside the church, where minister and some worshippers gather around a fire.

The Easter Vigil Service The Easter Vigil Service (15 April 2006 )(15 April 2006 )

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 int

o the church, where most of the worshippers are waiting in darkness, which symbolizes the darkness of Christ's tomb.

The Easter Vigil Service The Easter Vigil Service (15 April 2006 )(15 April 2006 )

Archbishop blesses the New Fire at the Easter Vigil late Saturday night.

Easter’s DictionaryEaster’s Dictionary

Lent  （四旬斋） (1 March 2006 - 16 April 2006)  Lent is the period of forty days which begins on Ash Wednesday. The season is devoted to reflection, which is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.

Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter,  is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It‘s a day of penitence （悔罪） to clean the soul before the Lent fast.

Easter’s DictionaryEaster’s Dictionary

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

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 in

to dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes

Easter’s DictionaryEaster’s Dictionary Good Friday (14 April 2006 )

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

Man Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson 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.

Easter symbolsEaster symbols

The Easter Bunny  

Easter symbolsEaster symbols The Easter Egg

The egg, long a symbol of fertility, had long been a traditional staple of Easter celebrations.

In the earliest times, eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate candy.

Easter symbolsEaster symbols

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 in Christianity (Christ as the Good Shepherd) . The view of a lamb as a symbol of new life is the foundation for this religious image.

Easter Lily

George Bush’s Radio AddressGeorge Bush’s Radio AddressMar. 26, 2005

Good morning. This weekend, millions of Americans celebrate the _____________of Easter. Easter is the most important event of the Christian________, when people around the world join together with family and friends to celebrate____________________________.

At Easter time we pray for all who_________________. The outstanding members of our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps （海军陆战队） and Coast Guard （海岸警卫队） are keeping America secure and________________________. We remember especially those who have given their lives in________________. Their sacrifice is a testament （证明） to the words of scripture （圣经） : "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

George Bush’s Radio AddressGeorge Bush’s Radio AddressMar. 26, 2005

Good morning. This weekend, millions of Americans celebrate the _____________of Easter. Easter is the most important event of the Christian________, when people around the world join together with family and friends to celebrate____________________________.

At Easter time we pray for all who_________________. The outstanding members of our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps （海军陆战队） and Coast Guard （海岸警卫队） are keeping America secure and________________________. We remember especially those who have given their lives in________________. Their sacrifice is a testament （证明） to the words of scripture （圣经） : "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

joyous holiday

faith

the power of love conquering death

serve in our military

advancing liberty in the world

freedom’s cause