Thanksgiving
Description:
Its essence and meaning are common to all North Americans, although the dates of the celebration are noticeably spaced in time: in Canada it is the second Monday in October, and in the United States it is the fourth Thursday in November.
The story of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to the English explorer pirate Martin Frobisher, who, while trying to find the northern sea passage to India and China, found himself in ice captivity off the coast of North America. Severe conditions destroyed the ships and part of the crew. To survive, the rest had to land on the coast of what is now Labrador, where in 1578 Frobisher held an official ceremony of thanksgiving for a happily lived long and dangerous journey. It is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving, and the first Thanksgiving to take place in North America.
At the same time, the French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in the territory of present-day Canada with the explorer Samuel de Champlain, also offered thanksgiving prayers to the Almighty and organized abundant thanksgiving feasts. They even instituted a “Customs of Good Mood,” sharing their meals with their native neighbors, who helped them survive the harsh North American winters.
Similar ceremonies were continued by other colonists exploring the North American continent. Apparently, the multi-day feast in honor of the abundant harvest that saved the lives of the first settlers of the Plymouth Colony in the fall of 1621, from which the current residents of the United States count their Thanksgiving Days, was just another event in the framework of a long-existing tradition.
Over the years of its existence, the holiday overgrown with customs and changed its place in the calendar several times. On that day, he was to be thankful for the blessings of God. Which ones? This was determined separately, depending on current events and the venue of the holiday.
In Lower Canada, Thanksgiving was first celebrated on January 10, 1799, "in honor of the inestimable and varied favors which our kingdom and its provinces have received and continue to receive." Over the years, Canadians have had to express gratitude for ending the war between Britain and France, for ending the cholera epidemic, for ending the bloodshed in Europe (meaning the Napoleonic wars). On June 4, 1856, the people of Canada said a special “thank you” for the restoration of peace between Britain and Russia.
Canada’s first Thanksgiving since the Confederation was celebrated on April 15, 1872, to commemorate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) after a serious illness. For a long time after that, Canadian Thanksgiving did not have a fixed date in the calendar, but also a certain direction of universal gratitude of Canadians: in different years and at different times, Canadians expressed gratitude either for the bountiful harvest or for what was prescribed by a special annual decree, until, finally, in 1931, a streamlined formulation was developed: “general gratitude to almighty God for the graces with which he awards the inhabitants of Canada.” The date of the holiday is firmly fixed on the second Monday in October. So firmly that when Thanksgiving was moved to Thursday in 1935, on the occasion of the election scheduled for Monday, the people were outraged to the extreme. The authorities thought and thought and decided not to repeat such experiments.
In 1957, the most recent declaration was issued, according to which Thanksgiving in Canada should be celebrated on the second Monday in October now, forever and ever.
Despite the different dates of Thanksgiving in Canada and the United States, the traditions of the holiday are the same: it is usually one of the weekends when relatives gather together at a large table. Traditional dishes on this day are fried stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce and beautifully decorated with whipped cream pumpkin pie, as well as other delicious things on the table, most of which are homemade. On this day, festive services are held in churches. And shop windows, courtyards, and facades of houses are decorated with stuffed animals, straw birds, pumpkins, leaves specially released for this day. And for many people, this is just a happy occasion to gather together with loved ones, to thank fate for peace and prosperity in the family, for family happiness in the past year. In addition, it is a "long weekend" - a long weekend that everyone loves and enjoys spending, without too much thinking about the origins of this holiday.
In addition, Thanksgiving is designed for all sorts of good deeds and charity - not without reason the mass collection of money "for the benefit of the poor" takes place in Canada in early autumn. Finally, this day still retains elements of the “harvest festival” – numerous autumn fairs are timed to it.
In the United States, where Thanksgiving is celebrated in November, it is considered one of the most important holidays, comparable in importance only to Christmas. In Canada, it is less important. But the meaning of the holiday to the south and north of the forty-ninth parallel separating the two countries remains the same: on this day the whole family must gather at a common festive table (with an indispensable turkey with cranberry sauce) and amicably indulge in memories of the affairs of days gone by. “Today, all offer heartfelt and humble praise to God, all except the turkeys,” Mark Twain wrote.
Russian travel agencies, agitating customers to go to the autumn off-season in Canada, write on their websites: “The second Monday in October is Thanksgiving.” It is no different from the American, so it is ideal for economical tourists. You get a real American holiday, but at Canadian prices.