Thanksgiving and Christians
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday observed in Canada and the United States to give thanks, traditionally to God. In Canada , Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October and, in the United States , on the fourth Thursday of November.
According to historical sources, the Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. The Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621 near Plymouth , Massachusetts , after their first harvest. This is the feast people often refer to as "The First Thanksgiving." This feast was never repeated, so it can't be called the start of a tradition, nor did the colonists or Pilgrims call it a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, to these devoutly religious people, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting.
To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle.
The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims’ minds.
After that first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest.
Several American colonists have personal accounts of the 1621 feast in Massachusetts:
Edward Winslow, in Mourt's Relation:
"… And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
Now, as Christians we have a much deeper motive for Thanksgiving. Although we have Thanksgiving in every prayer each day for every condition, concerning every condition and in every condition, however “Thursday” brings to our memory the utmost thanksgiving to God, as it reminds us of the first "Eucharist".
The word "Eucharist" comes from the Greek noun e??a??st?a (transliterated, "eucharistia"), meaning thanksgiving. This noun or the corresponding verb e??a??st? (to give thanks) is found in 55 verses of the New Testament. Four of these verses recount that Jesus "gave thanks" before presenting to his followers the bread and the wine that he declared to be his body and his blood. The Gospel of John affirms this.
That is why Eucharist is the term with the earliest established historical use. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who was martyred in Rome in about 110, used the term "Eucharist", referring to both the rite and the consecrated elements, three times in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans and once in his Letter to the Philadelphians. Justin Martyr, writing around 150, gave a detailed description of the rite, and stated that "Eucharist" was the name that Christians used: "This food is called among us the Eucharist..." (Apology, 66).
In general, traditions see the Eucharist as the fulfillment of God's plan for the salvation of humanity from sin (the "Divine Economy"), a commemoration and making present of Jesus' Crucifixion on Calvary and his Resurrection, the means for Christians to unite with God and with each other, and the giving of thanks for all these things.
Copyright © 2006 Saint Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, California, U.S.A. The above article may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Saint Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, California, U.S.A. |
