三月十七日は「St. Patrick's Day」です。
三月十七日も息子のたんじょうびですよう。
どして息子の名前は「Joseph」ですか。
どして「Patrick」ないんでしたか。
おばあさんは三月十九日生まれでした。
三月十九日は「St. Joseph's Day」ですから。
「ジョセフ君何才ですか。」
未年に生まれです。
Generally Speaking
March 17th is St. Patrick's Day. It's also my son's birthday. [Everyone asks me] why did you name him "Joseph"? Why didn't you name him "Patrick". Well, my grandmother's (Joseph's great-grandmother) birthday was March 19th. March 19th is St. Joseph's Day. [Joseph was supposed to be born on her 70th birthday, but came two days early.] So, you see, he's named for his great-grandmother.
"How old is Joseph?" Well. he was born in the Year of the Sheep.
質問とコメント
1. My grandmother's name is Mary. She couldn't be named for her patron saint directly because her older sister was born on the exact same date, ten years earlier. Her older sister's name was "Josefina".
2. Wow! My kid is all grown up. Now I'm old enough to be a grandmother. But I'm glad I'm not. Yet.
3. Congratulations to Kurt and Naoko whose son was born today. We're looking forward to hearing all about bringing up baby in Japan. (I bet Kurt is going to be too busy and too tired to blog!)
Permalink.
hai:)
i want to kno how to write a japanese character in the web
thx:)
Posted by: snydez on March 19, 2003 07:03 PM
こんにちは。「St. Patrick's Day」「St. Joseph's Day」って、どんな日なんですか。もしよかったら、おしえてください。
How do you do! Could I ask you?-- What are "St.Patrick's Day" and "St. Joseph's Day"? Do you do something specal?
Posted by: Mieko on March 19, 2003 09:14 PM
Mieko, はじめましょう。I've enjoyed reading your Diary.
The saint's days come from the old calendar of the Catholic church. Each day had a saint associated with it. The saint for the day you were born, was your patron saint, and was supposed to be special to you. Lot's of children were named for their patron saint.
America is mostly a Protestant country, so people don't pay much attention to saints here. And also, the Catholic church currently downplays the role of saints.
However, in the north, a lot of Americans are descendants of Irish immigrants. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and extremely popular among Irish Catholics. In New York they have a big parade. In Chicago, they put green dye in the river and also have a big parade. All over the United States, it's become an excuse to have a party. People were green (for Ireland), drink beer (especially green beer). and wear shamrocks (a three-leaf clover). None of this has much to do with St. Patrick; it's just a lot of fun.
There is no special celebration for St. Joseph. In fact, the only other saint's day I remember celebrating is St. Blase. His feast day is February 3rd, and he is the patron saint of sore throats. You go to the church to have your throat blessed so that you won't get sick for the next year. This is strictly a Catholic celebration, not an American celebration.
Posted by: M on March 20, 2003 09:49 AM
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