马萨诸塞州是美国的一州，正式名称为“马萨诸塞联邦”，位于美国东北，是新英格兰地区的一部分。在中文中，通常简称“麻州”或“麻省”。马萨诸塞州东濒大西洋。大部地区丘岗起伏，海蚀地貌与冰碛地貌广布 ，西北部是新英格兰高地的一部分，西北角的格雷洛克山海拔1064米，为全州最高点。海岸线曲折，多优良港湾。属温带大陆性气候，年平均降水量1000㎜。1788年加入联邦，为美国独立时最初13州之一。世界学府哈佛大学和麻省理工学院都位于该州。

马萨诸塞 又名「老殖民地」(Old Colony State)是新英格兰(New England)六州之一，也是美国独立时，最初的13州之一(它于1788年加入联邦)。早期移民于1620年搭乘五月花号(Mayflower)抵达普里茅斯(Plymouth)并在此建立他们的殖民地。不久，后来抵达的清教徒则建立了马萨诸塞 湾殖民地(Massachusetts Bay Colony)，这些清教徒以一个当地印地安部落的名称为自己的殖民地命名，意即「大型山坡地」(a large hill place)。马萨诸塞 吸引相信自治政府体制的人们前来，是美国革命的许多理想的诞生地，。因而别名匍匐浆果鹃的五月花是再相称不过的州花。

One of the six New England states, and one of the first 13 states in the Union (it entered in 1788), Massachusetts is known as the "Old Colony State." The Pilgrims established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, arriving on the Mayflower. They were followed shortly by the Puritans, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans named their colony after a local Indian tribe whose name means "a large hill place." The birthplace of many of the ideals of the American Revolution, Massachusetts attracted people who believed in self-government. It's appropriate that the state flower is the mayflower, also known as the trailing arbutus. www.ryedu.net

圣事(Blessed Sacrament)盛宴

地方性遗产

您曾听过马德拉(Madeira)这个地方吗?

马德拉是一个位于大西洋上的亚热带岛屿，座落在葡萄牙西南方约600哩处。回溯至1700年代晚期，来自麻州新贝德福德(New Bedford)的捕鲸船会在马德拉稍做停留，补充补给品并僱用熟练的船员，为长途的捕鲸之旅做准备。捕鲸船回到新贝德福德时，船上已经带有来自于马德拉的船员，因而有许多船员定居在新贝德福德。到了现在，新贝德福德拥有美国境内最多的马德拉后裔。

因为与马德拉的特殊关係，新贝德福德举行的葡萄牙盛会是世上最大的。每年的圣事盛宴是一个连续四天的大事，它由一种名为圣事祝福(Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament)的中世纪祈祷仪式开始，后面接着一个为时两小时半的游行。庆典中会提供传统的葡萄牙食物，也有音乐表演。最初的盛宴始于1915年，仅仅是一个由四个马德拉移民所举行的宗教庆祝活动，主要是为了重现他们家乡村落的盛宴庆典。

英语原文：Have you ever heard of a place named Madeira?

Madeira is a semi-tropical island in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 600 miles southwest of Portugal. As far back as the late 1700s, whaling ships from New Bedford, Massachusetts, visited Madeira for supplies and to hire skilled crews for long whaling voyages. Whale ships returning to New Bedford brought the Madeiran sailors with them, and many settled in the area. Today, New Bedford has the largest population of people with Madeiran ancestry in the United States.

Because of this connection to Madeira, New Bedford is home to the largest Portuguese feast in the world. The Feast of the Blessed Sacrament is an annual four-day event that begins with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, a medieval rite of devotion, followed by a parade that lasts two and a half hours. Traditional Portuguese food is served and music is performed. The original feast was a strictly religious celebration begun in 1915 by four immigrants from Madeira as a re-creation of the feast celebrated in their home villages.