Valentine´s day

Valentine´s day

Love quotation:

“Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.” (Sir Arthur Pinero)

1. Do you agree with this statement?

2. What does love mean to you?

3. Do you celebrate St. Valentine´s day?

4. If yes, what do you usually buy?

5. What do you know about the history of this celebration?

Reading

Most of us think that St. Valentine´s day is an American celebration but it is not true. This celebration comes from ancient Rome. You will learn more in this text.

The Valentine celebrations we know today were firstly celebrated in England and in France in 14^th century. The women wrote their names on cards and put them into a box from which each man then picked a card. The woman whose name was on the card became the man’s sweetheart or “Valentine”, as 14 February is also the commemoration day of St. Valentine (therefore the day is called St. Valentine’s Day).

The date, in fact, is the only connection between the festival and the martyr St. Valentine, a Roman priest from the 3rd century. Valentine lived during the reign of Claudius II, who did not allow his soldiers to get married. Claudius believed that married soldiers would not make a good army, so when he found out that Valentine married young couples secretly, he had the priest arrested and sentenced to death.

Let’s leave martyrdom behind, however, and return to the more pleasant rites of our time. Valentine’s Day has become the festival of love—lovers surprise each other with little presents, flowers or a romantic dinner by candlelight. Sending special greeting cards on that day is also very popular. Valentines, as these cards are called, are sent to loved ones or even to secret lovers in order to win their hearts. If the sender doesn’t want to be recognized, the card is signed »Your Valentine«.

To read more about this topic, visit this page.

http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/holidays/valentine/valentines-day

Join together lexical collocation :

dinner secret

lovers greetings

cards romantic

Decide if the sentence is true or false (T, F)

1. St. Valentine´s day is of American origin.

2. In 14^th century Valentine´s day was celebrated in France and Rome.

3. Valentine was a Roman priest.

4. He married young couples in private.

5. Now, Valentine´s day is a day for all lovers all over the world.

Try to summarize the text with your own words.