ГБОУ СОШ № 451 г. Санкт-Петербург Петрова Ирина Викторовна

 HISTORY  TRADITIONS  SYMBOLS

HISTORY  HISTORY St. Valentine’s Day is wildly celebrated all over the world. The celebrating dates back to the ancient Roman festival called “Lupercalia” which took place on February 14 th or 15 th in honor of Juno Februata, the Roman Goddess of women..

The first Valentine was a Christian priest who was imprisoned and executed in the 3 rd century for spreading the teaching of Christ. On February 14th he was beheaded.

The second Valentine of Terni was an Italian bishop who lived at about the same time and was imprisoned for secretly marrying couples, contrary to the laws of the Roman Emperor.

Roman Emperor Claudius II wasn’t very popular because he was trying to get more and more people for his army. The men didn’t want to go to the army and Claudius thought that it was because they didn’t want to leave their wives and children. “If they don’t get married, they will join the army,” he thought and passed a law which banned marriage.

The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail.

Many young people felt sorry for Valentine and visited him in prison. One of them was the daughter of a prison guard. On the day of his execution Valentine wrote a note to her and singed it “Love from your Valentine”. This was on 14 February 269 AD.

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS  TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS There are a lot of traditions, customs on St. Valentine’s Day. The custom of sending valentine cards started in the middle ages. Written valentines began about The oldest one we know was made in 1415.

A Frenchman, Charles of Orleans was captured by the English in a battle. He was put in prison in the Tower of London. There he wrote valentine poems. Many of them were saved and can be seen today in the British Museum.

Roses are red Violet are blue Sugar is sweet And so are you Remember M Remember E Put them together Remember ME

At first this was a European tradition, but then it became popular in other countries. It came to Russia too, but a lot of people say, “If you love somebody, you should show it every day, not only one day a year”.

SYMBOLS  SYMBOLS Cupid is a son of Venus, goddess of love. He could cause people to fall in love by piercing them with one of his magic arrows. CUPID

The rose was the flower of Venus, the Roman god of love. Red is a colour that stands for strong feelings. That is why the red rose is a flower of love. RED ROSE

A long time ago, people believed that all the emotions were found in the heart. In later years, they thought only the emotion of love was connected with the heart. The heart is still a symbol of love, and it is also a symbol of Valentine’s Day. HEART

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