1. 14 th February

2.  This holiday is named after a real person  Saint Valentine was a priest near Rome in the year 270 A.D, (the early days of the Christian church)  During this time, lots of Christians were killed  They had to practice their religion in secret

3.  At this time marriage was prohibited by the Roman Empire.  His mission was to help Christians get married in secret.  Soldiers weren’t allowed to get married  The Roman Emperor Claudius II wanted to make his army bigger and he believed that married men were not good soldiers

4.  Saint Valentine was jailed becvause he was a Christian by the Roman Emperor Claudius  Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a talk with him  He told him if he changed his religion and became a pagan he won’t kill him  Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead.  Because of this, he was killed.

5.  Valentine’s jailer was a man named Asterius  Asterius had a young daughter called Julia who was blind  Before he was killed, Saint Valentine performed a miracle by healing Julia  The jailer and all his family converted to Christianity and were baptized

6.  The night before Valentine’s death, he wrote the first "valentine" card himself  He gave it to Julia, the daughter of his jailer, who was no longer blind  He signed it “From your Valentine.“  This expression "From your Valentine" is used today in Valentine cards in many countries

7.  This day is now celebrated all over the world  In the U.K. On Valentine’s day people give flowers, cards and presents to their loved ones  Usually the restaurants and bars are very busy because couples go out for a romantic meal or drink

8.  A very common type of valentines poem starts off with: “Roses are red, Violets are blue...”  Can you invent one?  E.g. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.

9.  What do you think of Valentine’s day? Do you like it?  What do you think the true meaning of Valentine’s day is?  Do you think everyone enjoys it? Why/Why not?  Did you get any Valentine’s cards?