There are three legends surrounding the origin of on February 14, around 270 AD.

For his martyrdom

St. Valentine’s Day. and dedication to love and marriage, Valentine was
named a Saint after his death. By the Middle Ages,
Feast of Lupercalia
Saint Valentine became popular as the patron saint
Several historians trace the origin of Valentine's
of love in England and France. So, Pope Gelasius
Day to pagan times in the ancient Roman Empire.
declared February 14 as Valentine's Day on 498 AD
In those times, people organized a holiday on
and ended pagan celebrations. Saint Valentine's
February 14 to honor Juno - the mythological
Day of execution became an occasion to celebrate
Queen of Roman gods and goddesses. Cupid was
love.
the god of love, and Juno was the goddess of
women and marriage. February 15 was a Fertility
Festival called the Feast of Lupercalia. During the
Feast of Lupercalia, all the young women in the city
would place their name in a big urn. The young
men would each pick a name out of the urn and
were paired with the girl for the rest of the year.
Sometimes, the paired couple would fall in love
and marry. Later, when Christianity spread
through Rome, they decided the practice of finding
Birds Mating Time
a mate through the ‘lottery' was un-Christian and
During the Middle Ages, people in England and
outlawed.
France held a popular belief that birds started to
look for a mate from February 14. This popular
notion further strengthened the idea that the
middle of February should be celebrated as the day
of love and romance. The concept caught on
among lovers, and the day was celebrated by
exchanging love notes and simple gifts like flowers.
A. Find a word in the selection that means the
SAME as:

Saint Valentine of Rome

According to one very popular legend, Valentine
was a priest in Rome who lived during the reign of
Emperor Claudius II. Under his regime, Claudius
lost many soldiers of Rome in several bloody
battles. To strengthen his army, the Emperor
needed to continuously recruit more soldiers.
However, Claudius found that soldiers with wives
and families did not want to fight because of this
attachment. In order to raise more fighting forces,
Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements
in Rome. Valentine was a Christian priest who
defied this decree of Claudius by secretly marrying
young men and women. When Valentine's defiance
was discovered by the Emperor, he was martyred
 1. choose pick

2. ceramic vase urn

3. make stronger strengthen

4. rebellion defy

5. executed martyred
 6. commitment Engagement

7. celebration Feast or holiday

with food (*2)

8. very old story Legend

B. Find a word in the selection that means the C. True or False

OPPOSITE of:
 1. sporadic continuous

2. lower raise

3. publicly secretly

4. Christian (*2) pagan

5. allowed outlawed

6. modern ancient

7. unpopular popular

8. complicated simple

1. Claudius II was an emperor of

T
Rome.

2. The ‘lottery’ was a Roman way of

F
winning money.

3. There are several different legends

T
of St. Valentine’s Day.

4. St. Valentine believed in love and

T
marriage.

5. The Roman emperor made it illegal

F
to go to war.

6. In the Middle Ages, people believed

F
that birds made nests in the spring.

7. Juno was the Roman goddess of

T
women and marriage.

8. Pope Gelasius declared St.

T
Valentine’s Day to be February 14.

D. Vocabulary Match

1. surrounding A. A big fight involving a lot of soldiers between two sides 4

2. recruit B. To give something and get something else 10

3. notion C. When two people promise to get married 5

4. battle D. going around something, either literal or metaphorical 1

5. engagement E. The beginning 6

6. origin F. Try to get people to join you or become involved in what you’re doing 2
 7. trace G. To follow closely, sometimes in writing or drawing 7

8. defied (defy) H. Connection 9

9. attachment I. Simple idea or thought 3

10. exchange J. to refuse to follow a law because you don’t agree with it 8

E. Comprehension
1. Why was St. Valentine named a saint?
For his martyrdom and dedication to love and marriage
2. Are these legends true? Yes
3. What kind of things were exchanged on Valentine’s Day in the Middle Ages?
Love notes and simple gifts like flowers.
4. Why did Claudius II cancel marriages?
Because he needed to strengthen his army and he needed to continuously recruit more soldiers,
however he found that soldiers with wives and families did not want to fight because of this
attachment.

5. Would you like to pick a mate by ‘lottery’? why or why not?

No, I wouldn´t like it, I think that it is fate that takes care of this and matching someone only for a
lottery restricts you from the opportunity to meet someone for things in life