Questions, discussion Read about the origins of St Valentine’s Day and

decide which text the information below refers to.

Do people celebrate St Valentine’s Day in
your country?
What about you and your friends?
Do you think it is just a commercial event
for many people?
Do you know any other similar
celebrations?
♥ In this text you can read about a pagan festival.
♥ This story is just one of the legends.
♥ The date is based on popular belief.
♥ The oldest existing valentine was written in London.
♥ Spring is the season of cleansing.
♥ St Valentine was imprisoned for his beliefs.
After having read the texts, make true and false
sentences and ask the other students.

LUPERCALIA
In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were
ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat throughout their interiors. Lupercalia,
which began on February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the
Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants
Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. Later in the day,
according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then
each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in
marriage. http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day

ONE OF THE ST VALENTINE LEGENDS

In 269 A.D., a young priest, named Valentinus, was arrested by the Romans for his
Christian beliefs. The Roman emperor, Claudius II, was a harsh leader and imprisoned
Valentinus in a dark dungeon.
A jailer, named Asterius, took pity on the priest and provided him with the company of
his blind daughter. The daughter and Valentinus soon became close friends. Their
friendship helped sustain Valentinus during his time in prison.
After Valentinus had spent a year in the dungeon, Claudius II summoned him to
appear before his court. Claudius was so impressed by the priest’s character that he
promised to grant him his freedom if he would only denounce Christianity. However,
Valentinus refused to give up his beliefs in God. The emperor was furious and ordered
Valentinus to be beaten with stones and executed.
In the last days of his life, Valentinus is said to have healed Asterius’ daughter of
blindness and converted her to Christianity. According to legend, St Valentine wrote a
farewell message to Asterius’ daughter the evening of his execution. He signed the
note, ‘From Your Valentine’. He was put to death on February 14th, 270 A.D., outside
the gates of Rome.

MIDDLE AGES
During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and
England that February 14th was the beginning of the birds’ mating
season, which added to the idea that the middle of February –
Valentine’s Day – should be a day for romance.
The first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love
is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer:
“For this was St Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to
choose his mate.”
The oldest known Valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles,
Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following
his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part
of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London. I Corinthians 13:4, 7, 8
http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day