St. Valentine's Story

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Read the text and answer the following questions according to the text:

1. When and where did St Valentine live?

St Valentine lived...

2. Who was the emperor at that time?

Rome was ruled by...

3. What did St. Valentine do? What was his job?

St Valentine was a...

4. Why didn’t Claudius like men to get married?

Claudius wanted...

5. Why was St Valentine caught and put into prison?

St Valentine's favourite activity was...

6. What was the punishment that the Emperor ordered for him?

St Valentine's punishment was...

7. Who visited him when he was in jail?

... came to the jail to visit St Valentine.

8. Who did he write the note to?

He wrote the note to...

9. Why did he write it?

St Valentine wrote the note to say...

10. When did St Valentine die?

St Valentine died on...

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In Britain and Italy, some unmarried women get up before sunrise on Valentine's Day. They stand by the window waiting for a man to pass. They believe that the first man they see, or someone who looks like him, will marry them within a year.

The Japanese celebrate St Valentine's day in rather unusual way. Women give their men gifts of chocolate (as well as other presents). These gifts of chocolate are divided into two types: giri choco (obligatory chocolate) and honmei choco (chocolate for the man the woman is serious about). Giri choco is given to bosses and collegues at work and sometimes a Japanese woman has to buy up to 30 boxes of this obligatory chocolate. However, on the 14th of March, exactly one month after Valentine's Day, men give presents to women. This day is called White Day.

In Denmark, people send pressed snowdrops to their friends on Valentine's Day. Danish men also send a type of valentine called a gaekkerbrev (joking letter). The sender writes a rhyme but does not sign his name. Instead, he signs the valentine with dots, one dot for each letter of his name. If the girl who gets it guesses his name, he gives her an Easter egg on Easter.

Many, many years ago girls from England pinned five bay leaves to their pillows on the eve of Valentine's Day. They pinned one leaf to the centre of the pillow and one to each corner. If the charm worked, they saw their future husbands in their dreams.

On this Welsh Valentine’s Day, it is customary to gift love-spoons, an age old tradition that got started when Welsh men (possibly originating among sailors), would carve intricately decorated spoons of wood and would present them to a lady that they were interested in courting or marrying. The designs they carved on the spoon handles were symbolic too. For example- Keys would signify a man’s heart, wheels his hard work and beads, his preferred number of offspring and so on. This tradition is carried on even today, as men gift their ladies spoons.

Finland & Estonia: Here Valentine’s Day is more a celebration of friendship rather than a romantic love fest. February 14th is called “Ystävän Päivä” in Finnish and Sõbrapäev in Estonian, which literally translates to “Friend’s Day”. People exchange cards & gifts among friends with the greeting of “Happy Friends Day”. It is however, a popular day to tie the knot or get engaged.

Slovenia: The 14th of February in Slovenia, marks the first working in the fields. St Valentine or ‘Zdravko’ as he’s better known there, is one of their patron saints of spring. There’s a Slovene proverb that goes “St Valentine brings the keys of roots”

In Holland on February 14 it isn't considered shameful if a woman herself approaches a man and politely asks him to marry her. If this gesture isn't estimated, the man can make amends: he has to present the lady with a dress, preferably a silk one.

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