Happy Valentine’s Day

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St Valentine’s Day comes on February 14. It is not a legal or national holiday. Banks and offices are
not closed, but it is a happy little festival for young people. St Valentine is the patron of sweethearts.
February 14 is the anniversary of his death.
It is widely celebrated among people of all ages by exchange of “valentines”. A “valentine” may
mean a special greeting-card or a little present. The day is the time to send little gifts to those you love.
Flowers and candies are favourite presents which sweethearts send to each other. Valentine candies
are packed in red heart-shaped boxes and sold for this one day.
Valentines are special greeting cards. They are often coloured red, have red trimmings and pictures of
hearts. Some “valentines” are very fancy, they are trimmed with paper lace and little bows of paper
ribbon. They have verses of love poetry printed on them.
It is a good day for parties. The hosts trim the hall with red and white paper hearts. Refreshments are
often coloured red. Sandwiches and cakes are often cut in the shape of hearts. Sometimes, a King and
Queen of Hearts are chosen during this evening
It is a very interesting holiday and many people like to celebrate it.

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We celebrate Valentine’s Day every February 14th.
The story of Valentine’s Day begins in the third century with an oppressive Roman emperor Claudius II
and a humble Christian priest Valentine.
Claudius declared it unlawful for young men to marry. He seen the king wanted them to be solders in
faraway lands. He thought that if the young men were married would worry about their families back
home and so wouldn’t make very good warriors. Valentine disobeyed the king and secretly married
many young couples.
When Claudius found out about it he sent Valentine to prison.
According to legend, during his imprisonment, Saint Valentine healed the daughter of his jailer, Julia.
Before his execution The bishop passed her a note signed «From your Valentine» as a farewell.
This story has became into the defining tradition of Valentine’s Day.
On each February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, messages of affection and devotion are exchanged
around the world. An estimated one billion cards sent each year, making it the second largest cardsending holiday of the year behind Christmas.

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. Saint Valentine
There are many legends associated with the name of St. Valentine. The most beautiful and romantic of
them is the story of a Christian preacher who, in 269, married legionaries of the Roman Empire with
their lovers, despite the ban of Emperor Claudius II.
To preserve the military spirit, the emperor issued a decree prohibiting legionnaires from marrying,
since it was believed that a married man was thinking about how to feed his family, and not about the
good of the empire and military prowess.
Saint Valentine sympathized with the lovers and tried to help them in every possible way — reconciled
the quarreled lovers, composed letters for them with declarations of love, gave flowers to young
spouses and secretly married soldiers.
Claudius II, having learned about this, ordered the priest to be thrown into prison, and soon signed a
decree on his execution. The last days of St. Valentine's life are also shrouded in a halo of romance.

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According to legend, the blind daughter of the jailer fell in love with him, but Valentine, as a priest
who had taken a vow of celibacy, could not respond to her feelings. However, on the night before the
execution on February 13, he wrote her a touching letter, where he told her about his love. And the
girl, having received the message after the execution of the priest, regained her sight.
It is assumed that it is from there that the tradition of writing love notes on Valentine's Day —
“valentines" - originates.
According to the Catholic Church, St. Valentine really healed a blind girl — the daughter of the
dignitary Asterius, who believed in Christ and was baptized. Claudius then ordered the execution of
Valentine. That is, Valentine suffered for his faith, and therefore was canonized.
There is an assumption that the Church introduced Valentine's Day as a counterbalance to the popular
pagan holiday of Love, which could not be eradicated with the advent of Christianity.
Around the same time, a legend appears designed to explain why St. Valentine patronizes lovers.

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Traditions
In Europe, this holiday has been widely celebrated since the XIII century. In England, they used to carve
wooden “love spoons” and give them to their loved ones. They were decorated with hearts, keys and
keyholes, which symbolized that the way to the heart was open.
Louis XVI, who presented such a bouquet to Marie Antoinette, is considered the ancestor of the
tradition of giving red roses to lovers. According to legend, Aphrodite stepped on a bush of white roses
and stained the roses with her blood, so red roses appeared.

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According to an ancient custom, in England and Scotland, on the eve of the holiday dedicated to St.
Valentine, young people put tickets with the names of young girls written on them in an urn. Then
everyone took out one ticket.
The girl whose name was given to the young man became his “Valentine” for the coming year, and
he became her “Valentine". This meant that for a year there were relationships between young
people, similar to those that, according to the descriptions of medieval novels, arose between a knight
and his “lady of the heart”.

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According to legend, in Britain, unmarried girls get up before sunrise on February 14, stand near the
window and look at passing men — the first man they see is the intended.
Italians call February 14 a sweet day and give sweets and sweets. Valentines are sent by mail in a
pink envelope with no return address. In romantic Denmark, dried white flowers are usually sent to
each other, and in Spain it is considered the height of passion to send a love message with a carrier
pigeon.
In France, it is customary to give jewelry on Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, the French also hold
various romantic contests. For example, the contest for the longest serenade — a love song - is very
popular. And it was also in France that the message-a quatrain was written for the first time.

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In Japan, on Valentine's Day, which began to be celebrated in the 30s of the XX century, it is
customary to give men chocolate - usually in the form of a Valentine's figurine. This is not so much a
declaration of love as a sign of attention.
The tradition of giving sweets on this day appeared with the filing of a large chocolate production
company. In addition, the Japanese hold a contest for the loudest and brightest love message. Young
men and girls climb onto the platform and shout from there about their love.
Valentine's Day in the United States began to be celebrated since 1777. The tradition of giving gifts on
this day has grown stronger every year and has become quite a successful business for some. At the
beginning of the XIX century, Americans had a custom — to give their beloved marzipan figurines on
this day. And marzipans in those days were considered a great luxury.

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In the post-Soviet space, people first noticed Valentine's Day about two decades ago. And only in
recent years they have been celebrating massively with valentines, congratulations and declarations
of love.
And in Russia there was a holiday of lovers, only it was celebrated not in winter, but in summer, and
was associated with the legendary love story of Peter and Fevronia. Today in our country on this day
— July 8 — the official holiday of the All-Russian Day of Family, Love and fidelity is celebrated.
But there are countries in the world where the holiday of Love is taboo. First of all, this is Saudi
Arabia, which is the only country in the world where this holiday is officially banned, moreover, under
pain of heavy fines.