VALENTINE'S DAY



1. WHO WAS ST VALENTINE? HOW MANY SAINTS DOES CATHOLIC CHURCH RECOGNIZE?
Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
2. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE MOST POPULAR LEGEND IS ABOUT?
Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival.
3. ACCORDING TO ONE LENGEND, VALENTINE SENT THE FIRST VALENTINE’ GREETING HIMSELF. WHOM?
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".
4. WERE THERE ANY OTHER PAGAN CELEBRATIONS IN FEBRUARY?
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 called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
5. WHAT DID ROMAN BOYS DO AT LUPERCALIA FESTIVITY?
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. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.
The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips
6.WHO WROTE THE OLDEST KNOWN VALENTINE STILL IN EXISTENCE TODAY? WHY?
Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.
7. ACCORDING TO GREETING CARD ASSOCIATION, HOW MANY VALENTINE CARDS ARE SENT EACH YEAR?
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.

8. CHOOSE YOUR FAVOURITE VALENTINE’S DAY QUOTATION AND WRITE IT DOWN.
Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

9. SEND YOUR OWN E-VALENTINE CARD TO SOMEONE
Dear Steve;
How are you?
I write you to explain to you what I feel for you.I want that you know that I love you and that you like me a lot since I know you.
I wonder if you feel the same for me.
This summer,on holidays,I will go to England,if you want,we can meet some day.We can enjoy ourselves,and you can explain and show me some importants things of England.
Well with that I finish, see you soon.

XXX laura