Hello, my dear friends!
It’s here again, the day when boys and girls, husbands and wives, sweethearts and lovers, friends and neighbours and even the office staff will exchange greetings of affection, undying love or satirical comment. And now I’m going to tell you about St Valentine’s Day History.
St Valentine’s Day, February 14, has been a customary day for choosing sweethearts and exchanging love-tokens from time immemorial.
The method of choosing sweethearts on St Valentine’s Day varied in different times and places. It could be a serious matter, leading to marriage, or it could be a kind of game. Countless generations of young people have acknowledged St Valentine as the friend and patron of lovers.
The Legend of how St Valentine’s Day began
St Valentine lived in Rome during the third century. At that time Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. A lot of people didn’t like him.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. But many men just didn’t want to fight in wars and did not want to leave their wives and children. This made Claudius furious and he had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So, he made a law against marrying. Young people thought his new law was cruel and preposterous.
A kindly priest called Valentine was not going to support it and kept on performing marriage ceremonies secretly. Can you imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and priest? They would whisper the words of the ceremony, lending an ear to the steps of soldiers.
One night they did hear footsteps. Thanks goodness the newly married couple managed to escape in time but, unfortunately, Valentine was caught and thrown into the jail.
Even in prison Valentine showed his love for everyone and wonderful things happened. A lot of young people came to the jail to visit him because they wanted him to know that they believed in love, too.
One of these people was his jailer’s daughter. A young girl was blind. Her father allowed her to visit Valentine in his cell and she helped him to keep his spirits up. And by a miracle, Valentine restored her sight. On the day he was to die, on February 14, 269 A.D., he left her a little note thanking her for friendship and loyalty. It was signed “From your Valentine.”
It is believed that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day.
The Old Tradition of Lupercalia
Now February 14 fell in the midst of a Roman festival called Lupercalia. In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods nearby. The Romans called upon one of their gods Lupercus to keep the wolves away.
One of the customs of the young people on that day was name-drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year.
When Christianity became the religion of Rome, this joyous day was changed to St Valentine’s Day in honor of the saint who gave his life to help lovers.
There are lots of legends about how Valentine’s Day started but no one knows for sure whether any of them are true.
Vocabulary
affection – любовь, привязанность
undying love – вечная любовь
token – подарок (небольшой) на память
from time immemorial – с незапамятных времен
countless – бесчисленный
patron – покровитель
to exchange – обмениваться
to volunteer – добровольно вступать в армию
to make smb furious – приводить кого-либо в ярость (бешенство)
cruel – жестокий
preposterous – абсурдный
to marry – женить (ся)
marriage – замужество, женитьба, бракосочетание
do not mind doING smth – не возражать против выполнения какого-либо действия
bride – невеста
groom – жених
priest – священник
to lend an ear to smth – прислушиваться к чему-то
to escape – убегать, исчезать
jail = prison – тюрьма
cell – клетка, тюремная камера
loyalty – верность, преданность
Thanks goodness – Слава Богу!
to be blind – быть слепым
to restore one’s sight – вернуть зрение
to keep one’s spirits up – поднимать настроение
to keep on doING smth – продолжать выполнять какое-либо действие
by a miracle – чудом
in honor of somebody – в честь кого-то
Lupercalia [ˏlu:pə´keiliə] – луперкалии (праздник в честь бога Луперка, покровителя стад в Древнем Риме)
Music Time !
Listen to this audiofile:
[audio:http://smashtrash.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/scorpions_still_loving_you.mp3]Still loving you…
( Scorpions )
Time, it needs time
To win back your love again.
I will be there, I will be there.
Love, only love
Can bring back your love someday.
I will be there, I will be there.
Fight, babe, I’ll fight
To win back your love again.
I will be there, I will be there.
Love, only love
Can break down the walls someday.
I will be there, I will be there.
If we’d go again
All the way from the start,
I would try to change
The things that killed our love.
Your pride has build a wall, so strong
That I can’t get through.
Is there really no chance
To start once again?
I’m loving you.
Try, baby try
To trust in my love again.
I will be there, I will be there.
Love, your love
Just shouldn’t be thrown away.
I will be there, I will be there.
If we’d go again
All the way from the start,
I would try to change
The things that killed our love.
Your pride has build a wall, so strong
That I can’t get through.
Is there really no chance
To start once again?
If we’d go again
All the way from the start,
I would try to change
The things that killed our love.
Yes I’ve hurt your pride, and I know
What you’ve been through.
You should give me a chance
This can’t be the end.
I’m still loving you.
I’m still loving you, I need your love.
I’m still loving you. Still loving you, baby…
I wish you love and mutual understanding with your friends and family.
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Thank you for reading me!