Saint Valentine's Day...Día de San Valentín.

There are two important events in February: Carnivals and Saint Valentine's Day; but now, let´s have a look at Saint Valentine`s Day.

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno,

the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, 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 would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaignsMORE ▼

and he was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues: therefore Claudius cancelled all marriages, but the good Valentine, a priest at Rome, secretly married couples, and for this reason he was condemned to be beaten to death. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". He died on February 14, 269 A.D. In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated by the middle of the eighteenth century, and it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology.
ACTIVITIES FOR SAINT VALENTINE: Write your love letter visiting these sites:
love letters: SELF-MADE----Love letter 1---Love letter 2---Love letter 3
----Love letter 4

En la antigua Roma el 14 de febrero se celebraba una fiesta en honor a Juno, diosa del matrimonio. Esa noche los nombres de las jóvenes se escribían en trozos de papel, se ponían en tinajas y al día siguiente, en las fiestas de Lupercalia, los jóvenes recogían un papel con el nombre de una de las jóvenes con las que pasarían las fiestas. Si la relación salía bien, más tarde la pareja podría casarse. En tiempos del emperador Claudio II Roma estaba sumida en numerosas batallas y no era fácil que los jóvenes se alistaran en el ejército, de modo que el emperador suprimió las bodas. El sacerdote Valentín casaba a las parejas en secreto y por ello fue condenado al martirio. Dice la leyenda que se despidió de la hija del carcelero con una nota en la que firmaba "de tu Valentín"; murió el 14 de febrero. En Inglaterra el día de San Valentín se hizo popular a mediados del siglo XVIII, y jóvenes de todas las clases sociales se intercambiaban notas escritas demostrando su amor de una manera anónima.

VICTORIAN LOVE CARDS: