VALENTINE'S DAY - READING (B1 - B2 - INTERMEDIATE LEVEL)

 

Extractos de Valentine's Day de la Enciclopedia Británica. 

1.- Origin 

Valentine’s Day, also called St. Valentine’s Day, has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February. The festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery. At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day. It came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century. 

2.- Valentine 

Although there were several Christian martyrs named Valentine, the day may have taken its name from a priest who was martyred about 270 CE by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus. Other accounts hold that it was St. Valentine of Terni, a bishop, for whom the holiday was named, though it is possible the two saints were actually one person. Another common legend states that St. Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war. It is for this reason that his feast day is associated with love. 

3.- Valentine Cards

Formal messages, or valentines, appeared in the 1500s, and by the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used. Valentines commonly depict Cupid, the Roman god of love. Traditional gifts include candy and flowers, particularly red roses, a symbol of beauty and love.

4.- Celebration

The day is popular in the United States as well as in Britain, Canada, and Australia, and it is also celebrated in other countries, including Argentina, France, Mexico, and South Korea. In the Philippines, it is the most common wedding anniversary. The holiday has expanded to expressions of affection among relatives and friends.

5.- Vocabulario

- Held = Hold = Celebrar, sostener

- Pair off = Emparejar

- Martyr = Mártir

- Priest = Sacerdote, cura

- Bishop = Obispo

- State = Manifestar, declarar

- Defy = Desafiar

- Spare = Ahorrar

- Feast = Fiesta

. Depict = Representar

- Wedding = Boda