ST VALENTINE'S DAY

Valentine’s day is coming … and here are 10 things that you didn’t know!

1. Saint Valentinus was executed on February 14^th 270 AD by the Roman Emperor Claudius II, because he secretly helped soldiers to get married, and the emperor thought that soldiers with wives did not fight very well.

 Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

2. About 1 billion Valentine cards are sent around the world every year … and teachers get more cards than anybody else! So, if you want to improve your marks , you know what to do!Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

3. A typical American man spends $130 every year on Valentine’s Day cards, chocolates, flowers and presents (twice what a woman spends).

Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

4. 73% of the people who buy flowers on Valentine’s Day are men, only 27% are women. Also, 15% of American women who receive flowers send those lovely red roses to themselves!

Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

5. Every year, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet lived, receives more than 1,000 Valentine’s cards sent to Juliet.

Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

6. The longest kiss started in Pattaya, Thailand on February 14^th 2011, and ended 46 hours and 24 minutes later. The husband and wife could not sit, eat or sleep during the kiss.

Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

7. A lot of people give chocolates on Valentine’s Day, but the biggest box of chocolates ever was made in the UK in April, 2008. It weighed 1,690 kilos and had more than 220,000 chocolates inside.

Photo credit: karen horton / Foter / CC BY

8. In Kenya last year you could buy 12 Valentine’s Day roses for $2.50, but in Hong Kong they cost $205! If you and the person you love are in Spain, you need about 50€.

Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA

9. In Japan, February 14^th is when women give presents – usually chocolate – to men. A month later, on March 14^th, or White Day, the men do the same, normally giving white chocolate.

                                                                                                                                               Photo credit: valart2008 / Foter / CC BY-SA1

And finally … don’t forget your dogs and cats! 4% of Americans who have pets give their animals a Valentine’s Day present, spending a total of about $700 million!

Photo credit: karen horton / Foter / CC BY

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Your Turn!

Do you know any special facts about Valentines Day?

Useful links

6 surprising facts about St.Valentine.

Great romances in history.

Chocolate recipes for Valentine’s Day.

A Valentine’s movie.

Like to read more

Learn to write a love poem

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From:http://www.oxfordculturemania.es/

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From:http://www.oxfordculturemania.es/

BONFIRE NIGHT

                          Bonfire Night 

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, GUNPOWDER, TREASON AND PLOT”

Bonfire night is a British tradition dating back to November 5th 1605, when catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes was caught with 36 barrels of gunpowder getting ready to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I.

GUY FAWKES

Guy Fawkes was not the only person to be caught however. In fact, a group of 13 disaffected young catholics were involved in the conspiracy. The leader of these men was Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was the only repsonse to the persecution of catholics under the rule of King James.

However, having been previously warned, the king’s men raided the cellar where they found Guy Fawkes. He was tortured for 2 days in the infamous Tower of London and finally revealed all. With the information Guy revealed, the kings men went after the rest of the conspirators.

Some of the conspirators died in a shootout with the king’s men, while the rest were killed in the nost violent manner – by being hung, drawn and quartered (click here). Those killed in the shootout had their bodies exhumed and were then decapitated to serve as a warning to others. The message sent out was crystal clear: all dissent will be brutally punished.

In the aftermath of the plot new laws were passed that removed Catholics’ right to vote and restricted their role in public life. It would take 200 years for this to change.

 

Bonfire Night Today

Every 5th November across Britain, and many other countries, communities create bonfires and often elaborate firework displays to commemorate this day. Often an effigy of Guy is placed on top of the bonfire and then set alight. The extent and size of the celebrations vary depending on the community.

Lewes, in the South East of England, is probably the most famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts thousands of people each year to participate.

Interestingly Guy Fawkes, and especially his mask, is now used as a symbol for anti-government and anti-establishment protests worldwide. Most famously in the movieV for Vendetta and more recently as the symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous.

It seems the legacy of Guy Fawkes lives on …

http://www.oxfordculturemania.es/2014/11/04/bonfire-night/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcyXMLz3fK0

HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS

Halloween (a shortening of All Hallows’ Evening), also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve,  is a yearlyholiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day. Much like Day of the Deadcelebrations, the Christian feast of All Hallows' Eve, according to some scholars, incorporates traditions from paganharvest festivals and festivals honouring the dead, particularly the Celtic Samhain; other scholars maintain that the feast originated entirely independently of Samhain. Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (also known as "guising"), attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, watching horror films, as well as the religious observances of praying,fasting and attending vigils or church services.

St. Patrick - The Patron Saint of Ireland

St. Patrick was a Christian missionary who converted Ireland from paganism. He lived from the late 4th century A.D. to the mid 5th century A.D.
The legend says that St. Patrick miraculously drove (snakes)
from Ireland by banging a drum . The snakes may represent paganism, driven out of Ireland.
To explain the doctrine of the Trinity, St. Patrick compared a (shamrock) (similar to a three-leaf clover) with its three leaves to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost combined to make the holy Trinity. From that time the shamrock has been the symbol of the land. Irishmen wear it in their hats on the saint's day.
March 17th is the anniversary of the death of Saint Patrick. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a holy, religious time with praying, singing and dancing.
Saint Patrick's Day has been celebrated in the United States since the middle of the eighteenth century.

Ireland's nickname is "The Emerald Isle" because the grass on the hills is so green. Everyone wears the colour green on St. Patrick's Day to honour The Emerald Isle. Some of the biggest St. Patrick's Day parades are in Chicago, Illinois, New York City, and Savannah, Georgia. The city of Chicago celebrate by colouring their river green!

The (leprechan) is Ireland's national fairy. Leprechauns are represented as shoemakers and are often drunk. They are guardians of ancient treasures left by the Danes and keep gold coins in pots that they hide at the end of a (rainbow). If you catch a leprechaun, he will promise you (pots of gold) if you let him go free. The (Blarney Stone) is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence. It is difficult because you must lie down on your back and bend your head backwards and downwards

The History of ST VALENTINE

FEBRUARY 14th

The Search for St. Valentine.

St. Valentine's Story

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine