Saint Valentines Day
On February 14th, last month, we celebrated Valentines Day.
Please listen to the passage and answer the questions.
Valentines day.
Nowadays most people see Valentines Day as a day to celebrate love between partners, or to declare your love for someone you would like to be your partner.
The day was originally named in honour of St Valentine.
The history is vague, but the most reliable information points to a Christian Bishop, who lived in Rome around 270 a.d(christian years).
Bishop Valentine is known to have defied the Roman emperor, Claudius II, over a law banning marriage for young men that he wanted as soldiers.
Because of his defiance Bishop valentine was executed on 14th february.
He is said to have formed a friendship with the daughter of his jailer. The girl visited him many times before the execution and helped to keep his spirits up.
The Bishop is said to have left a note for the girl, thanking her for her friendship and loyalty, and signed the note, ‘from your Valentine’
As a revered Christian Bishop, it is almost certain that Bishop Valentine would want people to be celebrating just that, the love of friendship.
Not surprisingly , gossip had placed more on the relationship between the Bishop and the girl and so, many people tagged him as the Patron Saint of Lovers.
This became more established in the 14th century,(christian years), in England, where the writer, Geoffrey Chaucer, is credited as officially associating the day with romantic love.
This authors belief is, like many in Thailand, that it should be a day to think of all loved ones, be they partners, family or friends.
It can be that the love between good friends can be much stronger and longer lasting then romantic love.
So when Valentines Day comes again next year, think of all of those special to you and celebrate the love they make you feel.
Tags: celebrate, chiang mai, english language, family, friendship, huay sai, huay sai school, lamphun, learning, love, passage, romantic, saint valentine, school, thailand, Valentines Day