65736 st valentines day reading comprehension

There are three legends surrounding the origin of
St. Valentine’s Day.
Feast of Lupercalia
Several historians trace the origin of Valentine's
Day to pagan times in the ancient Roman Empire. In
those times, people organized a holiday on
February 14 to honor Juno - the mythological
Queen of Roman gods and goddesses. Cupid was
the god of love, and Juno was the goddess of
women and marriage. February 15 was a Fertility
Festival called the Feast of Lupercalia. During the
Feast of Lupercalia, all the young women in the city
would place their name in a big urn. The young
men would each pick a name out of the urn and
were paired with the girl for the rest of the year.
Sometimes, the paired couple would fall in love and
marry. Later, when Christianity spread through
Rome, they decided the practice of finding a mate
through the ‘lottery' was un-Christian and
outlawed.

discovered by the Emperor, he was martyred on
February 14, around 270 AD. For his martyrdom
and dedication to love and marriage, Valentine was
named a Saint after his death. By the Middle Ages,
Saint Valentine became popular as the patron saint
of love in England and France. So, Pope Gelasius
declared February 14 as Valentine's Day on 498 AD
and ended pagan celebrations. Saint Valentine's
Day of execution became an occasion to celebrate
love.

Birds Mating Time
During the Middle Ages, people in England and
France held a popular belief that birds started to
look for a mate from February 14. This popular
notion further strengthened the idea that the
middle of February should be celebrated as the day
of love and romance. The concept caught on
among lovers, and the day was celebrated by
exchanging love notes and simple gifts like flowers.
A.

Saint Valentine of Rome
According to one very popular legend, Valentine
was a priest in Rome who lived during the reign of
Emperor Claudius II. Under his regime, Claudius lost
many soldiers of Rome in several bloody battles. To
strengthen his army, the Emperor needed to
continuously recruit more soldiers. However,
Claudius found that soldiers with wives and families
did not want to fight because of this attachment.
In order to raise more fighting forces, Claudius
cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
Valentine was a Christian priest who defied this
decree of Claudius by secretly marrying young men
and women. When Valentine's defiance was

Find a word in the selection that means the
SAME as:
1. choose

2. ceramic vase
3. make stronger
4. rebellion
5. executed
6. commitment
7. celebration

with food (*2)
8. very old story

B.


C. Find a word in

the selection
that means
the OPPOSITE
of:
D. C. True or

False

U. D. Vocabulary Match
1. sporadic

E.

1. surrounding

2. lower
2. recruit

A. A big fight involving a lot

3. notion
publicly
3.

G. two people promi
C. When

4.
4. battle
Christian (*2)

D. going
H. around something

5. engagement
5. allowed
6. origin

E. The beginning

6. trace
modern
7.

G. ToJ.follow closely, someti

8.
(defy)
7. defied
unpopular

H. Connection
K.

9.
8.
10.
1.
E.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

F.

B. To give something and ge

F.

I.
Try to get people to join

attachment
I. Simple idea or thought
complicated
L.
exchange
J. to refuse to follow a law
Claudius
II was an emperor of
Comprehension
M.
Rome.
1. Why was St. Valentine named a saint?
TheV.‘lottery’
was a Roman way of
______________________________
N.
winning
money.
_________________________________
There are several different legends
_________________
O.
of St. Valentine’s Day.
2. Are these legends true?
St. Valentine believed in love and
_________________________________
P.
marriage.
___________________________

The Roman emperor made it illegal
3. What kind of things were exchanged on
Q.
to go to war.
Valentine’s Day in the Middle Ages?
In the Middle Ages, people believed
R.
W. ______________________________
that birds made nests in the spring.
_________________________________
Juno was the Roman goddess of
S.
__________________
women
and marriage.
4. Why did Claudius II cancel marriages?
Pope Gelasius declared St.
T.
X. ______________________________
Valentine’s
Day to be February 14.
_________________________________
__________________
5. Would you like to pick a mate by
‘lottery’? why or why not?
_________________________________
_________________________________
______________

Y.