Is It Worth Celebrating St. Valentine`s Day ?

Муниципальное автономное общеобразовательное учреждение «Гимназия №87»

Is It Worth Celebrating St. Valentine`s Day?

Cтоит ли отмечать  День Святого Валентина?

                                                                              It has been said that we need                                                                                                just three things in life:

                                                                                       Something to do,

                                                                                 Something to look forward to,

                                                                                       And someone to love.

                                                                                                  (An unknown author)

                                                                                                 Выполнила:

                                                                                               Ученица 8 «г» класса

                                                                                           Темриева Айлар                                                      

                                                                                                         Руководитель:

                                                                                                      Клерикова Ольга                

Алексеевна.

Саратов  2015

Contents:

                  Introduction.. . . . . . . . . ……………………….....3

                 Chapter 1  St` Valentine`Day in Britain

                §1The Origin of the Holiday . .. . . .  ………………5                                                  

                 §2 St.Valentine`s Day Is a Day of Love in Britain.. 6

                 Chapter 2. The Day of Love in Russia

                 §1 Valentine`s Day.. . . .  …………………………..7                                                  

                 §2 The  Day of Saints Peter and Fevronia…………7          

                Chapter 3 Is It Worth Celebrating ?...........................8

                Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....10

                Bibliography and References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .12

               Appendix ………….…………. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Introduction

  Actually the culture accompanies every person from the deep childhood to the death. We can hardly overestimate the meaning of it in our life. Feasts and festivals serve to meet specific social and psychological needs of the people of any country. People of different races, nations, ages enjoy to prepare for holidays, they wait for them, remember and don`t forget their celebrations in most of the communities. Though holidays can be religious, secular, national and local, they have one important thing in common: they create a festive atmosphere and bring people together. The main public holidays in all the countries existed at different times, but so far they have not lost their importance as an integral part of everyone's life.

  You know holidays play a great role in the life of people especially of teenagers. As the main purpose of every society is to develop a generation of the harmoniously developed generation I suppose the theme is urgent and useful. One of the main reasons that we celebrate any event is to remember our ancestors and features of past times. Celebrating anything we show our respect for the people who played a great role in the historical process of the country. In order to understand people in other countries, to get knowledge of a language, you need to know the culture and history of the country.

 Thanks to this we enrich our cultural development, learn a lot about habits and ways of different nations and nationalities. No doubt you also share the idea to learn about the holidays more. Which holidays are popular today? Why aren`t other festivals so popular?

  I also want to examine the problem of choosing the holidays to celebrate, as nowadays foreign celebrations are becoming more popular. They are mostly popular among young people. As for me, I`m interested in celebrating too. My favourite one is St. Valentine`s Day. Though the holiday has roots in several different legends, they have found their way to us through the ages. I would like to speak on cultural traditions, in particular the various features of the celebration of St. Valentine`s Day.

 Today it is the day, when boys and girls, sweethearts and lovers, husbands and wives, friends and neighbours, and even the office staff exchange the greetings of affection, undying love or satirical comment.

   So the purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the celebration of Valentine's Day in Russia and in other countries of the world.

 My research work is devoted not only the history of the holiday. I want to know how they have been accepted by the people of Great Britain, the US and Russia. So, the aims of my research work are:

 - to acquaint you with St Valentine`s Day as it`s my favourite holiday,

to investigate the origin of the holiday ,

to come to the conclusion which holiday is the best  for a teenager to celebrate ,

to give the predictions about the popularity of the holiday.

The object of my research work is to study teen`s preferences. These problems are eternal and they are worth discussing.

 That`s why I consider the topic under the discussion to be very important nowadays and has a practical value.

Chapter 1

St. Valentine` Day in Britain

§1. The Origin of the Holiday

   There are several legends about St. Valentine's Day. They differ, but all of them are romantic and exciting.  

  Young people in our country know that it is a celebration of love and romance when people send cards, flowers, sweets, and other gifts to their sweethearts and friends, but no one really knows the actual origin of Valentine`s Day.

  Three hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ, the Roman emperors still demanded that everyone believe in Roman gods. Each legend stems from real-life martyr known as Valentines who lived in the time of Roman Empire. It is unsure who St. Valentine was, but there are several possible candidates. One of these Valentines is believed to have been a Roman priest and physician. Valentine, a Christian priest, was beheaded, not only because he was a Christian, but also because he had performed a miracle. He supposedly cured the jailer`s daughter of her blindness. The night before he was executed he wrote the jailer`s daughter a farewell letter, signing it "From Your Valentine". ^[1]

  Another legend tells us that the same Valentine, well-loved by all, sent notes from his jail cell to children and friends who missed him and got warm replies. He was put into prison by Roman authorities for his teachings and was beheaded on February 14 in the third century A. D. 

  The origin of the name remains in doubt. Some historians say that the name is a corruption of the French word “galantin” (a gallant or beau).  

  Many historians, however, seem to trace it to an ancient Roman festival  called Lupercalia. It was observed on February 15. Lupercalia celebrated the coming of spring in the Roman calendar (February was observed later in the year than it is today). Lupercalia was associated with the Roman gods Lupercus and Faunus. Lupercus watched over shepherds and their flocks and the festival of Lupercalia became a celebration intended to ensure the fertility of flocks, fields and people.

The celebration of Lupercalia spread as the Roman Empire grew. When the Romans conquered France, the first Valentine cards were used, in which women had written their names (possibly accompanied by love notes) that later could be used in a lottery to search someone favours.

From its association with Lupercalia, St. Valentine's Day associates with love and romance.

 Some scientists connect the celebrating of the holiday with an old English belief,  that birds choose their mates on February 14.This, too, is possible since spring was less than a month away. The calendar used before 1582 was slightly different from the one we use now. Spring arrived on March11 on the old calendar.

§2.  St. Valentine`s Day Is A Day of Love

     For the first time Valentine's Day in the usual sense was described in the 14th century. In 1382 Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem dedicated to the betrothal of King Richard II and Anne Czech. Since then writing poetry for lovers on Valentine's Day was still a British tradition.                                                                 

   St. Valentine's Day became a holiday to celebrate at the beginning of the 17th century. There were times when February 14 the British gave gifts to each other secretly. By the end of the 17th century, paper valentines became popular. Sometimes they were made out of colored paper and signed with coloured ink. Medieval England was circulated to choose its own custom "Valentine". Some young men got together and wrote the names of girls on pieces of parchment, put them in a hat and fellows tried to guess the names of their sweethearts. They created the sonnets for them, accompanied the ladies everywhere and behaved like true knights. The British considered the best gift one that was made with their own hands, so people gave each other personally baked sweets in the form of hearts. British tradition of giving flowers was assembled by the French in the early 18th century.

  Now it is a popular holiday in the country. At schools children make valentines for their classmates and put them in a large decorated box, similar to a mailbox. After the students read their cards they have a small party with refreshments. As for teenagers and adults they arrange parties and thematic concerts.  

 Chapter 2

                                          The Day of Love in Russia                       

                                                         §1. Valentine's Day

  The tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day came to Russia in the early 90's and today it is established very well. Valentine's Day in Russia for many people has become almost a national holiday as every fourth citizen of our country is celebrating Valentine's Day. Nearly half of the population prepares gifts. Like the European world, an indispensable symbol of Valentine's Day is Valentine, who acquired many forms. It can be a card, sweets, home ware, jewelry. February 14 is a special day for lovers, when they talk to each other about their feelings, trying to impress and show their care and love. Celebration of Valentine's Day is held in restaurants or cafes, or during romantic dinner at home.

Valentine's Day in Russia, along with those who respects and recognizes this holiday is the most ardent opponents of Western influences, because the beloved Catholic feast day is the same primordial the people who are in love in Russia -     July 8 - The Day of  Peter and Fevronia

§2 The Day of Saints Peter and Fevronia.

  The history of this holiday goes back to the story of Duke Peter and one peasant woman Fevronia, by name who healed the Duke from a deadly disease. (See Appendix1) Since that time the history of the spouses of Peter and Fevronia has been the embodiment of the unquenchable love and loyalty and every year on  July 8 the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Peter and Fevronia.

  In Russia the couple is considered to be the patrons of marriage and family. On Lover's day it is a custom to go to the church to pray for love (amongst younger people) and for happiness in marriage (for married people). Now it is an official holiday and, it is celebrated in Russia as a day of family and happiness in marriage. I can’t say that that I`m against the holiday but it is far from me and m classmates.

  To sum up I can`t see the holiday which we will replace St. Valentine's Day. So it is understandable why St. Valentine's Day has become popular among Russians, especially among teenagers.

Chapter3

Is It Worth Celebrating?

  It was taken to the New World by English settlers and now the holiday is one of the remarkable days of the year. The Day came to be celebrated in most of the countries of Europe, the USA and Australia. According to sociological data, the demand for flowers, souvenirs and perfume in Russia grows by almost 15% ahead of All Lovers’ Day. At the same time, statistics shows that the number of those who mark All Lovers’ Day becomes smaller every year.

    But today St. Valentine`s Day, February 14, has been a customary day for choosing sweethearts and exchanging love-tokens from time immemorial. The method of choosing sweethearts on the day varied in different times and places. It could be a serious matter, leading to a marriage, or it could be a kind of game. Countless generations of young people have acknowledged St. Valentine as the friend or patron of lovers.

 I can see two different sides to the proverbial Valentine`s Day. Those who are in love delight in the sentimental cards, the flowers, and the heart - shaped candy, the rest of the world don`t share the idea not to think about the job or studies during the day. Is this special Day devoted to being in love …or everybody?

 I prepared the results of the questionnaire (See Appendix 2). I interviewed 120 teens of the gymnasia №87. In the analysis I studied some major points of the celebrations. Having asked the students I am ready to tell about the teen’s opinions. For a more detailed examination, I divided all the respondents according to the gender and age. According to the survey 70% interviewees enjoy the holiday. Only 17% prefer to celebrate another holidays (The International Women’s Day and etc.) 13% (the rest of the respondents are not interested in the holidays.

   There are two different opinions that sum up the Valentine`s debate. Most of the girls say the day of love is wonderful and exciting.

  On the other hand there are some drawbacks which the teenagers can`t admit:

• They think it slightly lost its romantic appeal.
• Today if you are short of time you can buy a card according your taste instead of hand-made messages.

In numerous printed valentines you can notice the lack of taste.

• You can also receive greetings which are full of saccharine and overly sentimental.
• Cartoons and grotesque drawings replaced the romantic valentines.
• Sometimes they are humerous though the receiver is waiting the words of love.
• Not everyone wishes to get the card with the same words as the classmates get.
• There is a kind of” Fair of Vanity, connected with  the moment of celebrating the holiday at school.
• Some boys don`t want to express their true feelings. They are afraid to be laughed at.

Conclusion

  The popularity of the holiday is growing, and perhaps soon the day will be celebrated all over the world.  The modern way of life makes people be energetic, strict and firm. The holiday reminds you of kindness and love, friendship and patience in our wicked world. Though it was born centuries ago in Catholic countries, however, nowadays the day is celebrated all over the world (except in Saudi Arabia where this holiday is officially prohibited and one can be punished for celebrating it by paying a penalty).

     Our country is no exception, so the holiday is widely observed here. A lot of people have already begun to celebrate it in Russia They try to imitate European Valentine customs and want to know more about their origin. It is a holiday for young and old. Yet this holiday has both opponents and supporters. Some Russians say “Our culture does not benefit from foreign holidays” or "It is a commercial holiday: not for people but for merchants".  

  I have read the story of the holiday, I found a similar festival in Russia. This day is called The Day of Peter and Fevronia. It was interesting to find out who were Peter and Fevronia. It is a new holiday for Russians, which has only started to be celebrated in the 90s of the 20th century. The Day is observed on the 8th of July and commemorates the happiness in marriage. It is a rather new holiday in our country, so most of the people don`t know how to celebrate it. Perhaps with time 8 July 8 will be the long-awaited day for those, who believe in love, waiting for the day and cherishes it. Though these days we celebrate Valentine's day as a holiday honouring lovers. Valentine`s Day is a mystery of Love, as  it  is a very great feeling. It means respect for each other, it makes people better and happier, and the world becomes around them lighter, brighter and kinder. Love really makes wonders.

  This is also a happy day because it is dedicated specially to friendship.You know we haven`t such a day to remember friendship yet. Valentine`s Day is a day to share loving feelings with friends and family. It`s time to let all those special people in your life know how much you like them. The day is full of   romance. But young men and girls usually wait for it with impatience. Nearly every girl of our country is waiting for the celebrations. Most of us will be lucky enough to get a special greeting card.

  And you can probably think of others who are important to you - Mums, Dads, grandparents, sisters, brothers, friends and teachers. It`s a good time to tell them how you feel.

  Thus, I have known how to celebrate Valentine's Day in England and in Russia and came to the conclusion that both in England and in Russia this day for all couples and those we just love, make friends with anyone.

 I want to add the holiday is a great and wonderful treasure of feelings and adventures. It gives food for our mind, heart and soul.

                                             Bibliography

Андоюшина С.В. "Вечные ценности и новые праздники".
Православная энциклопедия.-Т.6.-М.,2003.-С.522
Данилова, Т.Н. Пётр и Феврония: Наша главная история любви.-М.: Вече,2010.

Зорин,К. От влюбленности к любви // Славянка.-2009.-№ 1.

Николаева, А. День семьи,любви и верности // Славянка.-2008..
Тульцева Л.А. Современные праздники и обряды народов СССР. М.: Наука,1985.

 Юдин,Г.Н. Чудо о Петре и Февронии/ Текст и ил.: Г. Юдин.-М.:Данилов, благовестник,1996-60с
"English"№21996,№219  

                                             References

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 0

https://ru.wikipedia.

Appendix 2

  There are many legends about Saint Valentine. Legends are stories that are handed down from the past.

  One of the customs the young people liked was name-drawing. The names of the Roman girls were written on slips of paper and put into a jar. Each young man drew a slip. The girl, whose name he drew was to be his sweetheart for a year.

Young people hoped to find their own mates on Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine’s Day came to be celebrated in most of the countries of Europe. Sicily is an island south of Italy. There a young girl would stand at her window for half an hour before sunrise. If no one went by, she believed she would not be married that year. If she saw a man pass, she thought she would marry him or someone who looked like him.

 In Germany the girls tried another way of learning whom they would marry. They planted onions on Saint Valentine’s Day. Each girl tagged several day onions with the names of young men. She put the onions in a corner near the fireplace. She thought she would marry the man whose onion sprouted first.

  Also Valentine parties became popular in many wealthy French homes. The young ladies and gentlemen put verses into a valentine box. They put their names into the box, too, on different slips. Then each person drew a name and  a verse. The gentleman read his verse to the lady. She read hers to him. Often the verse did not match the person and everyone laughed.