Valentine’s Day probably has its origin in the ancient Roman celebration called Lupercalia（牧神节）. It was celebrated on February 15. In the Roman calendar February was in the spring. The celebration honored the gods Lupercus and Faunus as well as the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. As part of the ceremony the priests paired up young men and women. The girls’ names were placed in a box and each boy drew a girl’s name. The couple was paired then until the next Lupercalia.

In 260 AD the emperor Claudius II, called Claudius the Cruel, decided that young soldiers would only be distracted by marriage and so ordered that young men may not marry. Valentinus (Valentine), a Christian priest, defied the emperor and got married in secret. He was caught and executed（处死）on February 14, the eve of Lupercalia. His name became associated with young lover forever after. In 496, Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor him as Saint Valentine and it has been St. Valentine’s Day ever since.

In the Middle Ages some of the customs of the Lupercalia still persisted in spite of the attempts of the Church to put an end to these non-Christian customs and Christianize the holiday. Both men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear the names on their sleeves for a week. Today we still sometimes “wear our hearts on our sleeves” when we cannot conceal our feelings.

In the 1600s, it became common to give flowers, particularly the rose, as a sign of love as the “language of flowers”. This came to Europe from Turkey. The color and placement of the rose held a special significance—a red rose, for example, meant beauty. Flowers have been part of Valentine’s Day ever since.


The main purpose of this passage is .


得分/总分

A.

to trace back the origin of Valentine’s Day
B.

to tell us the story of Valentinus, a Christian priest



C.

to introduce the custom of Valentine’s Day


D.

to explain the relationship between marriage and religion

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