The saint of lovers---Valentine’s story
Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
Tonight I am going to tell you a story of a very famous lover in the history, St Valentine. We all know that Valentine’s Day is on February 14th. But before I go further into the story, there is still some information need to be known. So, ladies and gentlemen, shall we take a short quiz now?
Quizing….
Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you guys are just too good at history. I believe it will be easier for me to help you understand the whole story.
Long long time ago….. In the early days of Rome, at that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. Nobody liked the emperor very much because he was very cruel. Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men volunteer to join the army. But there were not many men joined in the army because they didn’t want to fight in the war and leave their lovers or wives as well. This made Claudius really mad. So the bad emperor had a crazy idea. He thought if men didn’t get married, they would not mind joining in the army. So the emperor decided not to allow any more marriages. Getting married became illegal at that time!
St Valentine, a priest, was the first one to against the stupid law. He encouraged young people to go for their love and most importantly, he still kept on performing marriage ceremonies for young couples—secretly in the basement. Gradually, he became famous to all the young couples who wanted to get married. As he was getting famous, his life was getting dangerous too. Eventually, he got caught after he had married hundreds of couples. He was thrown to jail and sentenced to death immediately.
Even he was in jail and would be executed anytime, St Valentine was still very optimistic. It might be the power of love because he’s the one who truly believed in love. That’s the reason he took life risk to marry hundreds of young couples. And many young people came to the jail to visit him. They brought flowers and notes to the jail to show their supports to St Valentine. One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard, whose name was Emma. Because of her father, she was allowed to see St Valentine in his cell. Sometimes they talked for hours. St Valentine knew that Emma really liked him but he’s the one who couldn’t be love because he’s going to die. So on the day of February 14th, he left a farewell note to express his appreciation to Emma before he was executed. He signed the note, “Love from your Valentine”. Many people believed this is the origin that we send people Valentine’s cards and exchange love messages nowadays.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a simple story, isn’t it? Love is simple yet memorable. That’s why Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for nearly 2000 years. Do you remember what was the gift you gave or you received from your lover on last Valentine’s Day? Chocolates, candlelight dinners, gold, diamonds and romantic nights in luxury hotels, Valentine’s Day is just over-commercialized nowadays. Let me tell you some Valentine traditions in the old days. In the Middle Ages France, if you like someone, you can draw someone’s name on your sleeves and wear the cloth for a week during Valentine’s Day. And if the special someone likes you, he/she will draw your name on their sleeves too. Then you can draw a heart on the sleeves and people will know that you’re in love with someone. Another tradition was in Wales England. Hearts, keys and keyholes were carved in wooden spoons as gifts given out to your loved ones. It means, “You unlock my heart”. It’s really romantic, isn’t it?
Ladies and gentlemen, I have been keeping telling the old traditions and the story of Valentine to my ex-girlfriends for years. And guess what, after they knew the real meaning of Valentine’s Day, they wouldn’t ask expensive gifts from me. That saved me a lot of money. Of course, you can only use the story to one girl for one time only. After all, Valentine’s Day is all about exchanging of love messages but not exchanging of expensive gifts. Toastmaster!
