VIRTUAL VALENTINE

Although the origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery, the feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I. There was a Valentine holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith in effectual, commended him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270.

However, many authors have suggested that Valentine's Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. It was a very ancient, possibly pre-Roman pastoral festival, observed on February 15 to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility in the spring.

Whatever historical reasons we can find to explain this celebration, the fact is that nowadays it is used as an worldwide excuse to go romantic for a day.

People get mad trying to buy love: Valentine cards, chocolates, flowers, supper, parties...

It would be interesting to find out how people from other countries celebrate or feel Saint Valentine. You could start by asking the foreign students in your class the way they say love words in their mother tongue, and their opinion about this celebration. Here are some opinions from people of your age:

Romance can happen on any day of the year. Why do two people need to manufacture it on a holiday invented by other people?
Peter Smith, UK

Mankind is becoming increasingly practical. What's the point of wasting time on courting and purchasing chocolate, when you're going to end up having sex anyhow?
Andrej, Russia

Romance and courtship is the nice name humans put on Mating, and why not? We do need to take time out and appreciate the ones we hold dear. You certainly don't need over priced roses to do that! Long Live Love!

Ian, Scotland

You'll be surprised to learn that people show love in very different ways around the world. That there are kisses, French kisses and rubbing of noses as Eskimos and Polynesians do. By the way, I don't want to make you paranoid, but just to tell you there's no such thing as "safe kissing" so keep that in mind. You can catch anything from just a cold to a pretty serious sexually transmitted disease by kissing, especially if you have any cuts in your mouth.

The latest trend is virtual love. It's not only finding a boyfriend by e-mail, but finding your ideal virtual man or woman. After the robot dogs and fish, Tamagotchi, the portable cyber pet, and virtual popstars. Now it's the girlfriends and boyfriends who are virtual. Games such as Falling in Love by Mail, My Prince and First Love Game are just a few of the dozens of online games developed for the i-mode internet-capable phones.

Bandai Network's Mail de Koi Shite (or Falling in Love by Mail) is targeted towards men who are given the choice of seven virtual women, including a school teacher and a nurse.

During a three-month email courtship, the user must seduce his cyber-love by scoring as many points as possible by finding out as much as he can about his "girlfriend" - apparently not always an easy task.

She might get irritated because she doesn't receive as many emails as she wishes and give the player a hard time. But that doesn't seem to stop many of them from wanting to continue their affairs.

After a certain amount of emails has been sent, the girlfriend delivers her verdict: "I really like you" and the more disappointing "we can still be friends" are on the cards.

As you see, there are many ways of feeling love, what about you?

"Candelaria" in Spanish", “Lichtmess" in German, "La Fête de la Chandeleur" in French, or “Candlemas” in English

In many cultures, including in some Latin countries today, Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas season. It is celebrated on February 2^nd, the 40^th day after Christmas, and is technically known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the Presentation in the Temple.

The basis of the Feast of the Purification was the Jewish tradition that women were considered unclean after the birth of a child and were not permitted to enter the Temple to worship. This was 40 days after the birth of a son and 60 days after the birth of a daughter. At the end of the 40 or 60 days, the mother was brought to the Temple or synagogue and ritually purified. Now she can go to religious services again, and generally go out in public.

It is customary to bring candles from home to be blessed so they can be lit after dusk on All Saints' Day (1 November), during the Sacrament of Unction, and during storms and times of trouble.

Candlemas began as a Roman festival to celebrate the return of spring. The Romans had a custom of lighting candles to scare away evil spirits in the winter.

Candlemas was also believed to be a good day for weather forecasting (it falls halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox). People believe that Candlemas Day predicted the weather for the rest of the winter. The weather proverbs express the idea that a fine bright sunny Candlemas day means that there is more winter to come, whereas a cloudy wet stormy Candlemas day means that the worst of winter is over.

Candlemas Day is also known as "Groundhog's Day" in America, the day when, if the groundhog sees his shadow, there'll be 6 more weeks of Winter. All Europeans have a similar belief about how Candlemas weather portends the length of winter. The English have a saying, "If Candlemas Day be bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year." The Germans also have a saying :

Ist's zu Lichtmess mild und rein If Candlemas is mild and pure,
wirds ein langer Winter sein. Winter will be long for sure.

In Scotland it is now a Scottish legal "quarter day" when rents and other payments fall due. There is an old traditional poem which said:

"If Candlemas Day be bright and fair
Half the winter is to come and mair (more)
If Candlemas Day be dark and foul
Half the winter was over at Yowl (Christmas)

Will spring arrive soon this year?