有關情人節的.

Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
In the United States, the marketing of Valentine's Day has tagged it as a "Hallmark holiday". A recent trend has been to refer to February 14 as Singles Awareness Day.





Contents[hide]

1 History

1.1 February fertility festivals
1.2 Chaucer's love birds
1.3 Medieval and modern times
1.4 Valentine's Day in North America
2 Valentine's Day and its equivalents in other cultures
3 References
4 See also



Valentine's Day


圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Valentineanddisciples.jpg/215px-Valentineanddisciples.jpg


Saint Valentine of Terni and his disciples. 14th century France. Richard de Montbaston.



Official name
St Valentine's Day

Observed by
Western and Western-influenced cultures

Type
cultural, multinational

Significance
Lovers express their feelings to each other

Date
February 14

Observances
Sending greeting cards and gifts, dating.

Related to
The Night of Sevens, a Chinese holiday that also relates to love. White Day, a similar holiday celebrated in Japan and Korea one month after Valentine's Day.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

西洋情人節 St. Valentine's Day 最早可追溯到早期羅馬的牧神宗教節慶。 當時的羅馬郊外，有許多野狼在鄰近的森林遊走，給人畜不少威脅。而羅馬人認為牧神，可以驅趕這些野狼，給人們安全，牧神的節慶就是在二月十五日慶祝。漸漸地這個節慶變成，在牧神節的前夕，也就是二月十四日當晚，羅馬女孩子的名字會被寫在一張小紙籤上，再由男孩子抽出，而這一年她就是他的愛人。
　　而為何後來二月十五日的牧神節，演變成二月十四日的聖范倫坦斯日（St. Valentine's Day） ，紀念基督教的殉道者范倫坦斯？因為到了公元二百七十年，羅馬是個反基督教的國家，許多基督徒遭受迫害。另外，當時皇帝革老丟二世禁止士兵婚嫁，而有個基督徒范倫坦斯不僅反抗皇上禁令，拒絕敬拜羅馬神祗，並且秘密地替未婚男女舉行婚禮，因此被逮捕，入獄，並於二月十四日被砍頭。

　　多年過後，羅馬成為基督教國家，許多為信仰殉道的基督徒，一一成為人們景仰的聖徒。而二月十四日就不再慶祝牧神節，以紀念殉道者聖范倫坦斯代替。在西方甚至演變成二月十四日這天寄卡片或送禮物給所愛的人，並且不限於情人，父母、兄弟姊妹、朋友、老師、、都可以。

　　而傳入台灣關於情人節的印象，似乎就只有年輕男女與所愛的情人共度一個浪漫的夜晚。而一些壞男人卻利用這種心理因素，對不經人事的小女生設下致命吸引力的圈套，甜言蜜語、鮮花禮物哄騙上床。結果每年的情人節之後的一、兩個月， 一些不幸懷孕了的小女生便偷偷到婦產科墮胎，不僅殘害寶貴小生命，也對自己身體帶來重大傷害。

　　所以在此提醒未婚男女朋友，當心情人節的浪漫效應！

Saint Valentine's Day / Valentine's Day 請參考維京綱.:)

Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

In the United States, the marketing of Valentine's Day has tagged it as a "Hallmark holiday". A recent trend has been to refer to February 14 as Singles Awareness Day.

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