Valentine's Day - February 14th

1. February 14th
Friends Day - Valentine's Day
Every day February 14, in Portugal, boyfriends and girlfriends (and not
only) offer gifts and write cards to those they love. All in the name of
St. Valentine.
We do not know very well the origin of these festivities, because in the things of
heart, we already had Saint Anthony ... and the Catholic Church has three saints
called Valentine!
But the most well-known story and the one that must have given rise to all these
celebrations is probably related to a priest of the time of the Roman Emperor
Claudius.
St. Valentine's Day was accepted only by the Catholic Church as a way of
Christianizing a pagan ritual that took place every year in Rome.
The Romans had a kind of ritual for the passage of young people into the world of
adults. It was the fertility festival.
On February14, a tribute waspaid to Juno, the match-makinggod
of the Romans, and the next day the feast of Lupercalia began.
On the night before the commemoration, the names of Roman
girls were written on small papyrus or leaves and placed in vases.
Every young man from Rome went there and got one, and the girl
whose name he had taken from the jar was his companion throughout the festival.
Sometimes the pairing lasted the whole year, even ending up in marriage!
During the implantation of the Catholic Church, it tried to put an end to the pagan
elements of these rituals, replacing the name of the festivities with that of the
saints.
As the festival of Lupercalia happened in mid-February, nothing better than
choosing S. Valentine to patronize him.
And so began Valentine's Day, in Portugal.
In schools, on this day, the Day of Friends is celebrated.

2. History of Saint Valentine
It is said that Emperor Claudius intended to bring together a
great army to expand the Roman empire.
To do this, he wanted men to volunteer, but the truth is that
they were fed up with wars and had to think of the families,
they left behind...
If they died in combat, who would sustain them?
Emperor Claudius was furious and considered it a betrayal.
Then he had an idea: if men were not married, nothing would prevent them from
going to war. So, he decided that no more marriages would be allowed.
The young men thought this was an unjust and cruel law. In turn, the priest
Valentine, who completely disagreed with the law of Claudius, decided to conduct
weddings in secret.
The ceremony was a dangerous act, for while the newlyweds married in a dimly lit
room, they had to listen to see if there would be any soldiers nearby.
One night during one of these secret marriages, footsteps were
heard. The pair who were currently getting married managed to
escape, butValentinethe priest was captured.Hewent to jail waiting
for the day to come.
During their captivity, youths passed through the windows of their
prison and threw flowers and messages where they said they also
believed in the power of love.
Among the young men who admired him was the daughter of his
jailer. Her father allowed her to visit him in his cell and they would
spend hours and hours talking.
On the day of his execution, Valentine left a message to his friend (who says that
he fell in love), thanking his friendship and loyalty.
It seems that this message wasthe beginningof the custom of exchangingmessages
of love on Valentine's Day, celebrated on the day of his death, on February 14th of
the year 269 AD.

3. Scarf of the Lovers – Scarves of Viana
In Portugal, in the region of Viana do
Castelo, Minho, there is the Scarf of
the Valentine, a very old tradition.
Valentine's handkerchief is a
handkerchief made from a fine linen
cloth or cotton scarf, embroidered
with various motifs. It is a piece of
handicraft and clothing typical of
Minho, being used by women of
marriageable age.
It was customary for the girl in love to embroider her handkerchief and hand it
over to her lover when he went away. In the handkerchiefs could have embroidered
verses, in addition to several designs, some standardized, having their own
symbologies.
It was used as a ritual of conquest.
Once made, the handkerchief would
eventually come to the possession of
the beloved man, who would use it in
public as a wayof showing that he had
begun a relationship. If the boyfriend
(also called “conversado” -
committed)) did not use the
handkerchief publicly it was a sign
that he had decided not to initiate
the amorous connection.
It is probable that the origin of the "Scarves
of Lovers", also known as "Scarves of
Requests", is intimately linked to the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, lordly
handkerchiefs, which later were adapted by
the women of the town, acquiring
consequently, a more popular aspect.

4. Many of these handkerchiefs were embroidered with huge misspellings.
There is currentlya technicalcommittee that acts as anevaluation and certification
body for this type of regional handicraft.

5. Friends Day no JI de Almada
At school we built the Book of Friends, with a shower of
ideas about the word "Friend".
- play together
- share your things
- say “please”
- help each other
- say “thank you”
- listen to friends
- do not beat up and apologize
- give hugs and kisses
- more friends you have, better you are.
We visited Casa da Cerca, where we saw a book with more than 100 years,
of a well-known Portuguese artist: Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso,

6. We participated in the activity "I am
Capable", based on the work "The mask".