What you know about this festivity Read the following text: Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day is a holiday observed on February 14 honoring one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished It was first established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD, and was later deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards There is a legend that says than St Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he prohibited marriage for young men Valentine realized that it wasn’t fair So he defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret When his actions were discovered, Claudius ordered to kill him When he was in prison he sent valentine’ s card to a young girl to whom he had fallen in love with Nowadays, St Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many parts of the world People in love buy presents, send messages and cards to their lovers