Celebrating Valentine's Day, i.e. St. Tryphon's Day, at Savremena Gimnazija

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, that is, St. Tryphon's Day, second-grade students learned about the differences between these two holidays and used Latin proverbs to share the love. You can read the text to learn more about the differences between Saint Tryphon (an Orthodox saint) and Saint Valentine (a Catholic saint).

Who was St. Tryphon

According to tradition, St. Tryphon was born in the village of Kampsadi in Phrygia, in a poor family, and was very pious from his early childhood. As a child, he spent time herding geese. He received the gift of miracle-working and healing from God, so during his lifetime he healed many sick people, evicted demons from many people and helped those who turned to him for help. He became well-known for curing the daughter of the Roman emperor Gordian of mental illness, for which the emperor rewarded him handsomely.

Tryphon distributed all the wealth to the poor and continued to herd geese. He was executed during the reign of Emperor Decius, the persecutor of Christians, because he did not want to renounce his faith. He was buried in his birthplace.

Today St. Tryphon is celebrated by guilds, winegrowers and innkeepers. It is believed that he is the guardian of plants and that it is on 14 February that nature begins to wake up from its winter sleep with the awakening of love in people.

Who was St. Valentine

One legend says that Valentine was a priest who served in Rome in the third century AD. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men were better soldiers than those with wives and children, he forbade the marriage of young men, his potential soldiers. Valentine, who saw this as an injustice, secretly married those young and in love, defying Claudius. When that was discovered, Claudius II ordered Valentine’s execution.

Another legend says that Valentine was killed because he helped Christians escape from Roman prisons where they were tortured and killed.

One more legend says that Valentine was the one who sent the first "Valentine card" while he was in prison. It was believed that he fell in love with a young girl who visited him, and who was probably the daughter of the warden of the prison. Before his execution, Valentine wrote her a love letter signed with "From your Valentine" and that expression is still used today when cards are signed anonymously, especially in Western culture.

Look at the works of our students

Below you can see the works of our students that they created to share their love, and we hope that you might use some of them yourselves.

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I am extremely pleased and proud to be the parent of a Savremena student. During my first encounter with the school management, when I asked about my child’s potential enrolment, I saw how much love, enthusiasm and professionalism you put in your work. I was impressed by your approach, ideas and methods. I couldn’t believe something like this existed in our country! It doesn’t take long to realise that this is a school you would recommend to everyone. Creativity, modern technology, top-quality education, and most of all, the humaneness that can be seen throughout the school, make it truly different and worthy of its name – Savremena Gimnazija. With such an approach, the success of this school and, consequently, our children’s success, is unavoidable. Congratulations! Jelena Đorđević, Andrija’s mum
Contemporary in any sense of the word, our school offers functional knowledge and quality preparation for tertiary education in Serbia and abroad. Implementing modern and creative teaching in the classroom, where the teachers’ pedagogy and students’ performance are aligned with the highest academic standards for the high-school finals, our school develops linguistic, mathematical, scientific, artistic, cultural, technical and ICT competence, which is a prerequisite for further education and professional development. Teaching is supported by the interactive whiteboards and educational software, whereas practice exercises research and critical thinking.