Valentine’s Day: its history and celebrations

VALENTINE / LOVE

Celebrated on February 14 of each year, Valentine or Valentine is the traditional day in which lovers convey their love to each other by sending Valentine cards, sometimes even anonymously. The most common feature of Valentine’s Day these days is the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of “Valentine”. Popular Valentine symbols of modern times include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, mass-produced greeting cards have largely replaced handwritten notes. It is believed that nearly 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent around the world each year, making it the second-largest card-sending holiday after Christmas. It is believed that women buy about 85 percent of all “valentines.”

Stories of many Valentine’s

Opinions differ on who was Valentine. The first martyrologies mention at least three Saint Valentines dated February 14. One is a priest in Rome, another bishop of Interamna (now Terni in Italy), and the other lived and died in Africa. However, many are of the opinion that the first two are the same person.

However, it is widely believed that Valentine’s Day perhaps originated from the ancient Roman holiday of Lupercalia. On February 15, a festival was held in honor of one of their gods, Lupercus, whom the Romans called to protect themselves from the threats of those ferocious wolves that roamed the adjacent forests. On the eve of the Lupercalia festival, a love lottery was organized in which the names of Roman girls were written on strips of paper and placed in jars. Then each young man pulled out a piece of paper and the girl whose name he chose would be his girlfriend for the year.

Later, the holiday became Valentine’s Day in honor of a priest named Valentine. At that time, when Christianity was still a new religion, Valentine was a priest in Rome. The then Emperor Claudius II, had issued an order forbidding Roman soldiers to marry or be engaged. The emperor believed that once they were married, his soldiers would want to stay home rather than fight their wars. Valentine defied the Emperor’s decree and secretly married the young couples. He was finally arrested, imprisoned and beheaded on February 14, the eve of Lupercalia. Valentine was made a saint posthumously. As Christianity grew stronger in Rome, the priests moved the Lupercalia or Spring Festival from February 15 to February 14, that is, Valentine’s Day. Since then, the holiday began in honor of Valentine instead of Lupercus.

“From your Valentine”

According to another story, Valentine was one of the first Christians who was arrested and brought before the Prefect of Rome and imprisoned for helping some Christian martyrs. He cured the jailer’s daughter of blindness while in jail. When the emperor learned of this miracle he ordered the beheading of Valentine. Valentine is said to have sent the jailer’s daughter a signed farewell message, “From your Valentine.”

In 1969, as part of a larger effort to reduce the number of purely legendary holy days, the Church removed Valentine’s Day as an official holiday from its calendar. Today, February 14 is dedicated solely to Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius.

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