Pink and red hearts, holiday balloons, a bunch of roses, little angels, a variety of cards...
Attitudes towards Valentine's Day vary. Some are sure that it's strange to designate a single day for true love, some simply perceive Valentine's Day as another reason to have fun, and some truly expect miracles from the saint.
Despite the complete confusion about the origin of the holiday, it has a history that dates back several centuries. Therefore, we suggest you figure out where the celebration of this day originates from and what theories exist about the origin of the holiday. And there are several of them.
Version one
Little is known about Valentine, the man who gave his name to the holiday. It is said that he lived in the 3rd century in the Roman city of Terni. Some accounts say that he was an ordinary Christian priest, while others say that he was elevated to the rank of bishop.
Researchers agree that Valentine was a young, likeable, kind, and sensitive man. In addition, it can be argued that Valentine was engaged in natural sciences and medicine.
At that time, the Roman Empire was ruled by Emperor Claudius II, who was remembered for his respect for the military prowess of the Roman legions and, in return, his hostility towards Christians. To maintain fighting spirit, the emperor issued an edict forbidding legionaries to marry. This was explained by the fact that married men devoted too much time and attention to their families and were not at all preoccupied with thoughts about the good of the empire.
Secretly, so as not to incur the emperor's wrath, a young Christian priest continued to marry legionaries in love. His name was Valentine. According to some reports, his patronage was even broader - he reconciled those who were in a quarrel, wrote love letters on behalf of disloyal legionaries, and gave bouquets of flowers to the newlyweds.
This could not last long, as it is well known that the Roman Empire respected the laws. Therefore, the secret became public and clouds of anger gathered over Valentine's head. This ended with the priest being taken into custody in 269 and the signing of an order for his execution.
A romantic flair also envelops the last days of Valentine's life behind closed doors. According to the first version, the blind daughter of the prison guard fell in love with him. Valentine had taken a vow of celibacy, so he could not reciprocate the girl's feelings, but on the eve of his execution, on the night of February 13, he sent her a touching letter. This letter became the prototype of the Valentine's Day card.
According to another version, Valentine himself fell in love with the girl and, thanks to his own knowledge of medicine, cured her of blindness.
We will never know what really happened, but one thing is certain: the young Roman priest died in the name of love.
It is precisely because there was so much love in Valentine's life - for God, for people, for a beautiful girl - that he is remembered as such a bright person with a huge soul. So, who else but him should become the patron saint of the holiday of love and all lovers?!
Not forgetting Valentine, he was called the patron saint of all lovers and canonized as a Christian martyr who gave his life for his faith. Western Europe began celebrating Valentine's Day in the 13th century, and the USA in 1777. Now we have one more holiday, although in Russia there was also a holiday of lovers. It fell on July 8 and was associated with the legendary love story of Saints Peter and Fevronia.
Version two
At the time of the founding of Rome, there were many wolves roaming around the city. The Romans asked one of their gods, Lupercus, to intercede for the inhabitants and keep the wolves away from people. In honor of this god, the Lupercalia festival was held on February 15. It was a celebration of spring, because the ancient Roman calendar was different from the modern one and February was considered the beginning of spring.
During the holiday, young people performed mystery plays, during which notes were placed in a specially designated box. Each piece of paper had only two words written on it: the name of the sender and the name of the recipient.
Several centuries passed, and at the end of the 3rd century, the emperor Claudius II, already described by us, issued a decree forbidding young men from marrying. Claudius waged constant wars, so he needed a strong army. And married soldiers, as he believed, were weak fighters.
One of the Christian bishops, Valentine, dared to violate the imperial order. He secretly married newlyweds who came to him, for which he was executed on February 14, 270.
200 years later, church leaders noticed that the date of Valentine's execution coincided with a celebration in honor of the god Lupercus. By papal decree, Lupercaria was transformed into All Saints' Day, and Valentine was canonized and appointed patron of this holiday.
Valentine's Day traditions
The appearance of "valentines" in the modern interpretation is due to Charles, Duke of Orleans (1415), who was sitting in solitary confinement in prison and decided to fight his sadness by writing love letters to his wife.
Valentines became most popular in the 18th century. For example, in England and Scotland, on Valentine's Day, young people would hold a kind of raffle, during which the young men would draw lots to determine which girl would go to whom as a bride. Thus, we see that over the centuries this day was considered not only a holiday for existing lovers, but also a day of hope for finding one's destiny.
Later, choosing a lover became the most common entertainment of this holiday, which was eagerly awaited all year long.
Despite the opposition of the church, another tradition took root on Valentine's Day: young men and women drew lots to choose their "Valentine". After the union, the couple exchanged souvenirs. The custom of drawing lots persisted for quite a long time - until the 18th century, only gradually fading away, until it turned into a tradition of giving gifts exclusively to women.
This new trend eventually put an end to the random selection of their "Valentine." After all, many brides were not ready to give expensive gifts to the first woman they came across, who was chosen not by them, but by blind lottery.
The popularity of the holiday and the tradition of giving Valentines also owes a lot to the postal service! Until 1800, the cost of sending a letter by mail was prohibitively high, and it was not the sender of the letter, but the recipient who had to pay for it. So, imagine: you receive a Valentine, pay for the postage, and then discover that it is from a person you dislike. Therefore, before the cost of postal services became a penny, most of these Valentine's Day greeting cards were sent by hand. It was not so easy, but it was very pleasant for young ladies.
Today, a Valentine's Day card is a card, often in the shape of a heart, with best wishes, declarations of love, marriage proposals, and cute jokes. Often, such cards are not signed, so that the recipient can guess who the greeting is from.
Is it a marketer's holiday or really Valentine's Day?
Previously, Saint Valentine was officially honored according to the church calendar. And the 1969 reform removed the saint from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, motivating this decision by the fact that information about his life is unreliable and not confirmed in writing. After all, all that is known for sure about the saint is only his name and information about his execution. However, this is not strange, because the church did not have a very favorable attitude towards Saint Valentine's Day before that.
This attitude has not changed to this day. Churchmen believe that the holiday of lovers has nothing to do with holiness or God's love. In their opinion, this day is a holiday for carnal pleasures, not for spirituality. Well, studying the statistics of contraceptive sales on the eve of the holiday, it is difficult to deny that the clergy is right. But this cannot prevent sincere people in love from reminding themselves of their feelings once again. Therefore, the idea of the holiday is not bad, in our opinion, but everything will depend on how this idea is presented.
An additional argument against celebrating Valentine's Day is the total commercialization of the holiday. It's also hard to argue with this, as some jokingly call Valentine's Day a holiday for marketers. But we give gifts on other holidays as well, simply considering it an extra reason to please our loved ones.
So, to summarize.
What to celebrate, whether to celebrate and what to give is, of course, up to you. You don't have to listen to the advice that is being spread all over society. You can come up with the best celebration traditions for you and your significant other, adding bright colors to your life. The only thing to remember is that you can definitely express your love more often than once a year!
Happy Holidays! We wish you happiness, love, and many joyful moments in life!
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