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I am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. I don't need a designated day to tell Frank I love him or to show him I love him. I think it is a rip-off day when candy, flower, and card companies make a killing. I find it amazing that a dozen roses you can buy on Monday for less than 20.00 on Valentine's Day cost 40.00. What is the deal. I was a bit curious about the day....how did it start? When did all the madness begin? Well, thanks to the internet I found out most about Valentine's Day than I ever wanted to know.....and thought I would share it with my readers. Did you know that it is not exactly known why the 14th of
February is known as Valentine's Day or if the noble Valentine really
had any relation to this day. The history
of Valentine's Day is impossible to be obtained from any archive and
the veil of centuries gone by has made the origin behind this day more difficult to trace. It is only some legends that are our source for the history of Valentine's Day. The modern St. Valentine's Day
celebrations are said to have been derived from both ancient Christian
and Roman tradition. As per one legend, the holiday has originated from
the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalis/Lupercalia, a fertility
celebration that used to observed annually on February 15. But the rise
of Christianity in Europe saw many pagan holidays being renamed for and
dedicated to the early Christian martyrs. Lupercalia was no exception.
In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius turned Lupercalia into a Christian feast day
and set its observance a day
earlier, on February 14. He proclaimed February 14 to be the feast day
in
honor of Saint Valentine, a Roman martyr who lived in the 3rd century.
It is this St. Valentine whom the modern Valentine's Day
honors.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,
there were at least three early Christian saints by the name of
Valentine. While one was a priest in Rome, another was a bishop in
Terni. Nothing is known about the third St. Valentine except that he met
his end in Africa. Surprisingly, all three of them were said to have
been martyred on 14th February. It is clear that Pope Gelasius intended to honor the first of
these three aforementioned men. Most scholars believe that this St.
Valentine was a priest who lived around 270 AD in Rome and attracted the
disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II who ruled during this time. The story of St. Valentine has two different versions - the
Protestant and the Catholic one. Both versions agree upon Saint
Valentine being a bishop who held secret marriage ceremonies of soldiers
in opposition to Claudius II who had prohibited marriage for young men
and was executed by the latter. During the lifetime of Valentine, the
golden era of
Roman empire had almost come to an end. Lack of quality
administrators led to frequent civil strife. Education declined,
taxation increased and trade witnessed a very bad time. The Roman empire
faced crisis from all sides, from
the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe
and Asia. The empire had grown too large to be shielded from external
aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Naturally, more and more
capable men were required to to be recruited as soldiers and officers
to protect the nation from takeover. When Claudius became the emperor,
he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their
families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. He believed that
marriage made the men weak. So he issued an edict forbidding marriage to
assure quality soldiers. The ban on marriage was a great shock for the Romans. But they dared not voice their protest against the mighty emperor. The
kindly bishop Valentine also realized the injustice of the decree. He
saw the trauma of young lovers who gave up all hopes of being united in
marriage. He planned to counter the monarch's orders in secrecy.
Whenever lovers thought of marrying, they went to Valentine who met them
afterwards in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of
matrimony. And thus he secretly performed many marriages for young
lovers. But such things cannot remain hidden for long. It was only a
matter of time before Claudius came to know of this "friend of lovers,"
and had him arrested. While awaiting his sentence in prison, Valentine was approached
by his jailor, Asterius. It was said that Valentine had some saintly
abilities and one of them granted him the power to heal people. Asterius
had a blind daughter and knowing of the miraculous powers of Valentine
he requested the latter to restore the sight of his blind daughter. The
Catholic legend has it that Valentine did this through the vehicle of
his strong faith, a phenomenon refuted by the Protestant version which
agrees otherwise with the Catholic one. Whatever the fact, it appears
that Valentine in some way did succeed to help Asterius' blind daughter.
When
Claudius II met Valentine, he was said to have been impressed by the
dignity and conviction of the latter. However, Valentine refused to
agree with the emperor regarding the ban on marriage. It is also said
that the emperor tried to convert Valentine to the Roman gods but was
unsuccesful in his efforts. Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods
and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences
fully. This angered Claudius II who gave the order of execution of
Valentine. Meanwhile, a deep friendship had been formed between Valentine
and Asterius' daughter. It caused great grief to the young girl to hear
of his friend's imminent death. It is said that just before his
execution, Valentine asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and
signed a farewell message to her "From Your Valentine," a phrase that
lived ever after.
As per another legend, Valentine fell in love with the daughter
of his jailer during his imprisonment. However, this legend is not given
much importance by historians. The most plausible story surrounding St.
Valentine is one not
centered on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he
was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion.
Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270
AD. Thus 14th February became a day for all lovers and Valentine
became its Patron Saint. It began to be annually observed by young
Romans who offered handwritten greetings of affection, known as
Valentines, on this day to the women they admired. With the coming of
Christianity, the day came to be known as St. Valentine's Day. But it was only during the 14th century that St. Valentine's Day
became definitively associated with love. UCLA medieval scholar Henry
Ansgar Kelly, author of "Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine",
credits Chaucer as the one who first linked St. Valentine's Day with
romance. In medieval France and England it was believed that birds mated
on February 14. Hence, Chaucer used the image of birds as the symbol of
lovers in poems dedicated to the day. In Chaucer's "The Parliament of
Fowls," the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St.
Valentine's Day are related: "For this was on St. Valentine's Day,
When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate." By the Middle Ages, Valentine became as popular as to become one
of the most popular saints in England and France. Despite attempts by
the Christian church to sanctify the holiday, the association of
Valentine’s Day with romance and courtship continued through the Middle
Ages. The holiday evolved over the centuries. By the 18th century,
gift-giving and exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine's Day had become
common in England. Hand-made valentine cards made of lace, ribbons, and
featuring cupids and hearts began to be created on this day and handed
over to the man or woman one loved. This
tradition eventually spread to the American colonies. It was not until
the 1840s that Valentine's Day greeting cards began to be commercially
produced in the U.S. The first American Valentine's Day greeting cards
were created by Esther A. Howlanda Mount Holyoke, a graduate and native
of Worcester. Mass. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made
elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known
as "scrap". It was when Howland began Valentine's cards in a large
scale that the tradition really caught on in the United States. Today, Valentine's Day is one of the major holidays in the U.S.
and has become a booming commercial success. According to the Greeting
Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are "valentine"s. The
"valentines", as Valentine's Day cards are better known as, are often
designed with hearts to symbolize love. The Valentine's Day card spread
with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world. One of the
earliest valentines was sent in 1415 AD by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to
his wife during his imprisonment in the Tower of London. The card is now
preserved in the British Museum. There may be doubts regarding the actual identity of Valentine, but
we know that he really existed because archaeologists have recently
unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to a Saint
Valentine.
