What is Valentine’s Day? St. Valentine’s Day is an annual festival celebrating romantic love, friendship, and appreciation.
Every year on 14 February, people celebrate this day by sending a message of love and affection to partners, family, and friends. The couple sends Valentine’s Day cards and flowers and spends special time together to honor their love for each other.
Early Valentine’s day history: Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the third century. There are many stories about St. Valentine and over time these stories evolved into the legend that we know today.
In Valentine’s time, many Romans were converting to Christianity, but Emperor Claudius II was a pagan and made strict laws about what Christians were allowed to do. Claudius believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to Rome and therefore passed a law prohibiting them from marrying. St. Valentine began to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing the importance of love.
Eventually, Valentine finds out and is jailed for his crimes against Claudius. While in captivity, Valentine also cared for his fellow prisoners and the blind daughter of his jailer. Legend has it that Valentine cured the girl’s blindness, and that her final task before she was hanged was to ‘write’ a love message signed by her Valentine. Valentin was executed in the year 270 on 14 February.
How did Valentine’s Day develop?
It was not more than 200 years when 14 February was declared St. Valentine’s Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any paganism. Each year a pagan fertility ritual was held in February and the Pope ended the festival and announced 14 February Saint Valentine’s Day, thus establishing the feast day by the saints of the Catholic calendar.
In the Middle Ages, the poet Chaucer first associated St. Valentine with romantic love. This was the beginning of the tradition of Courtley Love, a ritual usually expressed secretly in love and appreciation. The custom spread throughout Europe and stories abound in love in a high court where female judges would rule on issues related to love on 14 February each year. Historians believe that these meetings were actually in meetings, where people read love poems and played flirtatious games.
Valentine’s Day Symbol
The practice of sending love messages expressed its affection among the people sending special messages. These cards were beautiful creations handcrafted by the sender and were designed to personally show how much they liked the recipient. The cards usually contain passionate poetry, which proclaims the beauty of the receiver and how much they were loved.
The St. Valentine’s Day card was decorated with paintings of cupidas, hearts and flowers and trimmed with lace and ribbon. These paintings are still a symbol of love and are recognized all over the world.
What is Valentine’s Day in contemporary times?
While Valentine’s Day is celebrated in most countries, various cultures have developed their own traditions for this festival. In some parts of the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a day to express love between family members and friends rather than romantic couples. Some traditions involve leaving gifts and gifts for children and others include acts of praise among friends.
Valentine’s Day is usually associated with romantic love, with millions of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged each year. Gifts of flowers or a red rose are sent to loved ones with a romantic message and the couple spends special time together.
Many couples choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day with dinner, a picnic or a special homemade meal. Many restaurants offer Valentine’s Day dinner promotions and the food is often presented with symbols of love like hearts and flowers.
Another popular Valentine’s Day activity is to stay in a luxury hotel in a beautiful location, allowing a couple to get away from it all and enjoy some quality time. Marriage proposals are also popular on Valentine’s Day, and it is often chosen as the perfect day to express their love and commitment.
Some wedding proposals are made very constructively, such as after climbing a mountain top or posting a message on a billboard. Whatever the method, wedding proposals made on Valentine’s Day are generally romantic and memorable.