Valentine's Day 101 - Origin & History

It's clear that the day of February 14th is Saint Valentine's Day (or Valentine's Day). It's the most romantic day in a year. Almost every couple of lovers will celebrate this day with joy.

At first, it's the western countries' custom to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day, but nowadays, Valentine's Day is well known all over the world. Then, what's the history of this popular festival?

There are many legends about Valentine's Day, which are not proved but popular among the public. And, to make things even more confusing, the first question should be answered is: who is Valentine.

Opinions about who Saint Valentine was are quite different. Somebody believes that it referred to a priest at Rome, some people think it as a bishop of Interamna, and several people hold the idea that it means a person who lived and died in Africa, and the like. All in all, there are various ideas, however, many people are of the view that the priest and the bishop is the same person.


1 Valentine was a priest.

It's widely believed that Saint Valentine's Day was originated from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. A festival was held on February 15th in honor of their God Lupercus. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, a love lottery was organize in which the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man then drew a slip and the girl whose name he picked up was to be his sweetheart for the year.

Subsequently, the holiday became "Valentine's Day" after a priest called Valentine. Valentine was a priest in Rome. The then Emperor Claudius II, had issued an order forbidding the Roman soldiers to marry or become engaged. The emperor believed that once they got married, his soldiers would want to stay home rather than fight his 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 posthumously named a saint. As Christianity grew stronger in Rome, the priests moved the Lupercalia or spring holiday from February 15 to February 14, i.e., Valentine's Day. Since then the holiday has begun to honour Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.

2 Valentine was a physician.

Of course, many other stories about Saint Valentine are prevalent, too. And the most romantic portrays Valetine as a physician who lived during the time of Emperor Claudius.

A gastronomist, Valentine fell afoul of the Roman authorities when he converted to Christianity, and subsequently began treating the blind daughter of one of the Emperor's prison guards. Discovered, Valentine was arrested and executed when he refused to renounce his religious beliefs. The condemned physician had fallen in love with his blind patient, and just before his death - on February 14, in 269 or 270 AD - he is supposed to have sent her a note, signed "from your Valentine."

Although the versions about Saint Valentine's Day vary among different people, there's one thing that everyone holds the same: February 14th is a romantic day!

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