Valentine's Day
The celebration of love – what holiday can be more universal? Valentine’s Day is an international observance on February 14, during which the tradition is to confess feelings to our loved ones. There are many ways to do that: by sending a card, by a giving a small or generous gift, by presenting someone with flowers or decorating a home with hearts. The theme of romantic love originates from legends about Saint Valentine, who either performed illegal marriage ceremonies for soldiers or fell in love with the daughter of the man who jailed him for being a Christian. The discrepancy might be a result of the fact that the Christian church distinguishes more than one Saint Valentine. The stories, however, might be untrue altogether. These myths might have been created in order to explain some Valentine’s Day traditions that surround the celebration of the holiday nowadays.
The holiday has probably originated from the Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia, which used to fall in the middle of February. Its customs were connected to romantic love, which is why the Christian church, trying to claim the observance, has probably invented some stories about Saint Valentine. For example, he allegedly performed weddings for desperate soldiers who otherwise were denied the right to take a wife under the Claudius II rule. Later legends involved the justification of how Valentine cards became a custom: as the patron was supposedly in love with Julia, the daughter of his jailer Asterius, Saint Valentine wrote her a letter which he signed “Your Valentine”.
According to the Christian church, both Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were martyrs who died in the 3rd century AD. Pope Gelasius proclaimed February 14 a Christian observance in the 5th century. Although his life was practically unknown, Saint Valentine’s Day had been recognized throughout the Middle Ages. First straightforward connections between the Christian holiday and romantic love appeared with Chaucer’s “Parlement of Foules”, which changed the nature of the holiday. The French King Charles VI proclaimed the holiday a festivity of love in his 1400 Charter of the Court of Love. Valentine’s Day celebrations became prominent in Great Britain in the 17th century, and in the 1700s first handwritten or primitively printed cards were handed between lovers. In 1840, with the invention of the postage stamp, an increased number of people became interested in sending out valentines. In the same decade, the name of an American, Esther A. Howland became famous, because she established the first mass production of romantic cards. In the 20th century, Valentine’s Day celebrations had been widely recognized and the custom of giving has been extended from simple cards to more complex gifts.
Nowadays, the holiday is hardly a Christian observance anywhere. Of course, there are church masses held in honor of the saint, but February 14 celebrations mainly include commercialized love acts. These are, for example: exchanging gifts with family or lovers, having a romantic dinner, or proposing marriage. Many couples take romantic trips and sleep in exclusive hotels. The main symbols of the day are: red roses, hearts, the Cupid, an amethyst. Some shops organize sales prior to Valentine’s Day, because many people tend to buy expensive gifts for their loved ones.
The holiday is a widely recognized observance, but no country among the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand have established it as a public holiday. Valentine’s Day has become more of an intimate occasion between two people in love or among members of a family.