A REVIEW ON VALENTINE’S DAY
Let us take a look at how it all started shall we?
- Significance: Feast day of St. Valentine; the celebration of love and affection.
- Also called: Saint Valentine’s day or the feast of saint Valentine.
- Observances: Sending greeting cards and gifts, dating, church services etc
- Date: February 14th
Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd Century. All around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from?
Who Is Saint Valentine?
The story of this patron saint is shrouded in mystery. Some sources see Saint Valentine as a distinct historical characters who was said to have healed a child while imprisoned and executed by decapitation. Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni.
THE VALENTINE OF ROME served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and performed clandestine Christian weddings for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. He was martyred in 269 and was added to the calendar of saints. According to legend, in order “to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment”, giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine wore a purple amethyst ring, (customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it)a recognizable symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire. Roman soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for them.
THE VALENTINE OF TERNI became bishop of Terni. History states that Saint Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead.
Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius. The jailer’s daughter and his household came to believe in Jesus and were baptized On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he is supposed to have written the first “valentine” card himself, addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as “From your Valentine” was later adopted by modern Valentine letters. Saint Valentine is said to have been beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome in 273.
Another saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrelogist under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.
Cupid
Cupif is often portrayed on Valentine’s Day cards as a naked cherub launching arrows of love at unsuspecting lovers. But the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros.
Valentine’s Day Greetings
It id common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes and printed cards. Ready-made cards are an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.
In conclusion to this inspiring blog, I wanna wish you a lovely 2021 Valentine’s day❤❤❤❤
What impacts do you feel valentine has on this new generation? Drop your responses in the comment section.
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