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Valentines Day : Its History And
Celebrations
By Arindam Bose
VALENTINE / LOVE
Celebrated on February 14 every year, Saint Valentine's Day or
Valentine's Day is the traditional day on which lovers convey
their love to each other by sending Valentine's cards, sometimes
even anonymously. The most common feature of Valentines Day
these days is the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of
"valentines". Popular Valentine symbols of modern
times include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the
winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, mass produced greeting
cards have largely replaced handwritten notes. It is believed
that nearly one billion Valentines Day cards are sent each year
worldwide, making it only the second largest card-sending
holiday next to Christmas. Women are believed to purchase
approximately 85 percent of all "valentines".
Stories of many Valentines
Opinions differ about who St Valentine was. Early martyrologies
mention at least three St Valentines under the date of 14
February. One is a priest at Rome, another a Bishop of Interamna
(now Terni in Italy) and the other lived and died in Africa.
Many, however, are of the opinion that the first two are the
same person.
It is, however, widely believed that Valentine's Day has perhaps
originated from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. A
festival was held on February 15 in honor of one of their gods
Lupercus, who was called upon by the Romans to ward off the
threats of those fierce wolves that roamed the adjacent forests.
On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, a love lottery was
organized 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.
The holiday subsequently became Valentine's Day after a priest
named Valentine. At that time when Christianity was still a new
religion, 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 began honoring Saint Valentine instead of
Lupercus.
"From your Valentine"
According to another story, Valentine was one of the early
Christians who was seized and dragged before the Prefect of Rome
and jailed for helping some Christian martyrs. He cured the
jailor’s daughter of blindness while in jail. When the emperor
learned of this miracle he ordered the beheading of Valentine.
Valentine is said to have sent the jailor’s daughter a
farewell message signed, "From your Valentine".
In 1969, as part of a larger effort to reduce the number of
saint days of purely legendary origin, the Church removed St.
Valentine's Day as an official holiday from its calendar. At
present, February 14 is dedicated only to Saint Cyril and Saint
Methodius.
About the Author: This article is written by Arindam Bose for http://www.ecard4all.com.
It is a free article and can be used by any webmaster on their
website, provided they will keep the link intact with the
article. For Valentines day greeting cards, have a look at http://www.ecard4all.com/greetings/love_ecard.htm
Source: www.isnare.com
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