Year after year, every February 14, millions of people around. The world show their love for their partner by celebrating Valentine’s Day and giving gifts. There’re a lot of Valentine Gift Ideas to give your partner, people give chocolates, roses, and cards so that their loved ones will know they are appreciated.
The holiday is deeply root in the history of Saint Valentine. And his story has romanticiz overtime to explain the origins of this popular tradition. However, many people do not realize that Valentine’s Day was originally a holiday. That celebrated friendship and had nothing to do with romance.
However, not everyone knows the origin of this celebration. Who was Valentine? Why is he the patron saint of lovers?
The origin of Saint Valentine, between history and legend.
February 14 is Valentine’s Day, but who was this popular saint? The history of Saint Valentine centuries and shroud in the haze of legend. So much so that today the Catholic Church questions its existence, and since 1969 it has not celebrated this holiday.
The origins of the tradition must sought back in the third century. When Christianity spread rapidly through the Roman Empire. Despite attempts by Roman leaders to put an end to this new faith. Which threatened the stability of the Empire. It is then that the tradition of three Roman martyrs called Valentine appears.
Some sources point to Saint Valentine of Terni as the true Saint Valentine. Others speak of a certain Valentino who martyred in Africa. But perhaps the most romantic story (or legend) is that of Saint Valentine of Rome.
The history Valentine of Rome
According to tradition, Saint Valentine of Rome was a Roman priest who spiritually accompanied Christians. Who had imprisoned in the persecutions against practitioners of this faith and help them prepare for martyrdom and death.
Another version tells that it was about a priest who, despite the fact. That the Roman authorities prohibited young soldiers from marrying. Considering that they would be better combatants if they did not have family ties. Dedicated himself to secretly marrying couples according to the Catholic rite.
When he discovered, Valentin martyred and eventually behead.
A last (and not very credible) version tells that the priest Valentín arrest and fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. And, to whom he dedicated a passionate love letter that he signed as “from your Valentine”. Which would become the origin from the tradition of sending the love letters and postcards exchanged by lovers every 14 February.
The Catholic Church picks up the tradition of Saint Valentine
At the end of the 5th century, the Catholic Church collects the legends about Valentine’s Day and institutionalized its commemoration on February 14. It seems that it was Pope Gelasius I who formalized the cult of the saint, in an attempt to Christianize the ancient pagan celebration of the Lupercales, which took place in mid-February.
However, the Church itself from the beginning had doubts about the historical veracity of the events of Saint Valentine, in such a way that even Gelasius I affirmed that Saint Valentine was one of those saints “whose names are venerated by men, but whose acts Only God knows ”, expressing his lack of historical evidence about this martyr.
Probably, it was during the Middle Ages when romantic love was associated with the heroic and mythological figure of Saint Valentine, definitively forging the legend of the patron saint of lovers. The fable grew and adorned itself over the centuries until reaching our days.
The festival eliminate from the ecclesiastical calendar in 1969, in an attempt by the Catholic Church to eliminate those saints of legendary origin from the saints.
Valentine’s Day and Valentine’s Day
It was during the 19th century when, in Anglo-Saxon countries, the tradition of exchanging postcards with love messages on Valentine’s Day began. Shortly after, the custom of postcards would add to that of giving the couple other gifts such as roses, chocolates, and jewelry.
Well into the twentieth century, commerce and advertising pick up the figure of Saint Valentine, encourag their patronage over those who were touched by Cupid’s arrows or those who pretend to, and took advantage of it to turn February 14 into a design date. in which to increase your sales.
February 14, a day to celebrate love
Festival of love or commercial party, the truth is that. Today February 14 is a date mark on the calendar of millions of couples around the world. A day to share gifts (material or not), to take special care of the loved one and ultimately a day to celebrate love.
