Valentine's
Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine is
celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian feast
day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and is
recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of
romance and love in many regions of the world.
There
are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected
to February 14, including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of
Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the
third century. According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight
to the blind daughter of his jailer. Numerous later additions to the legend
have better related it to the theme of love: an 18th-century embellishment to
the legend claims he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed "Your
Valentine" as a farewell before his execution; another addition posits
that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were
forbidden to marry.
The
Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be
celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on
that date in AD 269. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th
and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by
association with the "lovebirds" of early spring. In 18th-century
England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for
each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting
cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used
today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged
Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to
mass-produced greeting cards. In Italy, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to
lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver's
heart", as well as to children to ward off epilepsy (called Saint
Valentine's Malady).
Modern Times
The
rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new
traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and
sending Valentine's Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or
printable greeting cards. An estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent in 2010.
Valentine's Day is considered by some to be a Hallmark holiday due to its
commercialization.
The ancient ceremony included putting girls’ names in a box and letting the boys draw them out. Couples would then be paired off until the following year. The Christian church substituted saints’ names for girls’ names in hope that the participant would model his life after the saint whose name he drew. However, it was once again girls’ names that ended up in the box by the 16th century.