Saint Valentine's Day[1]
(commonly shortened to
Valentine's Day[1][2][3])
is an annual
holiday held on February 14 celebrating
love and
affection
between
intimate companions.
[1][3]
The holiday is named after one or more early Christian
martyrs
named
Valentine and was established by
Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It is traditionally a day on which
lovers express their love for each other by
presenting flowers, offering
confectionery,
and sending
greeting cards (known as "
valentines").
The holiday first became associated with
romantic love in the circle of
Geoffrey Chaucer in the
High Middle Ages, when the tradition of
courtly
love flourished.
Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the
heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged
Cupid.
Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to
mass-produced
greeting cards.
[4]
Older tradition
The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great
Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in
her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based
on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th century
America, where many Valentine cards are now general greeting cards
rather than declarations of love, was a harbinger of the future
commercialization of holidays in the United States.
[5]
It's considered one of the
Hallmark holidays.
The U.S.
Greeting Card Association
estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year
worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the
year, behind
Christmas. The association estimates that, in the
US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.
[6]
Saint Valentine
Numerous early Christian martyrs were named
Valentine.
[7]
The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (
Valentinus
presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (
Valentinus ep.
Interamnensis m. Romae).
[8]
Valentine of Rome
[9]
was a priest in
Rome who was martyred about AD 269 and was buried on
the
Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Church of Saint Praxed
in Rome,
[10]
and at
Whitefriar Street Carmelite
Church in Dublin, Ireland.
Valentine of Terni
[11]
became bishop of Interamna (modern
Terni) about
AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under
Emperor
Aurelian.
He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than
Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in
Terni (
Basilica di San Valentino).
[12]
The
Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks
of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early
martyrologies
under date of February 14. He was martyred in
Africa
with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.
[13]
No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval
biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine
became linked to romance in the fourteenth century, distinctions between
Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost.
[14]
In the 1969 revision of the
Roman
Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feastday of Saint Valentine on
February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to
particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason:
"Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to
particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of
Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on
February 14."
[15]
The feast day is still celebrated in
Balzan (
Malta)
where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout
the world by
Traditionalist
Catholics who follow the older, pre-
Vatican II calendar.
The Early Medieval
acta of either Saint Valentine were excerpted by
Bede and briefly expounded in
Legenda Aurea.
[16]
According to that version, St 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 in order to save his life. 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 the blind daughter of his jailer.
Legenda Aurea still providing no connections whatsoever with
sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times
to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law
attributed to
Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men
remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army,
believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest
Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young
men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and
thrown in jail. In an embellishment to
The Golden Legend provided
by American Greetings, Inc. to History.com and widely repeated, on the
evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the first
"valentine" himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as
his beloved,
[17]
as the jailer's daughter whom he had befriended and healed,
[18]
or both. It was a note that read "From your Valentine."
[17
Valentine's Day Chocolates.
Valentine's Day is Sunday, February 14th. For
delivery by Friday, February 12th, please order by:
Standard Delivery - please see the UPS Delivery
Chart
2-Day Delivery - Wednesday, 2/10
Next Day Delivery - Thursday, 2/11
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