Have a Happy Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is celebrated every year on February 14. It is also known as Saint Valentine’s Day and the Feast of Saint Valentine. It was originally a Christian feast day that honored one or two early Christian martyrs. They were both named Saint Valentine. In later folk traditions, Valentine’s Day become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love.
There are several stories of various Valentine martyrs associated with February 14. These include Saint Valentine of Rome. He was imprisoned because of his ministry to Christians who were persecuted in the Roman Empire during the 3rd century. According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored the sight of his jailer’s blind daughter. Several later additions to the legend related it to the theme of love. One of those is an 18th century tale that claims he wrote a letter to the jailer’s daughter. It is said that the letter was signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell before his execution. Another tradition says that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.
The celebration was known as the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14 in the 8th century. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries. This is when notions of courtly love flourished. They were apparently associated to the “lovebirds” of early spring. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion where couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers and confections. Sending greeting cards known as “valentines” also became popular. 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 were mostly replaced by mass-produced greeting cards.
Unlike President’s Day and Memorial Day, Saint Valentine’s Day is not a public holiday in the United States. It is, however, an official feast day in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church.
