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History of Valentine's Day

1/25/2016

 
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​The history of Valentine's Day is obscure and is associated with various legends. The roots of Valentine’s Day are in an ancient Roman fertility celebration. Pope Gelasius turned this pagan festival into a Christian feast day around 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day, to honor one of the three early Christian saints whose names were "St. Valentine”.
 
One legend has it that Valentine, who was in prison, fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine." The most likely story surrounding St. Valentine is one focused on Christian love rather than passionate love: he was apparently martyred on February 14th for refusing to renounce his religion.
 
In the 14th century this Christian feast day became definitively associated with love. It was the poet, Chaucer, who first linked St. Valentine's Day with romance.
 
By the 18th century, gift giving and exchanging handmade cards on Valentine's Day had become common in England, a custom that eventually spread to the American colonies.  By the 1850s, the tradition of giving gifts, typically chocolates or jewelry, became widespread in the United States.

***NOTE:  For more detailed information, please see the comment below by Marie. There are apparently many different stories related to Valentine's Day and the saint the holiday it is named for. I appreciate Marie taking the time to write and I have adjusted my errors in language above. I took my information from a variety of online sources and it is a quick synopsis of what I found after researching the holiday.

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Marie
1/29/2016 07:52:42 am

Thank you for sharing a bit of history - I would like to comment as a Catholic though. Valentine did not "go by the name of St. Valentine," rather, the title "saint" was given to him posthumously by the Catholic Church in recognition of his holy life and entrance into heaven. This process is referred to as "canonization." And he first became associated with romantic love when he secretly witnessed marriages while in prison - during this time soldiers were not allowed to wed and went to Valentine, as a Catholic priest, for aid. Furthermore, it is certain there was no romantic connection between him and the jailer's blind daughter, considering Valentine was an old man and a Catholic priest vowed to celibacy. Please take no offense at these notes; old stories become so easily adjusted! I just wanted to share a few facts that are held to be certain according to history and logic.

Laura link
2/1/2016 02:01:02 pm

Thanks so much for your reply, Marie! I appreciate you taking the time to write - I love that this blog post opened a great exchange of information!!

Laura


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