This
Valentine’s Day you will probably either send or receive a valentine from
someone. More than a billion are expected to be given away in the
In the
third century, the
Claudius
believed that recruitment for the army was down because Roman men did not want
to leave their loves or families behind, so he canceled all marriages and
engagements in
But a
simple Christian priest named Valentine did come forward and stood up for love.
He began to secretly marry soldiers before they went off to war, despite the
emperor’s orders. In 269 A.D., Emperor Claudius found out about the secret
ceremonies. He had Valentine thrown into prison and deemed that he would be put
to death.
As
Valentine was awaiting execution, he fell in love with a blind girl who
happened to be the jailer’s daughter. On the eve of his execution, with no writing
instruments available, Valentine is said to have written her a sonnet in ink
that he squeezed from violets. Legend has it that his words made the blind
woman see again. It was a brief romance because the next day Valentine was
clubbed to death by Roman executioners.
St.
Valentine gave his life so that young couples could be bonded together in holy
matrimony. They may have killed the man, but not his spirit. Even centuries
after his death, the story of Valentine’s self-sacrificing commitment to love
was legendary in
It’s
surprising to know that Valentine’s Day is really founded on the concept of
love in marriage. On this Valentine’s Day, what are you doing to keep the love
in your marriage burning? While giving a gift and card, having a candlelight
dinner, and sharing special words of love are all important, the true spirit of
Valentine’s Day needs to last throughout the year.
Here are
some ways to bring more love into your marriage:
- Schedule priority time
together. Pull out your calendars and set a date night every week or
two—just to spend time together and talk. (Note: Movies don’t count.)
- Laugh together. When was the
last time you shared a funny story and chuckled with each other? Loosen up
and laugh freely. Live lightheartedly!
- Play together. Find a hobby or
activity you both enjoy: fishing, bowling, tennis, hiking, or biking.
- Be romantic together. Send your
spouse a note of encouragement in the mail every once in a while just to
say, “I love you.” Spend one or two weekends away each year just with your
wife. (No buddies allowed.)
While
Valentine’s Day is a good time to put a spark back into your relationship, the
only way to fan the flame of a good relationship is for every day to be a
Hallmark moment.
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
The 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded
the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14 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
Saint Valentine
Main article: Saint Valentine
History
hrine of St. Valentine
in Whitefriar
Street Carmelite Church in
Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. The Valentines honored on
February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of
Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae). Valentine of Rome was
a priest in
Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna, now Terni,
in central
February 14 is celebrated as St. Valentine's Day in various Christian
denominations; it has, for example, the rank of 'commemoration' in
the calendar
of saints in the Anglican Communion. The feast day of Saint Valentine is given in
the calendar of
saints of the Lutheran Church.[14] However, in the 1969 revision of
the Roman
Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day 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."
The feast day is 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-Second Vatican
Council calendar (see General
Roman Calendar of 1960).
In the Eastern Orthodox
Church, St. Valentine is recognized on July 6,
in which Saint Valentine,
the Roman presbyter, is honoured. In addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church
observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July
30.
Legends
t Valentine baptizing
St Lucilla, Jacopo Bassano.
J.C. Cooper, in The Dictionary of Christianity, writes that
Saint Valentine was "a priest of
The same events are found in Bede's
Martyrology, which was compiled in the 8th century. It states
that Saint 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 Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer
Asterius. The jailer's daughter and his forty-six member household, family members and servants, came
to believe in Jesus and were baptized. A later Passio repeated
the legend, adding that Pope Julius I built a church over his
sepulchre. (there is a confusion with a 4th-century tribune called Valentino,
who donated land to build a church at a time when Julius was a Pope). The
legend was picked up as fact by later martyrologies, starting with Bede's
martyrology in the 8th century. It was repeated in the 13th century,
in The Golden Legend.
There is
an additional embellishment to The Golden Legend, which according to Henry
Ansgar Kelly, was added in the 18th century and widely repeated. On the
evening before Valentine was to be executed, he is supposed to have written the
first "valentine" card himself, addressed to the daughter of his
jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as "Your
Valentine." The expression "From your Valentine" was later
adopted by modern Valentine letters.] This legend has been
published by both American Greetings and The History Channel.
Saint Valentine of Terni and his
disciples
John Foxe, an English
historian, as well as the Order of Carmelites,
state that Saint Valentine was buried in the Church of Praxedes in
Another embellishment suggests that Saint Valentine performed
clandestine Christian
weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. The
Roman Emperor Claudius II supposedly forbade this in order to grow his army,
believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. However, George
Monger writes that this marriage ban was never issued and that Claudius II told
his soldiers to take two or three women for themselves after his victory over
the Goths.[40]
According to legend, in order "to remind these men of their
vows and God's love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from
parchment", giving them to these soldiers and persecuted
Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St.
Valentine's Day.
Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring, customarily worn on the
hands of Christian bishops with an image
of Cupid engraved in it, a recognizable
symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire; Roman
soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for
them. Probably due to the association with Saint Valentine, amethyst has
become the birthstone of
February, which is thought to attract love.
Folk traditions
While the European folk traditions connected with Saint
Valentine and St. Valentine's Day have become marginalized by modern customs
connecting the day with romantic love, there are still some
connections with the advent of spring.
While the custom of sending cards, flowers, chocolates and other
gifts originated in the UK, Valentine's Day still remains connected
with various regional customs in
In Slovenia, Saint Valentine
or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring,
the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims. A proverb says
that "Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots". Plants and flowers
start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day when the first
work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds
propose to each other or marry on that day. Another proverb says "Valentin
– prvi spomladin" ("Valentine – the first spring saint"),
as in some places (especially White Carniola), Saint Valentine marks the
beginning of spring.
Valentine's Day has only recently been celebrated as the day of
love. The day of love was traditionally March 12, the Saint Gregory's day, or February 22, Saint Vincent's Day.
The patron of love was Saint Anthony, whose day has been celebrated
on June 13.
Connection with
romantic love
Possible
ancient origins
The "Feast" (Latin:
"in natali", lit.: on the
birthday) of Saint Valentine originated in Christendom and has been marked by
the Western Church of Christendom in honour of one of the Christian martyrs named Valentine, as
recorded in the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary. In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was observed February
13–15 on behalf of Pan & Juno, pagan gods of love, marriage &
fertility. It was a rite connected to purification and health, and had only
slight connection to fertility (as a part of health) and none to love. The
celebration of Saint Valentine is not known to have had any romantic
connotations until Chaucer's poetry about
"Valentine's Day" in the 14th century, some seven hundred years after
celebration of Lupercalia is believed to have ceased.
Lupercalia was a festival
local to the city of
Some researchers have theorized that Gelasius I replaced
Lupercalia with the celebration of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and
claim a connection to the 14th century's connotations of romantic love, but
there is no historical indication that he ever intended such a thing. Also,
the dates do not fit because at the time of Gelasius I, the feast was only
celebrated in
Chaucer's Parliament
of Fowls
The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic
love is believed to be in the Parliament of Fowls (1382)
by Geoffrey Chaucer,
a dream vision portraying a parliament for
birds to choose their mates. Honoring the first anniversary of the engagement
of fifteen-year-old King Richard II of England to
fifteen-year-old Anne of Bohemia, Chaucer
wrote (in Middle English):
"For this was on
seynt Valentynes day
Whan every foul cometh there to chese his make
Of every kynde that men thynke may
And that so huge a noyse gan they make
That erthe, and eyr, and tre, and every lake
So ful was, that unethe was there space
For me to stonde, so ful was al the place."
In modern English:
"For this was on
Saint Valentine's Day
When every bird comes there to choose his match
Of every kind that men may think of
And that so huge a noise they began to make
That earth and air and tree and every lake
Was so full, that not easily was there space
For me to stand—so full was all the place."
Readers have uncritically assumed that Chaucer was referring to
February 14 as Valentine's Day. Henry Ansgar Kelly has observed that Chaucer
might have had in mind the feast day of St. Valentine of
Jack B. Oruch notes that the date on which spring begins has
changed since Chaucer's time because of the precession of the equinoxes and the
introduction of the more accurate Gregorian calendar only
in 1582. On the Julian calendar in
use in Chaucer's time, February 14 would have fallen on the date now called
February 23, a time when some birds have started mating and nesting in England.
Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls refers to a supposedly
established tradition, but there is no record of such a tradition before
Chaucer. The speculative derivation of sentimental customs from the distant
past began with 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of
Three other authors who made poems about birds mating on St. Valentine's Day
around the same years: Otton de Grandson from
Court
of love
The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration
of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love. The charter,
allegedly issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400, describes lavish
festivities to be attended by several members of the royal court, including a
feast, amorous song and poetry competitions, jousting and dancing. Amid these
festivities, the attending ladies would hear and rule on disputes from
lovers. No other record of the court exists, and none of those named in
the charter were present at Mantes except Charles's queen, Isabeau of Bavaria,
who may well have imagined it all while waiting out a plague.]
Valentine
poetry
The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of
Orléans to his wife, which commences.
"Je
suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée..."
— Charles d'Orléans, Rondeau VI,
lines 1–2
At the time, the duke was being held in the Tower of London following his capture at
the Battle of Agincourt,
1415.
The earliest surviving valentines in English appear to be those
in the Paston Letters,
written in 1477 by Margery Brewes to her future husband John Paston "my
right well-beloved Valentine".[64]
Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (1600–1601):
"To-morrow
is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more."
— William Shakespeare
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