|
Valentine's Day - the popular festival of love
and romances traces its origin to ancient Roman festival
and has not been created by card companies as some
people believe it to be. There are various legends
associated with the festival along with the belief that
birds began to mate from this day. Popularity of the
Valentine's Day festival stems from the combined effects
of all these legends, beliefs and of course the wish to
glorify the unparalleled feeling of love.
Feast of Lupercalia
Historians trace the origin of Valentine's Day to
ancient Roman Empire. It is said that in the Rome of
ancient times people observed a holiday on February 14th
to honor Juno - the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses.
The Romans also regarded Juno as the Goddess of Women
and Marriage. On the following day, February 15th began
the fertility festival called 'Feast of Lupercalia'. The
festival of Lupercalia was celebrated to honor the Gods
Lupercus and Faunus - the Roman God of Agriculture
besides the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and
Remus.
An interesting custom was followed in the Feast of
Lupercalia to bring together young boys and girls who
otherwise were strictly separated. On the eve of the
festival names of young Roman girls were written on a
slip of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew
out a girl's name from the jar and was paired with the
girl for the duration of Lupercalia. Sometime pairing
lasted for a year until next year's celebration. Quite
often, the couple would fall in love with each other and
later marry. The custom lasted for a long time until
people felt that the custom was un-Christian and that
mates should be chosen by sight, not luck.
Defiance by Saint Valentine
The pairing of young boys and girls did set the mood of
the Valentine's Day Festival as we know today. But it
was actually due to the efforts and daring of a priest
St Valentine that the festival got its name and clearer
meaning. The story goes that during the reign of Emperor
Claudius II Rome was involved in several bloody and
unpopular campaigns. Claudius found it tough to get
soldiers and felt the reason was men did not join army
because they did not wish to leave their wives and
families. As a result Claudius cancelled all marriages
and engagements in Rome. A romantic at heart priest of
Rome Saint Valentine defied Claudius's unjustified
order. Along with Saint Marius, St Valentine secretly
married couples. When his defiance was discovered,
Valentine was brutally beaten and put to death on
February 14, about 270 AD. After his death Valentine was
named a Saint.
According to another version of legend Valentine was
killed because he attempted to help Christians escape
from the Roman prison as they were being tortured and
beaten there. Yet another popular version of the legend
states that while in prison Valentine or Valentinus fell
in love with jailer's daughter who visited him during
confinement. Before his death Valentine wrote a farewell
letter to his sweetheart from the jail and signed ‘From
your Valentine'. The expression became quite popular
amongst love struck and is still very much in vogue.
By the Middle Ages, Valentine assumed the image of
heroic and romantic figure amongst the masses in England
and France. Later, when Christianity spread through
Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from February 15 to
February 14. Around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius declared
February 14 as St. Valentine's Day to honor the martyr
Valentinus and to end the pagan celebration.
Beginning of Birds Mating Season
During the Middle Ages, people in England and France
held a belief that birds started to look for their mate
from February 14. This popular notion further helped to
link Valentine's Day - celebrated in the middle of the
February, with love and romance. Over the period of
time, St Valentine became the patron saint of lovers and
they began to celebrate Valentine's Day as a day of
romance by exchanging love notes and simple gifts such
as flower.
Popularity of St Valentines Day
Valentine's Day festival gradually grew in popularity
amongst the masses due to the combined effect of all the
above said reasons. To mark the day lovers began to
exchange love notes called ‘Valentines' with their
sweethearts. In the beginning the trend was to send
handmade cards but this was changed in the beginning of
19th century and mass-produced greeting cards caught the
fancy of the people. In the course of time, Valentine's
day came to be regarded as the festival that celebrates
love and not just romantic love. Today, Valentine's Day
cards are gifted to teachers, parents, friends, siblings
and sweethearts. Popularity of Valentine's Day has
spread in countries across the seven continents and is
still increasing by the year.
|
