What is Valentine’s Day?
St. Valentine’s Day is an annual festival where we celebrate romantic love, friendship, and admiration. Every year on the 14th of February people celebrate this day by gifting cards, gifts, flowers or chocolates love to their family, friends, and anyone whom they love.
Short History of Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine, a Catholic priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd Century. There are many stories about St Valentine and over time these stories developed into the legend we know today.
At the time of Valentine’s life, many Romans were converting to Christianity, but Emperor Claudius II was atheistic and created strict laws about what Christians were permitted to do. Claudius believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to Rome and therefore passed a new law preventing them from marrying. St Valentine started to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing in the importance of love.
Ultimately, Valentine was found out and jailed for his crimes against Claudius. While imprisoned, Valentine cared for his fellow prisoners and also his jailor’s blind daughter. Legend has it that Valentine cured the girl’s blindness and that his final act before being executed was to write her a love message signed ‘from your Valentine’. Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year 270.
How did Valentine’s Day start?
Having a particular Valentine’s Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival. The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February – officially the start of their springtime.
The poet Chaucer in the Middle Ages was the first to link St Valentine with romantic love. This was the beginning of the tradition of courtly love, a ritual of expressing love and admiration, usually in secret. This custom spread throughout Europe.
Historians believe that these meetings were in fact gatherings where people read love poetry and played games of flirtation.
Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too.
Gradually, St Valentine’s name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved.
The first Valentine’s Day was in the year 496!
What is Valentine’s Day in today’s world
While Valentine’s Day is celebrated in most countries, different cultures have developed their own traditions for this festival. In some parts of the world, Valentine’s Day is observed as a day for expressing love between family members and friends, rather than that of romantic couples.
In schools, common classroom celebrations include crafts, sharing treats and valentines, and enjoying Valentine’s Day party.
* Free Printable for Valentines Day :
