As everyone knows, February is the month of romance. This month is associated with the celebration of Valentine's Day. But who exactly is Saint Valentine? Why is this month associated with love and romance? In this article we will look at the history of the holiday in two versions with colorful videos - a video on the topic.
The origin of this lover's day began back in 270 AD, with a quarrel between a good priest and a powerful ruler.
The reason for the holiday is a clergyman named Valentine, who died more than a thousand years ago. The history of Valentine's Day cannot be found in the archives.
Modern Valentine's Day celebrations are said to be derived from ancient Christian and Roman traditions. According to one legend, the holiday originated from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration celebrated on February 14th.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there were at least three Christian saints named Valentine. While one was a priest in Rome, the other was a bishop in Terni. Nothing is known about the third Saint Valentine, except that he died in Africa. Surprisingly, all three were allegedly martyred on February 14th.
Most scholars believe that Saint Valentine was a priest who lived around 270 AD. in Rome and attracted the disfavor of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, who reigned at that time.
Valentine's Day Version #1
The story of Saint Valentine has two different versions - Protestant and Catholic. Both versions say that St. Valentine, as a bishop, performed secret wedding ceremonies for the soldiers of Claudius II, who banned marriage for young men.
During the existence of Valentine, the golden era of the Roman Empire almost came to an end. The lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil wars. Taxation increased and trade fell on very bad times. The Roman Empire faced a crisis from the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongols from Northern Europe and Asia. The empire became too large to defend against external aggression and internal chaos. Naturally, more and more men were recruited as soldiers and officers to protect the people from being absorbed. When Claudius became emperor, he implied that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, thus not making them good soldiers. As a result, he issued a decree prohibiting marriages.
The ban on marriage came as a big shock to the Romans. But they did not dare to express their protest against the powerful emperor.
Meanwhile, Bishop Valentin also considered the decree to be unfair. He saw the trauma of young lovers. Valentin planned the marriages in secret. Whenever a young soldier thought of getting married, he came to Valentin, who subsequently married the newlyweds in a secret place. But such things cannot remain secret for long. It was just a question and eventually Claudius found out about it. Valentin was arrested.
While awaiting punishment in prison, Valentine was approached by the jailer, Asteria, who knew that Valentine had holy abilities, and one of them was to heal people. Asterius had a blind daughter, and knowing about Valentin’s superpowers, he asked to restore his daughter’s sight. Catholic legend says that Valentine did this through his strong faith.
Meanwhile, Valentin and daughter Asteria became deep friends. The news of her friend's imminent death caused great grief for the young girl. Shortly before his execution, Valentine asked for ink and paper from his jailer, and signed a farewell letter to her “From your Valentine,” a phrase that has lived on ever since.
Version No. 2 of the history of the origin of St. Valentine's Day
According to another legend, Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his jailer during his imprisonment. However, this legend has not been given much significance by historians.
Thus, February 14 became the day of all lovers, and Valentine became its patron. With the advent of Christianity, the day became known as Valentine's Day.
By mid-century, Valentine had become so popular that he became one of the most popular saints in England and France. Despite attempts by the Christian Church to sanctify the holiday, the association of Valentine's Day with romance and courtship continued into the Middle Ages. The holiday has evolved over the centuries. In the 18th century, gifting and exchanging handmade cards on Valentine's Day became common in England.
Today, Valentine's Day is one of the main holidays around the world. One of the first valentines was sent in 1415 AD by Charles, to his wife during his imprisonment in the Tower of London. This valentine is now kept in the British Museum.
Of course, doubts still remain regarding the actual identity of Valentine, but we know that he really existed because archaeologists recently excavated a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine.
And in conclusion, I really want to congratulate all lovers on Valentine's Day, and do not forget to do it to your loved one.
A colorful video about the history of the origin of Valentine's Day
On February 14, many countries around the world, especially in Western Europe, celebrate Valentine's Day. This is a holiday for all lovers, when it is customary to congratulate your soulmate, give gifts and confess your warmest feelings. We tell you why we began to celebrate this day, how to celebrate it and what to give.
Open Sources on the Internet (OSS)
1 When and how did the holiday originate?
The origins go back to the Christian priest Valentine, who lived around 269, at a time when Emperor Claudius II ruled the Roman Empire. Claudius was sure that marriages are evil, because a married legionnaire thinks about his wife and children, and not about the empire. By special decree, Claudius forbade legionnaires from getting married. But Valentine began to secretly marry legionnaires with their ladies. The emperor, having learned about this, ordered his execution.
Subsequently, as a Christian martyr who suffered for the faith, Valentine was canonized by the Catholic Church. And in 496, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14th Valentine's Day. Since 1969, a reform was carried out in the liturgy, and Saint Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church along with other Roman saints, information about whose lives is contradictory and unreliable.
2 Why are Valentines given on this day?
Legend has it that Valentine himself was in love with the jailer’s daughter. The day before the execution, the priest wrote a farewell letter to the girl, where he told about his love, and signed it “Your Valentine.” Apparently, it was from there that the custom began to write love notes - “Valentines” - on Valentine’s Day. The letter was read after he was executed.
Also, the creation of the first “Valentine” is also attributed to the Duke of Orleans in 1415. He sat in prison and, struggling with boredom, composed love letters to his own wife. “Valentines” reached their greatest popularity already in the 18th century, when they took on the form of beautiful heart-shaped postcards.
3 Where is Valentine's Day celebrated?
In Europe (Great Britain, Denmark, France, etc.), Valentine's Day has been celebrated since the 12th century. In Russia and the CIS countries, the holiday began to be celebrated in the early 1990s, when European culture began to penetrate the country.
Representatives of the Islamic clergy have repeatedly made negative assessments of the holiday, so in countries where Islam is strong (primarily Saudi Arabia), Valentine's Day is officially banned under pain of huge fines.
4 What is customary to give on Valentine's Day?
The main gift is “Valentine” cards with declarations of love. These can be either ready-made cards of different types and colors, purchased in a store, or hand-made cards. The hand-made industry offers a wide choice in this matter.
Other popular gifts include: chocolate and other sweets, flowers, jewelry (including engagement rings) or just a romantic dinner for two, as well as cute mementos like toys or photo frames. Useful gifts (kitchen utensils, bedding, etc.) and expensive gifts (cars, apartments, jewelry) are not welcome. Sets of “soap” accessories (shampoos, body care products, etc.) are given only in Russia and the CIS countries; this is not welcomed in Europe.
5 Who to congratulate on Valentine's Day
Despite the fact that this is a holiday for lovers, recently there has been a fashion to congratulate everyone for whom you have all kinds of love - friends, colleagues, parents. However, initially this day was intended specifically for lovers, so by and large, only life partners, present or future, need to be congratulated. There are separate holidays for other categories of “congratulations”.
6 Are there similar holidays in the world?
Russia. The Old Russian holiday of all lovers is celebrated on June 8 - Peter and Fevronia Day. Murom prince Peter and the daughter of a commoner Fevronia went through all the trials of life to their happiness. At the end of their lives, Peter and Fevronia went to a monastery and died on the same day.
China. The Qixijie Festival is celebrated in August. The basis is a beautiful legend about the heavenly Weaver, who wove clouds and a simple earthly Shepherd. Heavenly forces were against their love, and when the Shepherd flew to heaven for his beloved, they were forever separated by a river, since then they meet only once a year on a bridge over this river. Qixie is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
India. Gangaur is celebrated at the end of March - beginning of April. It begins the day after the festival of colors, Holi, and lasts for 18 days. This is a story about the love of the god Shiva and his chosen bride Parvati, who took a vow to marry only Shiva and strictly observed it until the wedding. Women these days offer prayers for a successful marriage.
Israel. Tu B'Av is celebrated in July and August. It is believed that at this time, the 15th of Av (that was the name of one of the months among the ancient Jews), the unification of the people began: the elders of the 12 tribes of the clan of Jacob, each of which had previously lived separately, agreed to allow mixed marriages. On this day, the grape harvest began, and the girls in the vineyards were looking for grooms.
Ireland. Beltane is celebrated here on May 1st. This is a pagan holiday, so the program includes bonfires and jumping over them, night festivities in the forests and hills, decorating trees in the forest, drinking wine and, as a result, the search for love. The holiday has been celebrated since the early Middle Ages in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is based on the legend of the love of the gods, in whose honor bonfires are lit.
Spain. Catalans will celebrate Sant Jordi on April 23. It is simultaneously Book Day, Rose Day and Valentine's Day. Giving books on this day was invented in the 20th century, since it was on this day that William Shakespeare and Miguel Cervantes died. In Barcelona, roses and books are sold on every corner, and couples walk around with these items.
Every year on February 14th, people send tens of millions of cards decorated with hearts, roses, kittens, kissing angels or doves. Boxes of chocolate, red roses with meter-long stems, touching soft toys, velvet pillows with confessions and wishes, various chains and pendants are selling out with a bang. On this day, many offer their hand and heart to their chosen one. February 14 is not a very ordinary day on the calendar - it is a holiday of all loving hearts. This is a day of romantic feelings, high spirits, a day of impulses of the soul. This is a holiday for all people in whose hearts love lives.
Court chronicler of the English court Samuel Pepys at the end of the 17th century. made a note that on February 14 lovers can exchange souvenirs: gloves, rings and candies. So it happened that a gift for Valentine's Day must include some kind of heart-shaped sweets: cake, candy, cookies, pastries, chocolate. Valentine's Day, as a holiday for lovers, has been celebrated on February 14 in Europe since the 13th century. In the USA - since 1777. In the CIS countries (open) - since the early 1990s.
History of the holiday February 14
The beginning of this beautiful February holiday on February 14 - Valentine's Day - was laid by a touching story of one love... A long time ago, in the 3rd century AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius III issued a decree prohibiting people from getting married. The warlord decided that marriage kept men at home, preventing them from showing courage on the battlefield. And only one priest, Valentine, resisted the order and secretly continued to marry the lovers. He was reported to the emperor, and Valentin was thrown into prison, sentenced to death.
The jailer's daughter, seeing Valentine and learning his story, fell in love with him. The priest reciprocated her feelings. Since they could not see each other, the lovers communicated through correspondence.
On the day of execution - February 14, 270, the brave priest sent his beloved the last note signed "From Valentine."
Message of Saint Valentine
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentin and I served as a priest in Rome in the third century. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius II. I did not like Claudius, and many shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a huge army, but there were very few volunteers, no one wanted to fight for him in unnecessary wars, people did not want to leave their wives and families. Claudius was not satisfied with this state of affairs, and he issued a completely insane decree banning all marriages.
Everyone understood that it was a ridiculous law that no one supported, including me!
After this law was issued, I continued to perform ceremonies - secretly, of course!
Imagine a small, candlelit room with just the bride, groom and priest. We whispered the words of the ceremony while listening to the sounds of footsteps.
One day, we heard footsteps. It was scary! Thank God, the couple I was pairing with at that moment managed to escape.
But I was caught and thrown into prison. I knew what awaited me.
I tried not to lose heart. I was partially successful in this, since a lot of people visited me, they threw flowers and notes at the window of my cell. I knew that they believed in the power of love.
One of them was the jailer's daughter, whose father allowed her to visit me. Sometimes we would talk for hours, she would thank me for ignoring the emperor's orders and continuing to perform secret marriages. On the appointed day, I left a small message for my friend, thanking her for her friendship and support, and signed it "From your Valentine."
Now, every year on this day, people think about love and friendship.
A note written by Valentine on the day of his execution started the tradition of exchanging messages of love on Valentine's Day. And now such notes are called “Valentines”, which later began to mean a declaration of love and fidelity. The execution was completed.
Valentine's remains were buried in the Church of St. Praxidis in Rome, after which the gate in this church began to be called the "Valentine Gate". According to legend, in the spring a pink almond tree blooms at his grave, which is considered a symbol of true love.
In our country, we love and honor the holiday of July 8th - the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. Our native holiday of love is quite young - Russians celebrated it for the first time in 2008. The idea of creating such a significant holiday for many was born, of course, from the residents of the city of Murom, located in the Vladimir region. It was here that the holy spouses Peter and Fevronia, who are considered the patrons of Christian marriage, lived several centuries ago. The day chosen for our national holiday of Love Day - July 8 - is the date of their memory.
Of course, the holiday of February 14 is not our Russian holiday, and it is not celebrated on such a grand scale in Russia. But why not take advantage of the situation and confess your love to your loved ones, congratulate your loved ones, and give them warm tokens of attention? We congratulate all people on the spiritual holiday of February 14, Valentine's Day, and from the bottom of our hearts we wish that every person on earth would be able to say these magical words “I love you".
Or Valentine's Day. Since the 1990s, this holiday has become popular in Russia.
Initially, the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine was established as a veneration of his martyrdom, without any connection with the patronage of lovers. At the dawn of Christianity, three people bearing the name Valentin died as martyrs for their faith. All that is known about the first of them is that he died in Carthage along with a group of fellow believers.
The second Valentine was the bishop of Interamna (now the city of Terni, Italy), he was executed during the persecution of Christians and buried along the Via Flaminia in the vicinity of Rome.
The third martyr, Presbyter Valentinus, was beheaded between 268 and 270 and buried along the Via Flaminia. The relics of Prester Valentine rest partly in Rome, partly in Dublin, and the relics of the bishop are in the city of Terni.
During the reform of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1969, the celebration of Valentine's memory as a pan-Church saint was abolished on the grounds that there was no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about beheading by the sword. In the Catholic liturgical calendar, February 14 celebrates the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
In the Orthodox Church, both martyrs of Valentine have their own days of remembrance. Valentine the Roman, a presbyter, is venerated on July 19, and the Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on August 12.
The history of the emergence of the image of St. Valentine as the patron saint of lovers dates back to the Middle Ages and their romantic literature, and not to the circumstances of the lives of real martyrs who died at the dawn of Christianity.
The day of February 14 in England and Scotland was accompanied by a peculiar custom. On the eve of Valentine's Day, young people gathered and put tickets with the names of young girls written on them in an urn. Then everyone took out one ticket. The girl whose name went to the young man became his “Valentine” for the coming year, just as he became her “Valentine”. This meant that a relationship arose between the young people for a year, similar to those that, according to descriptions of medieval romances, arose between a knight and his “lady of the heart.” This custom was of pagan origin.
According to the custom established since ancient times, young men on this day sent their beloved gifts, as well as letters and poems in which they expressed their feelings and wishes.
The very first Valentine's card in the world is considered to be a note sent from prison in the Tower of London in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, and addressed to his wife.
Valentine cards were very popular in the 18th century, especially in England. They were exchanged as gifts. The lovers made cards from multi-colored paper and signed them with colorful ink. By the beginning of the 20th century, as printing technology improved, printed cards began to replace handwritten ones.
Today is Valentine's Day in the form of hearts, with declarations of love, marriage proposals or just jokes.
Italians call February 14th a sweet day and give sweets and candies. Valentine cards are sent by mail in a pink envelope without a return address.
In Denmark they usually send dried white flowers to each other, and in Spain it is considered the height of passion to send a love letter by carrier pigeon.
Valentine's Day has been celebrated in Japan for decades now. This is not so much a declaration of love as a sign of attention. Friends exchange chocolate sets specially released for this day; many Japanese women buy “Valentine” chocolate for themselves. In recent years, the fashion of giving chocolate has reached primary schools and even kindergartens.
Giving chocolate on Valentine's Day is also common in South Korea, with only women giving gifts to their men. For the men closest to them, South Korean women make chocolate with their own hands.
Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day, the most romantic holiday is celebrated in most countries of the world on February 14 - on this day, for more than one and a half thousand years, people have declared their love to each other, and the history of this is very ancient. There are several legends about who Saint Valentine was and how the holiday of all lovers appeared.
It is curious that the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine was originally established as a veneration of his martyrdom, without any connection with the patronage of lovers.
Gradually, Valentine's Day turned from a Catholic holiday into a secular one. Many people celebrate this holiday with pleasure, although it is not listed on the calendar among the official holidays.
Story
Valentine's Day has existed for more than the 15th century, but according to pagan traditions, the holidays of “Love” were popular back in ancient times.
So, in Ancient Rome, on February 15, every year they celebrated the festival of abundance - Lupercalia - in honor of the god Faun (Lupercus is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds. And the day before Lupercalia, the holiday of the Roman goddess of marriage, motherhood and women Juno and the god Pan was celebrated.
"Faun with a Panther" sputnik/ Pavel Balabanov
On this day, girls wrote love letters, which they placed in a huge urn, and then the men pulled out the letters. Then each man began to court the girl whose love letter he pulled out.
In ancient Greece, this holiday was called Panurgia - ritual games in honor of the god Pan (in Roman mythology - Faun) - the patron saint of herds, forests, fields and their fertility. According to mythology, Pan is a merry fellow and a rake, plays the flute beautifully and always pursues the nymphs with his love.
There is information that this day was also called the “Bird Wedding”, since it was believed that birds formed mating pairs in the second week of the second month of the year.
Saint Valentine
There are many legends associated with the name of St. Valentine. The most beautiful and romantic of them is the story of a Christian preacher who, in 269, married legionnaires of the Roman Empire with their lovers, despite the ban of Emperor Claudius II.
To preserve the military spirit, the emperor issued a decree prohibiting legionnaires from marrying, since it was believed that a married person was thinking about how to feed his family, and not about the good of the empire and military prowess.
Romantic event "Knight of Love" sputnik/ Maxim Blinov
Saint Valentine sympathized with the lovers and tried to help them in every possible way - he reconciled quarreling lovers, composed letters for them with declarations of love, gave flowers to young spouses and secretly married soldiers.
Claudius II, having learned about this, ordered the priest to be thrown into prison, and soon signed a decree on his execution. The last days of St. Valentine’s life are also shrouded in an aura of romance.
According to legend, the blind daughter of a jailer fell in love with him, but Valentine, as a priest who had taken a vow of celibacy, could not respond to her feelings. However, on the night before his execution on February 13, he wrote her a touching letter, where he told her about his love. And the girl, having read the message after the execution of the priest, received her sight.
It is assumed that this is where the tradition of writing love notes on Valentine's Day—"valentines"—comes from.
According to the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine actually healed a blind girl - the daughter of the dignitary Asterius, who believed in Christ and was baptized. Claudius then ordered the execution of Valentine. That is, Valentine suffered for his faith, and therefore was canonized.
There is an assumption that the Church introduced Valentine's Day as a counterweight to the popular pagan holiday of Love, which could not be eradicated with the advent of Christianity.
Around this time, a legend appeared to explain why St. Valentine patronizes lovers.
One way or another, two hundred years later Valentine was proclaimed a Saint, the patron saint of all lovers.
However, in 1969, as a result of the reform of worship, St. Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The basis for this was the fact that there is no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about beheading by the sword.
Valentine's card
The very first Valentine's card in the world is considered to be a note sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife from the Tower of London, where he was imprisoned in 1415.
Valentine cards were very popular in the 18th century, especially in England. They were exchanged as gifts. The lovers made cards from multi-colored paper and signed them with colorful ink. By the beginning of the 20th century, as printing technology improved, handwritten cards were replaced by printed ones.
Today, on Valentine's Day, it is customary to give each other valentines in the form of hearts, with declarations of love, marriage proposals, or just jokes. People also like to hold weddings and get married on this day.
Traditions
In Europe, this holiday has been widely celebrated since the 13th century. In England, they used to carve wooden “love spoons” and give them to their loved ones. They were decorated with hearts, keys and keyholes, which symbolized that the path to the heart was open.
Louis XVI is considered to be the founder of the tradition of giving red roses to lovers, who presented such a bouquet to Marie Antoinette. According to legend, Aphrodite stepped on a white rose bush and stained the roses with her blood, which is how red roses appeared.
According to ancient custom, in England and Scotland on the eve of the holiday dedicated to St. Valentine, young people put tickets with the names of young girls written on them in an urn. Then everyone took out one ticket.
The girl whose name went to the young man became his “Valentine” for the coming year, and he became her “Valentine”. This meant that a relationship arose between the young people for a year, similar to those that, according to descriptions of medieval romances, arose between a knight and his “lady of the heart.”
According to legend, in Britain, on February 14, unmarried girls get up before sunrise, stand near the window and look at passing men - the first man they see is their betrothed.
Italians call February 14th a sweet day and give sweets and candies. Valentine cards are sent by mail in a pink envelope without a return address. In romantic Denmark, they usually send dried white flowers to each other, and in Spain, sending a love message with a carrier pigeon is considered the height of passion.
In France, it is customary to give jewelry on Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, the French also hold various romantic competitions. For example, the competition for the longest serenade - a love song - is very popular. And it was in France that the epistle-quatrain was first written.
In Japan, on Valentine's Day, which began to be celebrated in the 30s of the 20th century, it is customary to give men chocolate - usually in the form of a St. Valentine figurine. This is not so much a declaration of love as a sign of attention.
The tradition of giving sweets on this day appeared at the suggestion of one large chocolate manufacturing company. In addition, the Japanese hold a competition for the loudest and brightest love message. Boys and girls climb onto the platform and shout from there about their love.
Valentine's Day has been celebrated in the United States since 1777. The tradition of giving gifts on this day grew stronger every year and for some it became a fairly successful business. At the beginning of the 19th century, Americans developed a custom of giving marzipan figurines to their loved ones on this day. And marzipan in those days was considered a great luxury.
In the post-Soviet space, people first paid attention to Valentine's Day about two decades ago. And only in recent years have they been celebrated en masse with valentines, congratulations and declarations of love.
Valentine's Day is also celebrated in Georgia, despite the fact that the country has its own Love Day, which is celebrated on April 15.
It is curious that Georgian Love Day was once introduced as an alternative to Valentine's Day, the tradition of celebrating which came to the newly independent states from Western countries. Romantic Georgians, like many other countries that have their own alternative Day of Love, today celebrate both holidays, according to the principle, the more the merrier.
But there are countries in the world where the holiday of Love is taboo. First of all, this is Saudi Arabia, which is the only country in the world where this holiday is officially banned, and under pain of heavy fines.