Who is Saint Valentine? Origin and history of Valentine's Day. Who was Valentine? Mating season for birds
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th. How did this holiday come about? Who is Saint Valentine? Why does everyone give valentines on this day? Let's talk about the origin of the holiday, what myths and legends are associated with this day.
Valentine's Day Holiday Origins: Legends and Myths
The Catholic Church venerates three holy martyrs with the name Valentine, but there is almost no reliable information about their lives. It is only known that Valentine of Rome was a priest and was martyred during the persecution of Christians in the 3rd century AD. e. Another Valentine was Bishop of Interamna (now the city of Terni, Italy). He was executed for his faith on February 14, 270 and buried near Rome. The saint is revered by both Catholics and Orthodox. About the third Valentine, we only know that he died in Carthage.
More detailed information about the holy martyrs appeared already in the era of the Mature Middle Ages (in the 11th-14th centuries). But at first they also lacked any romantic color. It is likely that the legends are about another saint or even different ascetics named Valentine.
Valentine's Day origin of the holiday: "Golden Legend"
According to legend, the Roman emperor Claudius II could not recruit enough soldiers for his army. Then he decided that it was wives who did not let their husbands go to war, and forbade young men to marry.
Saint Valentine was a healer and preacher of Christianity. He not only prayed for the sick, but also secretly married lovers, despite the prohibition of Tsar Claudius. Once a prison guard turned to him for help. He asked to heal his daughter Julia from blindness. The priest prescribed eye ointment for the girl and told her to come later.
However, rumors about secret weddings reached the emperor, and Saint Valentine was imprisoned. Knowing that he would soon be executed, Valentine wrote a suicide note to the blind Julia with a declaration of love and gave it to her through her father.
Valentin was executed on the same day, 14 February. When the girl opened the note, inside it was saffron and the signature "Your Valentine". Julia took the saffron in her hands, and her eyesight was miraculously restored.
Subsequently, as a Christian martyr who suffered for the faith, Valentin Interamnsky was canonized by the Catholic Church. And in 496, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 to be Saint Valentine's Day.
This story can be called a fiction, if only because in the time of St. Valentine (in the 3rd century) there was no special rite of church wedding at the conclusion of marriage. In addition, the Christian religion in pagan Rome was despised and persecuted, and it is unlikely that Emperor Claudius attached great importance to this rite.
Valentine's Day Holiday Origins: Pagan Roots
According to another version, the church needed Valentine's Day to supplant the pagan holiday. The Romans believed that the founders of their city, the brothers Romulus and Remus, were suckled by a she-wolf. In honor of this animal, "lupercalia" (from lupus - wolf) was celebrated. A goat (the food of the wolves) and a dog (the animal most hated by the wolf) were sacrificed. Then the slaughtered animals were skinned and narrow belts were cut from their skins. Two naked young men took these belts and began a ritual run, during which they whipped everyone who came across their path with belts. Women and girls deliberately exposed various parts of the body to blows, as it was believed that this helps to become pregnant and give birth easily.
The sacred belts were called “februa”, from this word the name of the month came from, in the middle of which lupercalia was celebrated - “february” (February).
Valentine's Day Holiday Origins: Traditions
Valentine's Day began to gain wide popularity only in the 19th century in Great Britain. Later, the holiday began to be celebrated in the United States. On this day, young people had to draw notes from the bowl with the names of girls they knew. The couples that formed as a result were "Valentines" during the year and accepted signs of attention and courtship from each other.
In the middle of the 19th century, merchants took up the promotion of the holiday. On February 14, lovers arrange romantic dates for each other, buy heart-shaped cards - "valentines" - and other cute gifts: plush toys, perfumes, bouquets of flowers, sweets, etc.
Different countries have their own traditions of celebrating Valentine's Day. So, in Japan it is customary to give chocolate. On this day, a Japanese woman can, without hesitation, confess her love to a man.
In England, on February 14, the girls guessed at the betrothed. There was such a belief: if you see a robin on this day, it means that your husband will be a sailor, a sparrow - you will marry a poor man, a goldfinch that you met foreshadowed a rich husband.
At the beginning of the 19th century in America, it was customary for brides to give marzipans - a rather expensive delicacy at that time. Now women are given chocolate, sweets and caramel in red and white colors, symbolizing love and purity.
The French give jewelry and jewelry to their chosen ones.
Many people believe that if you propose on February 14 or get married on that day, the marriage will be happy and strong.
At the same time, Saint Valentine himself and the religious origins of the holiday are rarely remembered.
Valentine's Day origin of the holiday: Orthodox and Catholics
Saint Valentine is revered by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In the Catholic liturgical calendar, February 14 is the commemoration of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.
The Hieromartyr Valentine remained on the lists of the church, but only as a locally venerated saint, since historical information about his deeds is extremely scarce. Thus, this holiday is not obligatory for either Catholics or Orthodox.
Valentine's Day came to Russia relatively recently. He began to gain popularity only in the early 1990s.
On January 15, 2003, the Bishop of the Italian city of Terni, Vincenzo Paglia, donated to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy the relics of the Hieromartyr Valentine, which have since been kept in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
In the Orthodox Church, two martyrs Valentine have their own commemoration days. Valentine the Roman - presbyter - is venerated on July 19, and the holy martyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna - on August 12.
In the Orthodox tradition, Saints Peter and Fevronia have been considered the patrons of the family and marriage since ancient times. In 2008, the Federation Council of Russia approved the initiative to establish on their day of memory (July 8, new style, which corresponds to June 25, old style) "Day of Marital Love and Family Happiness."
According to http://www.aif.ru/
Valentine's Day. Story
Valentine's Day, or Valentine's Day, has been known for over 1500 years. However, even earlier, during pagan times, there were holidays dedicated to love. So, the ancient Romans in February celebrated the holiday of Lupercalia, dedicated to the goddess of love. A holiday dedicated to lovers was also in Rus'. It was associated with the names of the legendary lovers Peter and Fevronia, and it was celebrated at the beginning of summer.
But now this holiday is associated with the name of Valentine, a Christian priest, who is now considered the patron saint of all lovers. He lived in the Roman Empire, during the reign of Emperor Claudius II, who forbade Roman legionnaires to marry and start families. He believed that a married soldier does not have the proper military spirit and thinks not about the war, but about the family.
So, the priest Valentine secretly married the soldiers with their chosen ones, not fearing the wrath of Claudius. But the emperor found out about this and ordered the execution of Valentine. While awaiting execution, Valentine was in prison and there fell in love with the jailer's daughter. The day before he was executed, Valentine wrote her a love letter that was signed "Your Valentine". The girl read it after the execution.
Much later Valentine was canonized as a martyr. And in 496, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine's Day, and it is from this date that the official history of this holiday begins.
However, subsequently the church did not approve of Valentine's Day and did not support the celebration of this date. In 1969, a reform of worship took place, and St. Valentine was excluded from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, like many other Roman saints.
Nevertheless, the tradition of celebrating this holiday still remained, especially in Western Europe, where Valentine's Day has become
Valentine's Day has been a massive holiday since the 13th century. Obviously, in memory of the mentioned letter of Valentine to his beloved, it is customary on this day to write love notes to each other, which are called valentines. Also on this day, gifts are given, and different countries have their own traditions. For example, in Japan they give chocolate, in France - jewelry, in Denmark - flowers. In England, girls on this day get up at dawn, go to the window and look at the men passing by. The betrothed, according to a long-standing belief, will be the first man seen by the girl.
But in Saudi Arabia, it is forbidden to celebrate Valentine's Day, and quite officially, and violators will be fined.
Valentine's Day. Traditions
The generally accepted symbols of this holiday are, of course, the heart and cooing doves.
In some countries, on this day, young people gather, write names on pieces of paper and throw them into a jug. Then everyone takes out a piece of paper, and the name that he reads there will be the name of his (or her) fate.
Now special postcards are issued for this day - valentines, usually in the shape of a heart, in different sizes and with different images. In Italy, on this day, lovers give each other sweets. It is customary for the French to write love confessions in the form of quatrains.
In Finland and Estonia, this is not only the day of lovers, but also the day of friends. Friends give each other greeting cards, as well as small gifts, nice little things.
In Japan, on this day, a competition is held for the loudest declaration of love. Young people take turns climbing the platform and shouting to their lover about their feelings as loudly as possible. The loudest lover wins a prize.
In England, even animals receive love messages, mostly dogs and horses, to which the British have always been quite reverent.
Hearts for the holiday can be sewn from fabric, sculpted from clay, drawn on paper, knitted, made from beads, flowers. You can even bake heart-shaped cookies.
Many people write valentines anonymously, without signing and without a return address, for greater secrecy.
Of course, Valentine's Day is the most romantic holiday when you can express your feelings to another person and get recognition in return. Everyone exchanges gifts, sweets and cards with tender words of love. Let's plunge into the history of this holiday together and remember why Saint Valentine became the patron saint of loving hearts and what he did for all lovers. There is a sad and at the same time beautiful legend about the origin of this holiday. True, she has several different versions.
The first mention of Valentine's Day
Version one
The story of Saint Valentine began in ancient Rome. He was a young Roman priest who, even under pain of death, helped lovers become legal spouses and secretly betrothed them. The thing is that in those distant and harsh times, all single men were soldiers of their state and its ruler Julius Claudius II forbade them to marry. He believed that in this way they would better fight for new lands, and would not be distracted by thoughts of family and beloved wife. Soon the authorities nevertheless found out that Saint Valentine was violating the ban, and he was sent to prison and sentenced to death. While in prison, he himself met his love, she turned out to be the beautiful daughter of one of the guards - Julia. It was to her that the first valentine was written, in order to express his feelings, the priest in love wrote and gave a message for the girl, which he signed “Your Valentine”. Unfortunately, Julia found out about the bright feelings of the guy only after his execution, which took place just on February 14, 270.
Version two
There is another version of this story. According to which, the patrician Valentine was a Christian, and was imprisoned for his unknown ability to heal even the seriously ill. People did not forget his kindness and handed him notes with words of support and gratitude. By chance, one of them ended up in the hands of the head of this prison, and in the hope of a miraculous cure, he asked to cure his blind daughter of a serious illness. Saint Valentine managed to help her, and he himself was executed in the morning. The girl eventually saw the light and became a beauty of extraordinary beauty.
Fertility Festival
According to another legend, the history of Valentine's Day began in ancient pagan times. In order to increase the birth rate, people arranged an unusual celebration of eroticism and fertility. It was held in ancient Rome and was called the Lupercalia festival in honor of the fertility god Luperka (Faun). On February 14, the girls wrote down their names on paper and put them in a common basket. Then the guys, relying on their lucky chance, took out a note at random with the name of their future chosen one for the whole next year. And on February 15, a noisy crowd of naked men and young priests had to run around the sacred hills and whip everyone who gets in their way with belts. Women were especially willing to expose themselves to goat-skin rods, as they believed that this rite would certainly bring them fertility.
Where and how did valentines appear
The Lupercalia feast soon died out, but a similar tradition eventually revived in England. In the Middle Ages, young girls and boys chose their life partner in a similar way. They wrote notes to each other with names, and a relationship was born between the matched couples.
And so this romantic custom appeared, to exchange love confessions and notes. The peak of the popularity of valentines falls on the 18th century, when people gave each other home-made colorful cards with tender poems.
How Valentine's Day is celebrated around the world
In all countries, Valentine's Day is perceived differently, respectively, and it is not celebrated in the same way everywhere. But one thing remains unchanged, all lovers, regardless of their location, consider him truly theirs.
Rome is the origin of Valentine's Day. All Italians on February 14 tend to come to Verona and kiss the statue of the famous Juliet. It is believed that in this way a person becomes more successful in love. In Italy, Valentine's Day belongs only to lovers. Italians do not skimp on gifts on this day and present expensive jewelry with diamonds to their ladies. It is also traditional for Italians to give each other candies with hazelnuts on this day, each of which contains a declaration of love in four languages of the world.
France is called the country of love and freedom for a reason. Indeed, on Valentine's Day, it is customary here to make a marriage proposal to your beloved! It is considered a great happiness to receive a box with a treasured ring from your chosen one on this day. The French also organize large-scale festivities on February 14, called "Une Loteried Amour", which in translation sounds like: "Drawing of love." Each participant of the holiday, regardless of whether it is a man or a woman, what age he is and what country he is from, must approach any open window and shout out the phrase: “Become my Valentine!”. Statistics say that alliances formed on this very day become very strong and durable afterwards. 
In the UK, all the inhabitants of the country love this holiday so much that they send romantic cards not only to their soul mates, but also to all friends, relatives and even their beloved pets.
If you have been unsuccessfully dreaming of getting married for a long time, feel free to go to Canada! After all, only there, a girl who confessed her tender feelings to any man on February 14, in any case, will receive a positive response. Otherwise, a substantial fine is imposed on the man, which should be enough for a shopping therapy for the young lady after the refusal.
Americans celebrate Valentine's Day in a special way. A month before the holiday, tables are booked in restaurants, crazy romantic surprises are invented. Marzipans are considered a traditional gift in America for Valentine's Day.
For Russia, this holiday is quite young, because it appeared with us only in the early nineties. But this did not prevent him from gaining wild popularity among the Russian people and will fall in love with everyone. After all, even at school, children willingly exchange cards and confessions on February 14th.
Traditions and signs of Valentine's Day
- It is customary not to sign a valentine and even try to change the handwriting so that the loved one himself guesses from whom he received the message.
- Since ancient times, there has been a belief that the first person you meet along the way on this day is the one who is destined for you by fate.
- The couple should spend Valentine's Day together, you can't quarrel, and swear even because of the little things. Because it can lead to a breakup in the future.
- Happy hours are not observed, so if you are in love, forget about the hours on this day and enjoy the wonderful moments spent together.
- A traditional gift for Valentine's Day are paired items. It can be anything: figurines, mugs, pendants, etc. The main thing is that half of the gift is always kept with you and not passed on to anyone, so your couple will always be strong.
- There are some signs that on a normal day would make us very upset, but on February 14 they bring only happiness! If you broke a mirror on Valentine's Day, do not be discouraged, this means that you will have a happy and strong family life. And if you forgot something when leaving home, expect some good news from your loved ones. Also, if on this day, your loved one turns out to be the first guest, then the whole next year you will be inseparable from this person.
- There are signs that do not carry anything good. For example, tripping on Valentine's Day can lead to separation from a loved one. To prevent this from happening, stomp several times in the place where you stumbled. Also on this day you can not lose personal belongings, so as not to lose a loved one. Be sure to try to find the lost item.
Do not forget that the most important gift is always attention, love and care. So it doesn't really matter what you present to your loved one on Valentine's Day, the main thing is sincerity and mutual feelings. Then you will never be able to separate some minor signs.
Valentine's Day, the patron saint of lovers, is celebrated on February 14th. Should Orthodox believers celebrate this day? Don't we have "our" holiday - the day of Peter and Fevronia? After all, these saints are an example of great love for us? Is it true that in the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine secretly married lovers?
In fact, the tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day has a complicated history associated with martyrdom, death for the faith, and modern traditions of celebrating "Valentine's Day" have nothing to do with the events that took place in reality. It is important to remember that the essence of this day for a Christian is not at all reduced to giving someone a card with a heart - a “valentine” or white chocolate. Did you know that three Saint Valentines died for their faith? Their difficult story of life and martyrdom does not correspond to the “glossy” story about the patron saint of lovers. Speaking of Saint Valentine, are we telling the story of a Christian martyr?
Tatyana Fedorova, the author of our article, encourages us to think about the history of the tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day as the day of the patron saint of lovers and not to confuse beautiful legends with reality. Before rushing to give sweets, cards and gifts to loved ones on this day, it is worth reading what the literature on the history of the Church writes about the veneration of saints with the name Valentine.
It is not necessary to accuse young people who exchange gifts of following Western traditions or celebrating a pagan holiday, it is better to give our material a read, in which we will explain in detail why Valentine's Day is not the day when you just congratulate lovers. And you can show warm feelings for each other on any day, it is not necessary to wait for a non-existent romantic holiday. Especially if this holiday is artificially associated with a Christian saint who gave his life for the faith.
Valentine's Day February 14 - lies and truth
Human perception is an amazing thing. Very often we tend to accept some information as truth only on the grounds that it has, in modern terms, a high citation index. In other words, the same text, with slight variations, wanders from edition to edition, from blog to blog. And the more often it is reproduced, the more often we are ready to take it on faith on the basis that "everyone says".
But alas, it often happens that the text copied from each other is initially erroneous to one degree or another, and by spreading it further, we willy-nilly mislead a larger and larger circle of people.
This is exactly the story that happened to the biography of a man whose memory is allegedly proposed to be celebrated on February 14th. If you set up an Internet search, the query " Valentine's Day” will bring dozens and hundreds of references retelling the same legend with some variations.
A bit of history
I was curious about how things were in those distant times. Fortunately, in addition to the "glossy" literature, a lot of serious historical research is now available to separate fact from fiction. Let's try to figure out what really happened, and what is just a romantic fiction. And let's not forget that even if some events more or less coincide chronologically, this does not mean at all that there is necessarily a relationship between them. As the saying goes, "after this does not mean because of this."
As for me, belonging to the world of science, I prefer to rely only on reliable, documented facts, avoiding conjectures and fantasies.
The first thing that is confirmed by the Roman martyrology is the very fact that at the dawn of Christianity at least three people who bore the name Valentine were martyred for their faith.
But at the same time, it is curious to note that although all three died no later than 270, their names are not in the earliest known list of martyrs - the Chronograph of 354.
The only thing known about the first of them is that he died in Carthage along with a group of fellow believers, and we will not mention him further due to the complete lack of additional information. The second Valentine was the bishop of Interamna (the modern city of Terni). What is known about him is that he was executed during the persecution of Christians, but when exactly this happened - at the end of the third century in the era of Emperor Aurelian or a hundred years earlier - the sources say differently. He was buried at the Via Flaminius in the vicinity of Rome.
The date of the death of the third martyr, Presbyter Valentine, is known more precisely. He was beheaded between 268 and 270 and was also buried along the Via Flaminius, but at a slightly different distance from Rome. In our time, the relics of Presbyter Valentine rest partly in Rome, partly in Dublin, and the relics of the bishop in Terni.
At the very end of the fifth century, Pope Gelasius decided to glorify a number of martyrs, including Valentine (now it is already impossible to say exactly which one, but rather, just all at once). As was formulated in the corresponding act: "... as people whose names are rightly revered among people, but whose deeds are known only to the Lord."
The birth of a tradition
There is nothing surprising in the fact that this celebration coincided chronologically with the local Roman pagan festival, by the way, completely banned by the same pope, it was a common early Christian practice. It was according to this principle that the dates of the celebration and those falling on pagan festivals in honor of the winter and summer solstice were chosen.
Lupercalia
The early Church tried in every possible way to give the ancient festivities a new Christian meaning. But we cannot unequivocally state that the celebration of the memory of the martyr Valentine was established instead of Lupercalia, we cannot now, no documentary records have been preserved on this account. Moreover, Lupercalia was only a local city festival, while the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine was established on a churchwide scale, i.e. affected the entire Christian Church at that time. But on an all-imperial scale, in that era, just a completely different ancient rite was celebrated - the so-called festival of Juno the Purifier, gradually supplanted by Christian Mother of God rites.
Thus, the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine was established solely as a veneration of his martyrdom, without any connection with the patronage of lovers. A little later, under Pope Julius the First, the Church of St. Valentine was built near Ponte Molle, and the city gates were called “Valentine's Gate” for a long time.
St. Valentine is mentioned as a glorious martyr in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, in the Tommasi Roman Missal, and in a number of British saints' lives. In the Middle Ages, he was usually depicted either with a sword and a palm branch - symbols of his martyrdom, or at the moment of healing the daughter of Judge Asterius.
Jacopo Bossano. St. Valentine baptizes St. Lucilla. 1575
In the next nine centuries, the name of the saint is mentioned in the Acts of Martyrdom, the earliest of which dates back to the sixth or seventh century, and in the Golden Legend - the lives of the saints of 1260, where the meeting of Valentine with the "emperor Claudius" is first mentioned, the refusal to betray Christ and the healing of the jailer's daughter from blindness and deafness. Apparently, two lives of completely different saints are already merging here, as we will see a little later.
As for romantic legends, secretly consummated marriages, notes “from your Valentine”, nothing of the kind is mentioned anywhere until the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in 1382 in his poem “Parliament of Birds” mentioned that birds on Valentine's day begin to look for a mate. This phrase, however, is not entirely accurate - in the British climate, birds begin to arrange personal life a little later, but romantic literature, which entered its heyday, picked it up, developed it and replicated it in many later works. The Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron, published more than a hundred years ago, states that “February 14 in England and Scotland in the old days was accompanied by a peculiar custom. On the eve of the day dedicated to St. Valentine, young people gathered and put into the urn the number of tickets corresponding to their number, with the names of young girls marked on them; then each took out one such ticket. The girl, whose name was given to the young man in this way, became his “Valentina” for the coming year, just as he was her “Valentine”, which entailed between young people for a whole year a relationship similar to those that, according to the descriptions of medieval novels, existed between a knight and his “lady of the heart”. This custom, about which Ophelia speaks so touchingly in her famous song, is in all probability of pagan origin. To this day, Valentine's Day in Scotland and England gives the youth an opportunity for all sorts of jokes and entertainment.
The custom of sending cards to loved ones on Valentine's Day also originated in the Middle Ages. The very first Valentine in the world is considered to be a note sent from imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, and addressed to his wife.
Modern veneration and modern celebration
As for the veneration of the saint, the following has happened in modern times. During the reform of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, carried out in 1969, the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine as a church saint was abolished on the grounds that there is no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about beheading with a sword. To date, February 14, the memory of St. Valentine is performed exclusively optional.
In the Orthodox Church, on the contrary, Saint Valentine is still revered. More precisely, both of the previously mentioned martyrs - the bishop and the presbyter - have their own days of commemoration. Valentine the Roman - presbyter - is venerated on July 19 (6), and the Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on August 12 (July 30). If you carefully read the lives of these saints, it becomes clear that in the legends that are now widespread, fragments related to completely different people were mixed up, and even medieval writings supplemented them with many romantic, but completely unrealistic episodes.
Thus, it turns out that the emergence of the image of St. Valentine as the patron saint of lovers, as well as numerous legends associated with him, we owe to the Middle Ages and their romantic literature, and not at all to the circumstances of the life of real martyrs who died at the dawn of Christianity.
And if we talk about “whose” this holiday is, then we have to admit that for more than forty years there has been no Valentine’s day in the Catholic liturgical calendar, instead February 14 is celebrated as a memory. So today both Saints Valentine are “ours”, at the general church level, only the Orthodox Church honors their memory.
As for the idea of the possible emergence of the feast of St. Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, as a Christianized replacement for the Lupercalia, it arose in the 18th century as a hypothesis among the antiquarians Alban Butler, the compiler of the Butler Lives of the Saints, and Francis Douce precisely because absolutely nothing was known about the real Valentine. Actually, this hypothesis does not have any reliable evidence, except for an attempt to link the writings of the XIV century to the realities of the third. Here I only briefly outline the chronology of events, and I invite all those interested to get acquainted with the studies of historians William Friend and Jack Oruch, published in 1967-1981.
Over time, the little-known custom of sending small souvenirs and notes to loved ones on February 14, which existed mainly in England and France, came to the New World with emigrants, where it was put on a grand scale. It all started harmlessly enough, with notebooks of poems printed on tear-off pages to help lovers who were not gifted with a poetic gift, but gradually the spirit of the current age took its toll. In different countries, it is treated differently, somewhere it is celebrated widely, somewhere very modestly. And here's what I think about it.
History of Valentine's Day goes far into the past. A modern woman must be well educated and know many things, otherwise she runs the risk of falling into a puddle sooner or later. Even in such a simple moment as Valentine's Day.
Are you celebrating Valentine's Day? Me not. In general, I don’t really like these holidays - February 14, February 23, March 8. I love New Year! And this gives some kind of obligation and for some reason a little melancholy. As if only in these 3 days people mean something to each other. No, I understand that in normal relations, this is just an additional holiday, but still .. We decided 10 years ago to introduce the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity instead of this holiday. And so, just on this day, July 8, my colleague went for the first time to his mistress - a girl who had liked him for a long time. What he told everyone the next morning to celebrate. We told him - well, you certainly found the day! And he - yes, something somehow ugly happened. That is, the logic is that if I had gone not on the 8th, but on the 7th or 9th, I would have celebrated the holiday with my family, then it seems to be not so scary. So it is better to arrange all the holidays on any days and more often and less to do "window dressing". Although, to each his own, I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
valentine's day origin story
The history of this holiday has developed from 2 moments. The first is the Roman Lupercalia. A pagan rite, a festival that originated around the 3rd century BC. At this time, there was a real epidemic in Rome - many women had either dead children or miscarriages. For a time when the cities were small - the population of Rome, according to various sources, was only about 150 thousand people - the situation was serious. To save the city from extinction, the priests of the god Luperk decided to arrange a public flogging of women (again, the woman is to blame - not only did she lose the child, she was also to blame for this !!). To this end, the priests sacrificed goats and dogs, and made belts from the skins, with which they, running naked around the city, flogged all the women they met. After that, a tradition arose - every year from February 13 to February 15 - the so-called. Lupercalia with flogging of women with goatskin straps. Interestingly, over time, the tradition softened a little and the women themselves willingly framed their bodies, believing that such a flogging would bring fertility and easy childbirth.
The Romans usually borrowed everything from the Greeks. Lupercalia included. In ancient Greece, there was also a similar holiday, named after the god Pan - Panurgy. By the way, if you read or watched the TV series “Countess de Monsoro”, based on the novel of the same name by Dumas, then there the donkey of Father Goranflo was called Panurge. So one of the nicknames of the god Pan - the patron saint of shepherds and cattle breeding - was Luperk ("lupus" - wolf). Hence the name Lupercalia. But! Hence the name of the Roman brothels - Lupanarii. More precisely, not from here - it's just a homonym, but a funny coincidence. How do you get the picture?)
The Story of Valentine's Day
But there is also a second point. In 496, Pope Gelasius I banned the Lupercalia. Over time, he was replaced by Valentine's Day. And it happened like this. In 269 AD, Emperor Claudius II was short of soldiers for his military campaigns. The reason was that the warriors thought more about their families, wives left at home or about the girls with whom they were going to marry, and fought poorly. To this end, the emperor forbade marriages for Roman legionnaires. But people tend to fall in love - so marriages began to be concluded secretly, and the wedding ceremony was performed by a priest named Valentine, for which he later paid with his life, this happened just on February 14th. However, the story is dark - someone claims that Valentine was executed by the emperor for refusing to renounce Christ, and someone who was already 3 Valentine - a priest, bishop of Interamna (the ancient name of the modern Italian city of Terni) and a certain martyr executed in Africa, which was then a Roman province. Here, on a holiday in honor of one of these Valentines, Lupercalia was decently replaced.
As for the so-called "valentines" - love notes - there are also 2 versions here. The first says that St. Valentine sent a letter to the blind daughter of the jailer, who, trying to read it, received her sight. The second version - the author of "valentines" is the Duke of Orleans, who in 1415, sitting in prison, escaped from boredom and sent love letters to his wife. His wife's name was Valentina Visconti. Well, her husband actually cheated on her with everyone, including the wife of his own brother, King Charles VI.
In 1969, the Catholic Church removed Valentine from the list of saints who must be commemorated in the liturgy. But his day is celebrated in folk holidays.
