Every year on February 14, different facets of love are celebrated. Commonly known as Valentine’s Day, red roses and balloons make for a common sight, and it’s eagerly awaited by couples. For the uninitiated, the day gets its name after a mysterious saint, though many believe that it could owe its origins to probably more than one person. Some consider him to be a priest, who aided Christian couples in love to be bonded in matrimony, and was reportedly beheaded by Emperor Claudius II. Valentine’s origin can also be traced to the Roman festival of fertility known as Lupercalia.
Many also believe that the day was celebrated as an attempt by the Church to add a religious twist to the Lupercalia festival. The Roman festival was dedicated to Fauns, the god of agriculture and Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Celebrations there consisted of men choosing names of women from a box.
With all hearts of red fluttering here and there, it marks the start of Valentine Week in the month of February. On 14th February, the main day of all week, Valentine's Day 2022 or Saint Valentine's Day, or the Feast of Saint Valentine is celebrated annually. The whole world on the occasion of Valentine is painted red of love.
People on this day express their love for their partners, crushes, and spouses by giving gifts or roses or cards. Before 14th Feb, a whole week different days such as teddy day, rose day and others are also celebrated to keep the spirit of love festival going.
But, do you know that origin of this love-filled festival is not so lovely? As we begin Valentine's week and Valentine's Day is right around the corner, know about its history, significance, and why we people celebrate this festival:
The special day of love is celebrated in honor of one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
A priest named Valentine was martyred in 270 CE by emperor Claudius II, Gothic us, after he found out that Valentine was secretly helping Christian couples get married. Claudius did not believe in marriages, and he thought that single men were better off and dedicated soldiers.
While the true origin of the holiday remains vague, the day originated as a Christian feast day honoring the early Christian martyr named Saint Valentine. The Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honor of Saint Valentine of Rome.
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 England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards. In Ancient Greece, people observed a mid-winter celebration for the marriage of the god Zeus and the goddess Hera.
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