The shortest month of February perhaps brings the greatest moments of joy and celebration for every couple across the globe. This is because of the fêted occasion of Valentines Day that falls on the 14th of this month. Valentines Day or the day of saint valentines is the day of love and affection. Love is in the air on this day when lovers verbalize the language of their heart and make each other feel thou preciousness.
Just like there is a story or a reason behind every celebration, there are tales associated with the Valentines Day too. Every year 14th February is cheered with exchange of loads of gifts and feelings. But according to a story actually it is the day when a devotee of love sacrificed his life for this most beautiful feeling which is yet the cause of humanity on earth.
Thousands of years ago in 3rd century B.C there was a saint, Valentine, in Rome. He was a priest in the kingdom of Saint Claudius II. One fine day the king realized that married men do not turn out to be proficient soldiers for family bonds and relationships weaken them. So in order to have good quality soldiers and a strong military force he outlawed marriage for young men.
But saint Valentine who had throughout his life materialized the feeling of love by tying nuptial bonds opposed the king’s instructions. He went against his orders and continued coordinating marriages clandestinely. But soon emperor Claudius II got information about it. Consequently he decided to punish saint Valentine by putting him to death on 14th February.
From that day onwards 14th February is memorized as the day that marks eternality of the bond of love and the spirits of all the true lovers.
But this is not the only fable hanging behind Valentines Day. According to another famous one, Valentine was a captive who did fall in love with his jailor’s daughter. On the day when Valentine was taken to persecution he wrote and left a letter for his girlfriend. That day was 14th February and the love letter had the sign underneath as “Your Valentine".
Thus this day came to be recognized and celebrated as the Valentines Day. It commenced the tradition of exchange of love letters and other instruments to express one’s feelings of affection.
Though it is very difficult to know the true identity of the man Valentine, it is for sure that he was an idol of love who died but proved that the flame of love can never be extinguished. Love always stands unbeaten and victorious despite of countless attempts made by people to trounce it and this is the primary cause to rejoice the Valentines Day
History Of Valentines Day
The celebration of Valentine's Day owes its existence to an ancient pagan ritual. With the spread of Christianity, priests had numerous heathen practices to deal with among their constituents. One of these ancient rituals was the Feast of Lubercus which they changed to St. Valentine's Day changing the pagan practice of drawing girl's names with drawing Saints? names. Young people would draw the names from an urn or box and then were expected to emulate that Saint's life during the following year. Unfortunately, by the 14th century they had reverted back to drawing girl's names, in the 16th century they tried again to have saintly valentines but it failed.
According to lore there were seven men named Valentine honored with feasts on February 14th. One of these men named Valentine was a priest during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Valentine was honored by the young and old, rich and poor, with people of all walks of life attending his services. At this time Emperor Claudius was heavily recruiting men to serve as soldiers for his wars without much success. The men preferred not to leave their wives, families and sweethearts to fight in foreign lands. Claudius became angry and declared that no more marriages could be performed and all engagements were cancelled.
According to the story, Valentine thought this practice to be unfair and secretly married several couples. When Claudius found out, he had Valentine put in prison where he died. Friends and patrons of the priest retrieved his body and buried it in a churchyard in Rome.
Another version of the story tells that St. Valentine was jailed for helping Christians. According to this story, while Valentine was in prison he cured a jailer's daughter of blindness. Claudius became enraged and had Valentine clubbed and beheaded on February 14, 269 A.D.
Yet another story claims that Valentine fell in love with the jailer's daughter and wrote her letters that were signed "From your Valentine."
All of the Valentines in time evolved into one. In 496 Pope Gelasius declared the day a holiday in honor of St. Valentine. Through the centuries the Christian holiday became a time to exchange love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. Lovers' quarrels come under his jurisdiction and, naturally, he is the patron saint of engaged couples and of anyone wishing to marry.
Both Mansi Gupta & Gregg Hall are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mansi Gupta has sinced written about articles on various topics from Tax, Business and Finance and Vacation. Mansi gupta writes about send valentine's day flowers. Learn more .. Mansi Gupta's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
Gregg Hall has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lingerie, Desserts and Mortgage. Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For a . Gregg Hall's top article generates over 3350000 views. to your Favourites.
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