Millions of people still wonder why Valentine’s day is celebrated, how it came about and how it began. Another Valentine’s day is here and there is love in the air!
A lot of people consider February as the month of love. The reason is not far-fetched. It is because the 14th day of February is celebrated yearly as Valentine’s day. They see it as a time to express affection to loved ones.
Cards, roses, jewelry, chocolates, and other romantic gift items are exchanged. And many couples make it a day to spend time together.
But even though many people know that Valentine’s Day is celebrated for love’s sake, most do not know how and why February 14 came to be associated with love and is known as the “Lovers’ Day”.
So what is the history of this special day? How did Valentine’s Day come to be?
Let’s take a dive into the origins of Valentine’s Day.
Pagan Origins of Valentine’s Day
The exact origin of Valentine’s Day is unclear. There are at least 3 popular stories connected to Valentine’s Day, and at least three people in the Catholic Church who are called Valentine or Valentinus whose stories are connected to this romantic day.
The earliest possible story connected to the origin of Valentine’s Day is a pagan holiday called Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a Roman fertility festival celebrated in mid-February, or February 15. The festival was dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to Romulus and Remus, the Roman founders.
This century-old festival was celebrated in a most peculiar way. On that day, members of the Luperci order of Roman priests would come together at a sacred cave where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for as infants, by a she-wolf. Then they would sacrifice a goat (for fertility) and a dog (for purification). They would then get the hide of the sacrificed goat and make it into strips. They would dip the strips of the hides into the blood and take them to the streets.
Men would strip themselves naked and use the strips to gently whip young women and crops in fields. The women were not afraid of the festivities. They welcomed it because they believed that this act would make them fertile.
Later that day, all the young unmarried women in the city would place their names in a large jar, and the bachelors in the city would pick a name from the jar. The bachelor would be paired with any maiden whose name he picked, and most times, this pairing resulted in a marriage.
The festival of Lupercalia was a very popular pagan festival that lasted for many decades after Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire. However, when Gelasius became the Pope in the late 5th century, he stopped the celebration of the festival.
Instead, the festival was replaced later by the feast of St. Valentine, celebrated by the Catholic Church on February 14 every year.
History of St. Valentine’s Day
The story of St. Valentine is also cloaked in mystery. This is because, as we stated earlier, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine, and all three were martyrs.
The first Valentine was a serving priest in Rome in the third century. A time came when Emperor Claudius II decided that he wanted to have single men in his army because he was of the opinion that they became better soldiers than married men who had wives and families. And so, to ensure this, he banned marriage for young men.
The priest, Valentine, did not support this unjust decree of the Emperor. He disregarded the Emperor’s orders and secretly conducted marriage ceremonies for young lovers. When the Emperor found out, he ordered that Valentine be killed. It is believed that afterward, Valentine’s Day was celebrated to remember this priest and commemorate his death and burial.
The second St. Valentine’s Day story is of a priest named Valentine who was killed because he helped Christians escape from Roman prisons, where they were subjected to constant tortures and beatings. There are different narratives of this particular story. But the most popular one is of a Valentine who was imprisoned.
While in prison, it is said that this Valentine fell in love with a young girl who visited him. Some people believe that this girl was his jailor’s daughter. He had been sentenced to death, but before he was killed, he wrote a letter to the girl with the first “Valentine greeting”. He signed the letter, “From your Valentine”. This expression is still popularly used today, as people are known to ask someone who they like, “Will you be my Valentine?”
The third saint connected to the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day is Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop. History has it that he was also beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.
READ ALSO: Top 5 Celebrity Couples to Watch out for on Valentine’s Day
Why Do People Celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Even though the true origin of Valentine’s Day is unclear, there is no doubt that the legends behind it tell tales of love, romance, sympathy, heroism, and kindness.
Whether it originated as the commemoration of a man’s death and burial, or as a replacement of the festival of Lupercalia, it is quite clear that for many, Valentine’s Day has become a time they look forward to celebrating their better halves. Many people will empty their pockets in a bid to get gifts for their “Valentine”.
Interestingly, some other people will celebrate the upcoming February 14 as a SAD (meaning Single And Desolate) holiday. If you’re one of these, it would be good to get yourself a well-deserved gift and find a way to pamper yourself.
Na single you single, you no kill person.
